Riverside’s season of ups and downs ended on a positive note Friday as the Pirates rolled to a 39-12 win over host Ridgemont Friday in a Northwest Central Conference finale.
The Pirates finish the season 5-5 overall and 4-3 in the NWCC under first-year head coach Bryce Hodge. The Gophers end with a 1-9, 1-6 mark.
“It was definitely good to end on a win,” said RHS head coach Bryce Hodge. “It was a season of what ifs. We lost two overtime games and had some other close ones. We graduated 13 seniors last year so we had a lot of guys step up and get their first varsity time.
“No one has the goal of a 5-5 record, but we can’t play the games we’d like to have back. That’s not how it goes. These kids showed a lot of character, though, and worked hard every day to get better. I’m proud of them for that.”
Highlighting Friday’s game was junior Kale Long, who became the program’s first quarterback to throw for 1,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
“That is a great achievement for Kale,” said Hodge. “He would be the first to tell you he couldn’t have done it without his teammates and his linemen. That is really a team award and he knows that.”
Long sparked the Riverside offense Friday with 257 rushing yards and two scores on 19 carries, while adding 120 passing yards and three TDs on nine completions.
Riverside opened the scoring on a 22-yard touchdown run by Ethan Jackson in the first quarter. The extra-point attempt missed for a 6-0 RHS lead with nine minutes left in the opening quarter.
The Pirates stretched their lead with three straight scores in the second quarter.
Long had a 3-yard TD run and threw a two-point conversion pass to Deven Frilling for a 14-0 lead with 10:40 left until halftime.
Long then added touchdown passes of 12 and 29 yards to Frilling to put Riverside ahead 26-0 with 1:56 remaining in the first half.
Ridgemont was able to score with 40 seconds left until the break. Jayden Streets tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Wade Gamble for a 26-6 halftime score.
After a scoreless third quarter, Long added to Riverside’s lead with a 6-yard TD pass to Landon Stewart in the fourth quarter. The extra-point kick by Walker Whitaker made for a 33-6 cushion with 7:44 to go in the game.
Streets put Ridgemont on the scoreboard again with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jadon Miller. That made it 33-12 with 6:31 left to play in the game.
Long tacked on a 2-yard touchdown run for the Pirates.
Jackson contributed 68 rushing yards on 11 carries and Frilling tallied 78 receiving yards on six catches.
Long also led the defense with six tackles and one interception. Frilling had five tackles with one interception, Jeffery Wren had five tackles and Levi Godwin had four tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception.
RIV 39, RIDGEMONT 12
Pirates 6 • 20 • 0 • 13 – 39
Gophers 0 • 6• 0 • 6– 12
TEAM STATISTICS RV • RG
First downs 18 • 14
Total net yards 447 • 372
Rushes/yards 33/327 • 11/43
Passing 120 • 329
Comp-att-int 9-20-1 • 18-28-3
Punts/avg 0/0 • 0/0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 • 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-35 • 11-84