By Terrell Robinson, Jr.

L’Observateur

The Rebels wasted little time in ensuring their Friday night homecoming was one worth remembering. After holding their opponents to a three-and-out on the opening drive, senior wide receiver Austin Vicknair crashed through the line on fourth down to send a Thomas Jefferson punt careening off of his face mask. Riverside recovered the ball near the 10 yard line, setting up Thomas Crouch for an easy 5 yard touchdown a mere four minutes into the game, the first score in what would become a 47-0 victory for the home team.

Riverside would make forced turnovers a recurring theme; on the very next play from scrimmage Jaguars quarterback Norman Landeche fumbled on a sloppy handoff which linebacker Kalen Jenkins recovered and returned 13 yards for a touchdown. Jenkins would recover another fumble late in the first quarter, yet again returning it for a Rebel touchdown. By the start of the second quarter, Thomas Jefferson was staring at a 27 point deficit.

On offense, Riverside predictably used their running attack to pound the Jaguar defense. Quarterback Darnell Rachal led the way with 97 yards and 2 touchdowns, all of which came in the first half of play. Running backs Nate Williams (59 yds), Dylan Martin (37 yds) and Thomas Crouch (27 yds) would all cross the goal line.

Defensively, the Rebels wreaked havoc on Thomas Jefferson, forcing three turnovers and limiting the visitors to less than 100 yards of total offense. Coach Mickey Roussel was clearly impressed with the control his defense asserted throughout the game.

“When you get to homecoming week there’s a lot of distractions,” said Roussel. “We needed to make sure we remained focused and we did. That’s what I was most pleased with”.

Comfortably in control of the game, Riverside was able to rest most of their starters in the second half of play, a boon considering a difficult upcoming game against John Curtis. Coach Roussel expects his team to be presented with their stiffest challenge of the season.

“We’ve got to step up next week. Everybody knows what kind of program [John Curtis] has. But we’re riding a high right now and we’re going to see what we’re made of”.