By RYAN JONES

Special to L’Observateur

BComing off of a blowout 48-0 loss against District 9-2A rival John Curtis, Riverside Academy was looking to bounce back in its homecoming match-up against W.L. Cohen Friday. Though the Rebels (4-2) experienced some special teams trouble, they recovered from last week’s setback behind the force of a strong ground attack and a stout defense, defeating the Green Hornets 56-20.

“You need to have thick skin,” head coach Mickey Roussel said. “I think our senior leadership is good. They know it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We have a 10-game season, so you’ve got to let go of what happened last week. And that’s what we did.”

Junior running back Jonquial Sanders led a Riverside rushing assault that finished the game with 321 yards. Sanders tallied 197 yards, which included a pair of 42-yard touchdown runs, on 16 carries. Senior Nate Williams also pitched in 55 yards and a score on nine carries.

“We had been struggling to run the ball a little bit. We had been throwing it pretty decent. We challenged our offensive line. They didn’t play well last week, and they stepped up their game. Obviously, [Sanders] and Nate Williams have to get some credit. We hope that continues, and if it does, we’re going to continue to win some football games.”

The primary sore spot, however, was the lack of resistance that Riverside’s kick coverage team offered the Hornets. Though the Rebels defense pitched a shutout, Cohen still managed to score three touchdowns off of long kick returns by speedy junior tailback Lamont Massey.

Late in the game, even the public address announcer tried to warn Riverside that it needed to kick away from Massey, though it was to no avail. Massey ended up with the ball on every Rebels kickoff and finished the game with 302 total kick return yards, scoring on runbacks of 91, 88 and 86 yards. Roussel attributed the team’s coverage struggles to recent personnel changes on special teams.

“We have about five guys we took off of [kickoff coverage],” Roussel said. “They had nicks and bumps and bruises. The returns were driving me crazy. I think that’s the only thing that we didn’t do tonight. We didn’t cover. We’re going to fix that for next week.”

Massey also had one more first quarter kick return called back after a clipping penalty which occurred away from his return. He led the Hornets offense with 53 total rushing and receiving yards.

Riverside, however, took advantage of numerous Cohen miscues. The visitors committed 10 penalties for 58 yards, including seven false starts. The Hornets also committed two turnovers: an interception which killed its best drive of the game and an early fumble. The fumbled, forced by eighth-grade linebacker Evan Veron, was returned 40 yards for Riverside’s third touchdown of the first quarter.

The Rebels passing game was hit or miss, as senior quarterback Tate Scioneaux completed 9 of 18 passes for 116 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Williams, his leading receiver, reeled in three passes for 57 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown pass that put Riverside up 7-0 with 9:38 remaining in the first quarter.

Cohen immediately struck back with a Massey return and missed two-point conversion that drew the Hornets within one, but the Rebels recovered quickly with a 2-yard Williams touchdown run on the next drive.

Riverside scored on its first four possessions and controlled the ball for most of the first half, limiting the Hornets’ offensive opportunities. Cohen ran just 19 plays before halftime, including just seven in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter scoring onslaught, the Rebels found themselves up 21-6.

Capping an 11-play, 77-yard drive, bruising running back Grady Gieger rumbled into the end zone with a 17-yard run that put Riverside up 28-6 to start the second quarter. Gieger was one of nine Rebels to record a rushing attempt and one of four who scored a touchdown.

The Hornets appeared poised to respond after a 36-yard Massey reception on the team’s next possession, but junior cornerback Kandon Guidry picked off a pass two plays later to end the drive.

Scioneaux threw his second score of the game with 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter to senior receiver Brandon Millet. The Rebels ended the first half up by a comfortable 35-14 margin and cruised to victory.

Riverside will once again play at home next week, facing off against non-district opponent Miller-McCoy Academy Friday.