By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

It was a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2. It lived up to the hype.

Riverside overcame a furious late rally by Newman and an injury to starting quarterback Deuce Wallace to hold onto a 35-28 victory when Evan Veron intercepted Jabiari Tyler with no time remaining on the clock.

The Rebels led 28-7 at halftime behind two long Wallace touchdown passes (to Von Julien and Darrion Cook) and two DeAndre Wilson scoring runs.

But Wallace exited the game with what was called a potential high-ankle sprain, relegated to the sideline, on crutches.

Newman trailed 35-13 in the fourth quarter but scored two touchdowns and recovered an onside kick with 1:26 left to set up an exciting finish.

The Greenies reached the 1-yard line but were penalized for a false start with a second remaining. Tyler took the snap and immediately tossed a pass upward to Justin Harrell in the endzone. Harrell drew a flag for pass interference, setting up an untimed down.

But Veron broke on a Tyler pass over the middle to seal the victory on the final play.

Check Saturday’s L’Observateur for full details on Riverside’s victory.