Riverside comeback falls short against Ehret
Published 12:21 am Saturday, September 5, 2015
- Riverside wide receiver Herb McGee has been forced into action as the team's quarterback.
MARRERO — Down 22-7 at half, it did not appear Riverside Academy had much of chance coming back against John Ehret.
After preparing to have sophomore quarterback Jared Butler start for the team throughout the summer and into the preseason, the Rebels opted to put senior wide receiver Herb McGee under center for the season opener.
Riverside head coach Bill Stubbs said the first half of the game was rough going.
“We started off slow offensively in the first half and couldn’t get anything going,” Stubbs said. “We had a lot of three-and-outs.”
The Rebels only points of the first half came off of an inception return for a touchdown by senior linebacker Evan Veron.
However, the Rebels offense caught fire in the second half.
Sophomore running back Brandon Gibson took in a 50-yard screen pass for a touchdown on Riverside’s first drive of the second half. After a quick defensive stand, McGee led the Rebels down the field, and senior running back Brandon Sanders punched in a two-yard touchdown run to bring the Rebels within 2 points.
Gibson came back with another big play over 60 yards for a touchdown on a screen pass to take the lead 28-22 with 10:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Stubbs said he was happy to see his running backs do well.
“Jeremy Gibson had a good night tonight,” Stubbs said. “We were able to get him loose a few times. Brandon Sanders ran the ball very hard. Brandon was the catalyst of the drives in grinding it out.”
However, after a defensive stand and getting the ball back again on offense, Stubbs opted for a fake punt that failed around John Ehret’s 40-yard line.
With only 3:48 to go in the game, Ehret connected on a 55-yard touchdown pass and went ahead 29-28 and the Rebels were unable to come back.
Stubbs said the loss is a learning experience.
“They were some things here and there that we need to pick up and we learned,” Stubbs said. “But I will say defensively our kids our kids played hard. They are a good football team, and we just came up short. Guess what? If you don’t like the feeling don’t let it happen again.”
