Bison Dominate Second Half To Win 1B Title

RIVERHEADS – Buffalo Gap stole a possession to start the second half and then the Bison ran away with the game.

Gap outscored the Gladiators 34-6 in a dominant second half pefformance to pull away for a 48-21 to win the Region 1B football championship game on a cold Friday night in Greenville.

The contest featured one of the best individual efforts in recent years in area football. 

Gap running back Isaac Goff carried 37 times for 254 yards and scored all seven Buffalo Gap touchdowns. He added a two-point conversion to finish the contest with 44 points.

“Those guys up front work their butts off every practice, every game and this is the result we get,” Goff said of his big-game performance.

The Bison took the opening kickoff and drove 68 yards to put the first points on the board. Gap used 14 plays with the longest run of the drive an 8-yard gain by Jaden Humphey. Goff scored on a 3-yard run and Grayson McCall ran for the two-point conversion, giving Gap an 8-0 lead with 2:40 remaining in the first quarter.

The Gladiators, who finish the season with an 8-5 record, answered with a 47-yard drive on their first series. Jackson Fitzgerald ripped off a 16-yard run to put the ball on the Gap 1 and Kendal Edwards scored on a quarterback sneak. Fitzgerald ran for the conversion, tying the score at 8-8.

The Riverheads’ defense then came up with the game’s first turnover when Preston McCauley took the football away from a Gap runner and returned the recovery 55 yards for an apparent score. The points were nullified by a block in the back, but the Gladiators still had possession at the Bison 35.

Riverheads converted a third-and-5 play with a 12-yard run by McCauley. Fitzgerald moved the chains with a 12-yard run, giving the Gladiators first-and-goal at the 6. Fitzgerald carried for 3 yards before Edwards scored on a keeper. Jonah Williams kicked the extra point for a 15-8 Riverheads lead.

Gap responded with a 63-yard drive and scored in the final minute of the half. Goff capped the 12-play drive with a 4-yard run. The conversion run was stopped short, leaving Riverheads with a15-14 halftime lead.

The Bison then came up with the biggest play of the game when they recovered a pooch kick at the Riverheads’ 43-yard line to start the second half. “The kickoff was the turning point of the game. That’s the reason we won the game,” said Goff.

“The recovery on the kickoff was big,” added Gap head coach Brad Wygant. “It was a momentum swing for us. We were able to punch it in and take the lead and we didn’t look back.” 

Goff gained 10 yards on Gap’s first play following the recovery and then broke loose on a 33-yard scoring jaunt. Goff added the two-point conversion to give the Bison a 22-15 lead.

Gap’s defense then stopped the Gladiators on a fourth-and-3 play to give the Bison offense a short field at the Riverheads 41. Goff scored on a 28-yard run for a 28-15 Bison lead with 7:32 left in the third quarter.

Gap’s defense forced a Riverheads punt on the next series with the Gap offense taking over on their own 23-yard line.

A 26-yard run by Cooper Reed plus a 15-yard penalty against the Gladiators for sideline interference moved the ball all the way to the Riverheads 28. Faced with third-and-12 from the 30-yard line, Gap threw its only pass of the game and Reed connected with Brysen Keyton for 22 yards and a first down at the 8. Goff scored on a 2-yard run and Maddox Roach kicked the PAT for a 35-15 Gap lead with 47 seconds left in the third quarter.

Fitzgerald gave the Gladiators faithful a glimmer of hope with a 59-yard scoring run to make the score 35-21 but Gap’s offense could not be stopped.

Goff scored on a 14-yard run to make the score 42-21 and his seventh TD of the night, a 45-yard run, made the final 48-21.

The Bison finished the contest with 400 total yards – 378 on the ground. 

“The nice thing about our offense is it’s not a one-man show even when one guy is crossing the goal line,” said Wygant. “The blockers who got him there were impressive. It’s something Isaac has really learned over the years is to follow those guys and make plays when plays are there. Our guys did a really good job up front.” 

Gap’s defense limited the Gladiators to 184 yards total offense, all on the ground. Fitzgerald finished the night with 108 yards on 13 carries. Riverheads had just 74 yards offense in the second half. 

“We had a better game plan coming out in the second half on defense and we got some stops early,” added Goff.

The Gap victory snapped a pair of long Riverheads’ winning streaks. The win ended Riverheads’ 19-game winning streak over its county rival dating back to the 2008 season. “It feels amazing. I’m glad to be here with my brothers to do it,” Goff said of snapping Riverheads’ long winning streak over the Bison.

The loss also snapped Riverheads’ 30-game winning streak in the Class 1 playoffs. Prior to Friday, Riverheads’ last setback in the Class 1 playoffs came in 2015 when the Gladiators lost to Galax 7-6 in the state championship game. 

Gap, now 7-6, has won three straight playoff games on the road, and they will have to be road warriors again next Saturday when they travel to the winner of Region A to play in the state semifinals.

Gap will face the winner of the Essex vs. Rappahannock Warsaw game that is being played Saturday afternoon. Essex, the defending Class 1 state champion, shut out Rappahannock 22-0 during the regular season. Essex is 11-0 this season while Rappahannock is 9-2.