Game Preview: Gap at Riverheads

There will be few secrets Friday night when the Riverheads Gladiators host Buffalo Gap with the Region 1B football championship on the line.

The county rivals know each other very well. It’s a heated rivalry, but the teams have immense respect for each other.

“There are guys who are friends with guys on their team. I have friends on the Riverheads staff. I have a great deal of respect for that program and that coaching staff,” said Gap head coach Brad Wygant.

Since the start of the season, Riverheads’ head coach Ray Norcross has been telling anyone who would listen that Buffalo Gap was a very good football team.

“In the beginning of the season, if you looked around the league and you wanted to pick a team that could make a big impact, a team people were overlooking, that was Buffalo Gap,” said Norcross said. “We’ve not overlooking them… They’re a very good football team. They’re a lot like us. They have tough kids, kids who are going to play hard.”

Riverheads won the regular season contest 29-15. That was a long time ago and that outcome will have little, if anything, to do with what happens on the field this Friday.

“That was a long time ago and both teams are different now,” said Wygant. “I know we’re a much better team now. This Friday night is what matters.”

The Buffalo Gap Perspective

The Bison went on the road a week ago to take on Altavista, the team that ended Gap’s season a year ago in the playoffs. There were many who thought the Bison would meet a similar fate on their return trip.

Instead, the Bison turned in a dominant performance, overwhelming the Colonels, 52-29.

“We had a really good week of practice heading into the Altavista game. I felt like we had a good game plan,” said Wyant. “The guys executed well and they played with a lot of confidence.”

Gap is taking a similar approach this week.

“We feel like we have a good plan for Friday night. We know what Riverheads is going to do. Can we counter that,” Wygant continued. “The regular season game at Riverheads was a good football game, a close game. We had our chances, but we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times. Our players are confident. They’ll be ready to play.”

The Bison have knocked off two good football teams on the road to reach the regional title game. They will have to do the same Friday night in order to leave with the big trophy.

“Riverheads has the history and the hardware to prove they know what they’re doing in the playoffs,” said Wygant. “Our team has had a playoff mentality for the past five or six weeks. Our guys wanted to get a home playoff game. That didn’t work out, but we’ve gone on the road two straight weeks and beat a quality football. We’re going to have to do it again on Friday against a very good Riverheads team. 

“We are going after the same thing they are. The communities are excited, the players are excited. It’s going to be a great atmosphere and a great game.”

The Riverheads Perspective

This time of year, Riverheads head coach Ray Norcross is usually preparing for a team he doesn’t know much about. That’s not the case this week.

“Gap deserves to be where they are. They are well-coached. They’re a really good football team. I’ll put it this way, I think Gap has had a very underrated season. They’ve had turnovers, mistakes that have hurt them at times. They had turnovers in the game we played the first time that had a big impact on the outcome. We’re going to have our hands full on Friday,” said Norcross.

Norcross knows his defense will have to control the big-play element presented by Gap’s offense that has scored 50 points or more three times this season, including a week ago against Altavista, a team that defeated Riverheads 29-25 early in the season.

“Their offense is formidable. They’ve run the ball on every team they’ve played. It’s very hard to predict where they’re going and they are very skilled with what they do,” said Norcross. “That offense is so diverse. They do a great job of seeing what you’re going to give them and taking advantage of it. They take advantage of you with quality plays, not gimmicks. I don’t have anything but good things to say about their football team.”

Like Wygant, Norcross knows his team is better now than it was in the regular season contest, especially on the defensive side of the football.

“Our kids have improved. Our defense is much better. Our defense was certainly not settled in the first time we played. We were still probing, trying to find guys to plug in,” explained Norcross.

The Riverheads head coach has little doubt that his team will be ready to play Friday.

“I think our kids will be ready. They’re talking like they are. I’m hoping we’ll play well Friday. We’ll have to if we’re going to beat them.”

The X Factor?

The temperature could dip into the 20s Friday evening. It will be by far the coldest game the teams have played this season.

The football will be harder and slicker with the cold weather. Taking care of the football is always a priority. Friday night, ball security will be at a premium.

“Absolutely it’s a concern.,” said Norcross of the weather forecast. “They have to shotgun snap it, which we don’t. But we do pitch it a lot to our backs and early in the season we did drop the ball in key situations that kept us from scoring and interrupted some drives. We’ll have to take care of the football.”

Wygant is a fan of a cold-weather team. “The Buffalo Bills are my team. Their old coach Marv Levy once said if it’s too tough for them, it’s just right for us. It’s going to be cold but we both have to play in it.”