The Cookeville Cavaliers fought hard, but ultimately fell short against the Riverdale Warriors 21-6 Friday night in Murfreesboro in the High School Football Game of the Week.
The Cavaliers battled back from a 14-0 halftime deficit to push the 9th ranked Warriors to the brink, but Riverdale (2-1, 1-0) pulled away late in what was both team’s Region 3/6A opener.
“(Riverdale’s) a very talented football team,” said CHS head coach Jimmy Maynord. “Defensively, we won’t play anybody, I don’t think that would be any better than that (besides) maybe Oakland. I think we grew up a lot in the second half. The first half we had some mistakes… our coaches did a good job at halftime making some adjustments and had a great defensive effort. We came up short. Proud of the effort of our kids”
The Warriors struck early in the contest. After forcing a 3-and-out on the Cavs’ opening drive, they marched down the field on a five-play, 66-yard drive that was capped by a 31-yard touchdown rush by Marcus Lloyd to give RHS a 7-0 lead.
The CHS defense provided a spark early in the second quarter as linebacker Cade Apple laid a huge hit on RHS quarterback Jameson Holcomb, forcing a fumble recovered by the Cavs. The CHS offense was unable to capitalize, and on the ensuing drive the Warriors marched 65 yards on 17-plays while taking 8:30 off the clock. Lloyd capped the drive with a five-yard TD rush to give the Warriors a 14-0 halftime lead.
Cookeville appeared to make several defensive adjustments at halftime, as they forced four straight punts in the second half. Senior quarterback Stockton Owen got the Cavs within one possession with 2:21 remaining in the third quarter with a highlight 82-yard run. The PAT was blocked, leaving Riverdale with a 14-6 lead.
Not the result they wanted, but @stocktonowen1 turned in one of the runs of the year with this touchdown tonight against Riverdale for @Cavs_Football pic.twitter.com/coqEpWbVRH
— Noah McKay (@NoahMcKayUCR) September 5, 2020
Both teams traded punts through the majority of the fourth quarter before Lloyd put the game away late in the fourth with a 61-yard touchdown rush to move the lead to the final score of 21-6.
“I think they grew up some,” said Maynord on his team. “They could play with these guys. They just have to get in there and battle and never give up and that’s what we did.”
Owen led the way on the stat sheet. He tallied 129 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. He also went 13-20 through the air for 112 yards.
The Cavs (2-1, 0-1) will now quickly turn their attention towards a looming rivalry matchup against White County (1-1). Maynord said he knows his team will be motivated.
“We’ve got good young men. They’re going to be motivated,” said Maynord. “We know it’s a football game. It’s hard to win them all. Our kids are going to get ready to play next week. We’ll line up Monday and start practice and we’ll be ready to play.”
Kickoff between the Cavs and Sparta is set for 7 p.m. It is the High School Football Game of the Week and will be broadcast live on the Upper Cumberland Reporter’s Facebook page and Newstalk 107.7 and 1400 the HUB.