The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Riverside
After senior Matthew Spofford sprinted 80 yards for a touchdown two plays after senior Jamir Francis picked off a pass in the end zone early in the fourth quarter to make it 27-21, senior Isaiah Drake corralled an errant throw and raced 85 yards to paydirt to make it 33-21.
“At the beginning of the game, I let my team down, so I had to regain their trust,” Drake said. “I made sure I wasn’t doing it for myself, but for the whole team.”
Boardman (4 - 4) responded with a 10-play, 72yard drive capped off by a three-yard TD by junior Sean O’Horo with 5:17 re
maining to cut it to 33-28, then forced Riverside to punt from midfield with 2:35 to go.
Three plays into the Spartans’ possession, Francis grabbed his second and his team’s fifth interception of the game and took it to the house for the gameclincher.
Riverside coach Dave Bors couldn’t quite remember the last time he’d witnessed a game with
so many big momentumchanging plays, and credited his team’s ability to fight through adversity.
“This is one of the best games we’ve been a part of, in my 24 years,” Bors said. “Just in terms of big plays, resilience and knockout punches. It wasn’t a clean, well-played game, but that’s what made it so much better. The team had to keep overcoming the entire night.”
The teams traded interceptions to start, then Riverside took a 2-0 lead on a safety when Boardman junior QB Jason Triveri had to fall on a bad snap in the end zone.
The Beavers increased their lead to 9-0 when Spofford (game-high 141 yards rushing) took it in from 14 yards out, but the Spartans had an answer when Triveri
(17 of 30, 294 yards) found Anthony Hightower for a 37-yard TD.
Boardman took its only lead of the game in the second quarter on a 13-yard run by Terence Thomas to make it 13-9, but Tromba’s three-yard TD run to finish a 64-yard drive put the Beavers back in front, 15-13, just before halftime.
The Spartans, who garnered 26 first downs and nearly matched the Beavers in total yards (393391), tied the game at 21 in the third quarter when Triveri connected with junior Cam Thompson on a 60-yard scoring strike and then found O’Horo for the two-point conversion.
“We were there at the end, but turnovers killed us,” Boardman coach Joe Ignazio said.
“We gave up three pick
sixes, and that was the story of the ballgame. Our kids kept battling back. They did everything we asked of them. It just didn’t go our way.”
Senior Dom Lulow completed 10 of 19 passes for 126 yards for Riverside, and senior Cayman Locher carried 11 times for 41 yards. Senior James Bruno caught three passes for 77 yards.
“It’s great, I’ve heard from people all week about it,” Bors said regarding winning his school’s first ever home playoff game. “We’re just a small part of this great school district and community, and to be able to contribute in this way is tremendous. This (win) is for the Riverside community. It’s been a long time coming, and these kids have worked hard to be in this position.”