River Rises To 7-0 Following Defensive Effort vs. Shadyside

HANNIBAL - A pair of state-ranked, undefeated Ohio small schools went toe-to-toe Friday night before a standing-room-only crowd at Martin Flannery Field.

After a scoreless first quarter, visiting Shadyside, which entered the game ranked No. 1 in Division VII, Region 27, landed the first two body shots in jumping out to a 13-0 lead but River, the No. 5 rated team in Division VI, responded with 22 unanswered points to remain spotless at 7-0 with a hard-earned 22-13 victory.

"Our defense rose to the occasion tonight," veteran River head coach Mike Flannery said. "Coach Tucker and Coach Lawrence had a game plan to mirror their quarterback. The Johnson kid is a dual threat quarterback and we had to keep a lid on him. The coaches did a great job of preparing the kids."

The Tigers (6-1) came into the contest averaging a tad over 44 points a contest, but with the exception of one drive, the Pilots held them in check to the tune of 161 total yards.

Sixty-two of those yards came on Shadyside's first touchdown drive that used 14 plays and ate up just over five minutes of clock. Colt Cook took a handoff over the left side of the line for a 7-0 lead as Hunter Ramsay split the uprights.

Two series later, River fumbled inside its own 5 and it didn't take Shadyside long to capitalize as Cook once again followed the blocking on the left side of the line for his second 4-yard touchdown run. However, the PAT was wide left, leaving the score at 13-0.

"I want to compliment Shadyside," Flannery said. "They had a great gameplan on both sides of the ball. They have a great football team and it's hard to keep them down, but we did. I'm proud of my kids for the way they performed."

River responded on the ensuing possession as Wyatt Stalder capped a 5-play, 65-yard march with a 47-yard burst around left end as Crestyn Isaly supplied the key block downfield. Carson Jones made it 13-7 with the PAT.

The Pilots' victory came at a cost, however, as senior running back Peyton Weese was injured while punting late in the half and spent the second half on the sidelines in street clothes on crutches. That forced River to abandon its wishbone attack.

"We faced some adversity there when Peyton went down, but the kids responded well," Flannery added.

Shadyside got the ball to start the second half, but on third-and-11, quarterback Jayden Johnson was sacked by Ayson McBride for a 19-yard loss to force a punt.

Using an unbalanced line with lineman Michael Schultheis as a blocking back, River marched 52 yards on six plays as Stalder swept around left end for the final three yards. Quarterback Cam Abbott found McBride for 23 yards on third-and-8 to keep the drive alive.

When Shadyside jumped offsides on the PAT attempt, Flannery opted to use his huge offensive line to go for two. Stalder went over the left side as the Pilots went ahead 15-13.

With the Pilots defense forcing another Tigers' punt, the offense went back to work with a 9-play, 76-yard drive that saw Abbott rifle a 13-yard laser to Stalder on fourth-and-goal slant pass. Carson Jones made it 22-13 with the extra point.

"Their size up front eventually wore us down," Kernik said. "Offensively, we couldn't get any consistency. That's on me for not having our kids in the right positions to make the best plays that they can."

Shadyside's offense was stagnant for nearly the entire second half as McBride, who was in on several sacks, and Company bottled the Tigers up forcing a pair of fourth-down incomplete passes. Abbott picked off a pass at the goal line in the waning moments to seal the deal.

River piled up 212 yards on the ground as Stalder ran for 157 on 22 carries and Weese had 43 before being injured. Abbott was efficient on 8-for-12 for 105 yards. Evan Longwell caught three for 53.

Johnson ran the ball 26 times for 60 yards. He completed 12 of 21 attempts for 99 yards. Michael Hendershot caught six passes for 49 stripes.

Shadyside will re-group before heading to Caldwell on Friday.

"It was a good football game. We came out on the wrong end, but good teams respond from adversity like this and come back swinging," Kernik added. "We've just got to keep working hard."

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River 22, Shadyside 13

Shady 0 13 0 0 - 13

River 0 7 15 0 - 22

S-Cook 4 run (Ramsay kick)

S-Cook 4 run (kick failed)

R-Stalder 47 run (C. Jones kick)

R-Stalder 3 run (Stalder run)

R-Stalder 13 pass from Abbott (C. Jones kick)

RUSHING: Shadyside 33-62-2tds (Johnson 26-60, Cook 3-10-2tds, Capers 1-4, Nelson 1-1, Hendershot 1-(-2), team 1-(-11). River 40-212-2tds (Stalder 22-157-2tds, Weese 6-43, Larrick 5-22, Abbott 4-1, Longwell 2-(-1), team 1-(-3)

PASSING: Shadyside 12-21-99-int (all by Johnson). River 8-12-105-td (all by Abbott)

RECEIVING: Shadyside 12-99 (Hendershot 6-49, Marling 4-28, Sloan 2-22). River 8-105 (Longwell 3-53, McBride 3-27, Stalder 1-13-td, Isaly 1-12)

FIRST DOWNS: Shadyside 12. River 14

FUMBLES: Shadyside 0-0. River 4-2

PENALTIES: Shadyside 7-52. River 6-55