River 59 East 8 (2017 RD2 Playoffs)

[OvGuy]

East is well coached. I think they pull it off 28-27

Any particular reason?

[Cpt. Obvious]

East is well coached. I think they pull it off 28-27

Any particular reason?

Obviously he believes that the coaching will be a particular reason.....

[wcduttonradio]

92.3 WXCR will have coverage of this week's Region 27 semifinal matchup between #6 River & #7 Sciotoville East. Game coverage begins at 6pm with Countdown to Kickoff, followed by pregame at 7pm from Scott Riggs & Family Stadium at R. Basil Rutter Field in Athens.

Online streaming available at http://wxcr.com on desktop computers by clicking the "Listen Live" link on the homepage, or you can download the mobile Tunein app and search for 92.3 WXCR!

[Seabee_0586]

Thanks for the info

[greygoose]

If you rely on SEOP to fire up your squad . you need help. Give me a break.

EXACTLY he couldn't do it in years past, uses SEOP and they get a win. Coincidence?? So many on here just think we're arm chair QBs look at us now.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

good luck to east Friday night.

[Jolly(senator]

Brady Douthat or Tom Brady man that kid is a absolute beast...kids got an arm on him does he have any offers yet

[OvGuy]

Write up from the Intelligencer,

ATHENS — Togetherness. Trust. Toughness.

Those three words are a triumvirate Mike Flannery has great faith in.

“Our kids have that,” Flannery said this week as his River High School football team prepared for its regional semifinal test against Sciotoville East.

The Pilots and Tartans will lock horns Friday night in a Division VII, Region 27 affair with a spot in Ohio’s ‘Elite 8’ at stake. Action kicks off at 7:30 p.m. from Basil Rutter Field at Scott Riggs and Family Stadium.

“They’re confident, but in a humble way,” Flannery said. “And, that’s what you want. You can tell by the way we’re practicing.

“This is it. This it. Their focus in practice has been excellent. They’re very well-aware of what they’re able to accomplish as long as they’re all tied together and trying to do the same things.”

Friday’s winner gets the survivor of the region’s other semifinal between top seed Danville (10-1) and No. 5 seed Trimble (9-2). The Tomcats, Tartans and Pilots all pulled off “upsets” in the opening round, with River one of only eight No. 6 seeds across the Buckeye State to win.

“I was probably the only one that liked the draw that we got,” Flannery said. “I felt Harvest Prep would take us a little lightly. I knew the schedule we played and I think it’s starting to pay dividends for us.”

The Pilots (7-4) hit the No. 3-seeded Warriors early last week on their home field and then hung on for an impressive 39-34 victory. River scored on its first five possessions, a fact that only gave Flannery’s squad more confidence against a team led by Ohio’s all-time leading rusher in Daniel Bangura.

“We let them try to run down Lukas (Isaly) and Drew (Dietz) and get them on the edge a lot and get their big guys running. We felt by the time we got our fourth touchdown right before the half, our physicality was showing and we saw them with their hands on their knees. That gave our kids confidence.

“There’s nothing more beautiful than practicing a play all week and seeing it executed on Friday night. Hopefully, we’ll turn things loose like we did last week.”

The victory against Harvest Prep might have been a stunner in many fans’ eyes, but for Flannery it was simply another rung on a ladder his team has been climbing since the midway point of the season.

After the Pilots dropped a 20-point decision at home to Linsly in Week 8, every game after became a de facto playoff game for them. And, Flannery said, his team treated them as such and knew the ramifications of them — win and probably in the playoffs, lose and likely out.

Starting with the Saturday matinee against state-ranked Lucas in Week 9, River showed its mettle. The Pilots rallied for the victory against the Cubs that day, setting the stage for the playoff run.

“It’s been a total team effort,” Flannery said. “Every team that I’ve been a part of that’s had success like we’ve been having, they all have one common trait specifically, and that’s they don’t care who gets the credit.

“They really don’t. And anything can be accomplished when you don’t care who gets the credit. There’s no egos on this team. They know who we have to get the ball to. It’s just fun to coach.

“Every coach tries to build that culture.”

Sciotoville East head coach James Gifford admires what Flannery’s done with the River program and knows his team will be in for a battle.

“You can tell they are very well coached, very disciplined and fundamentally sound,” he said. “(Isaly) is a really nice player; a nice athlete who has a great arm. But, he is also just as big a threat running the ball.”

Isaly, the 5-10, 175-pound senior, has rushed 203 times for 1,252 yards and 20 touchdowns this fall. He’s thrown for another 1,696 yards on 103 of 203 attempts for 18 more scores and just seven interceptions.

Gifford has also been enamored by watching Drew Dietz on tape. The 6-2, 220-pound tight end is 82 yards away from surpassing the 1,000-yard plateau and has made 49 grabs for 11 TDs. The coach also voiced his pleasure watching Drew Wagnild the senior tailback who is a threat running the ball (608 yards/6 TDs) and catching it (10 receptions/159 yards/2TDs).

Wide out Michael Johnson, a 5-9, 150-pound freshman, has made 13 catches for 209 yards and two TDs.

“They’re just a really good team on both sides of the ball,” Gifford said, adding he’s been impressed by River’s execution, both offensively and defensively.

“They don’t make many mistakes,” he said. “The defensive front stays in its lanes and does its job.

“We’re definitely going to have our hands full, that’s for sure.”

Up front for the Pilots on offense are: senior Ethan Lively (5-10, 210) at center, senior Zak Talbot (5-8, 175) and sophomore Heath Rosen (5-9, 180) at guards, and senior Luc Baker (6-0, 300) and junior Kane McLeod (5-11, 200) at tackles.

Wagnild, Baker, Talbot and Dietz anchor the defensive front for River, with junior Hunter Dennis (5-9, 175), Rosen and sophomore Colton Lawrence (5-10, 200) providing strength at linebacker.

Faces in the secondary include: Johnson, Isaly, senior Cole Hinerman (6-2, 195), sophomore Stone Thompson (6-0, 160) and freshman Carter Dennis (5-10, 165).

“Wagnild made 25 tackles last week,” Flannery stated. “That’s impressive.

“When we played last week, I asked them ‘What more do you guys want?’ This is a great challenge. We’re playing the No. 1 back of all-time in Ohio and if he gets enough yardage against us he’ll be the leading rusher in the nation.

“I don’t think he got it.”

While the Tartans (9-2) don’t have a player with Bangura’s resume, they do have talent.

“They will probably be one of the biggest teams we’ve faced this year,” Flannery said. “They have a (right) tackle (Blaine Scott, 6-4, 310) that’s going to (West Virginia University) who I think is better than probably any other lineman we’ve faced this year.

“They’re a physical-type team that runs the ball well, but is very capable of passing. We’ve seen them in the spread, also. They have athletic kids at the right positions.”

Flannery said the Tartans keep their pass-run ration about 50-50 and are similar to Lucas.

“They get behind those big bodies and their backs are big,” he said. “The quarterback would rather run it. He reminds me of (Lukas). He looks like a leader on the field. If he doesn’t like what he sees, he just takes off running.”

Flannery is speaking of 5-10, 210-pound senior Brady Douthat, who has thrown for about 1,400 yards this season.

The rest of the skill players for Sciotoville East include: senior Ethan Carver (5-10, 216) at fullback, junior Kyle Flannery (5-10, 165) and halfback, senior Devon Stevens (5-11, 200) at wingback, and senior Ethan Gifford (5-11, 225) and split end.

The offensive line features: senior JD Hatcher (6-2, 200) at tight end, senior Justin Kritzwiser (6-1, 225) at left guard, sophomore Grant Gifford (6-2, 235) at right guard, junior Brayden Gifford (6-0, 240) at center, and junior Trenten Bond (6-4, 290) at left tackle.

Carver and sophomore Braiden Haney (5-11, 180) are the defensive ends, with Scott and bond the DTs. Ethan Gifford and junior Chandler Carver (5-11, 225) are inside linebackers, while Stevens and Hatcher man the outside spots. Flannery and junior Mackie Kingery (5-10, 155) are the corners, while Douthat also plays safety.

“They play a 4-4,” Flannery said. “We’ve made some adjustments this week and we’re going to some things they don’t see on film and, hopefully, we catch them offguard a little bit.”

“(Coach Gifford) has created a nice culture down there. They will ride the momentum of their win last week into our game and we’re going to have to find a way to reverse the momentum into our favor.”

Gifford is in his seventh year at Sciotoville East, his third as head coach. The Tartans are in the postseason for the third straight season, having picked up its first victory with last week’s 16-8 triumph against No. 2 seed Waterford.

“It’s certainly created a lot of excitement,” Gifford said. “The kids now realize that hard work pays off.

“But they’re not satisfied. They really want to keep this going and see how far we can take this thing.”

The Tartans’ two losses have come against Oak Hill in Week 8, 36-12, and Danville in Week 2, 42-6. The game vs. the Blue Devils was close in the fourth quarter.

“We felt playing with them gave our kids some confidence,” Gifford said. “They also understand that at this point in the season everyone you play is going to be good, so they know if they bring their ”B game we’ll probably get beat.”

Flannery believes if his kid bring the same attitude to Athens County that they brought to metro Columbus last week, they’ll be OK.

“I told them if they play with the energy and with the passion they played with week, everything will be fine.”

[mattash]

River plays a pretty tough schedule. Glad East scheduled Danville to give them experience with these type of teams. They just need to play all quarters.

[OvGuy]

In 3 of the 4 losses River had they were games up until the 3rd/4th when everything snowballed. Up 21-6 at half against Shadyside. Down to Linsly 6-0 almost to the 4th and down to Meadowbrook 13-0 at half with them scoring with no time left in the 2nd to make it that. I think this team in week 12 would have pulled out at least one of those games. They were very young at the beginning of the year.

[Blue33]

Brady Douthat or Tom Brady man that kid is a absolute beast...kids got an arm on him does he have any offers yet

Yes

[Jolly(senator]

Brady Douthat or Tom Brady man that kid is a absolute beast...kids got an arm on him does he have any offers yet

Yes

Do you know who from?

[Blue33]

Brady Douthat or Tom Brady man that kid is a absolute beast...kids got an arm on him does he have any offers yet

Yes

Do you know who from?

Not off the top of my head

[OvGuy]

Good luck to the Pilots tonight!

We Are River!

[OvGuy]

Another local write up this one from the Times of River's last trip to Athens and second undefeated season in school history.

HANNIBAL — River’s football fans will certainly know the route to Basil Rutter Field in Athens tonight. However, they may not recognize the place when they get there.

It’s been a while since the Pilots have ventured to the recently remodled facility in The Plains.

Actually, it’s been 20 years since the Pilots set sail for Athens County for a football tournament game.

“Hopefully this one turns out a little better for us than the last one,” Terry Snively — a current Pilot assistant and the former head coach — said earlier this week of a 13-6 loss to Lucasville Valley in the regional semifinals.

It was Snively’s team that posted a perfect 10-0 regular season, won the OVAC and earned the top seed in the Division V, Region 19 tournament at a time when only four times qualified for the postseason.

“That was a good group of kids that really hung together,” Snively said. “They hung around each other, socialized together and we played a different kind of schedule back then.”

According to quarterback Mike Gehrig, who was a senior on the team, the Class of 1998 players realized early on that they had some potential.

“We had 11 or 12 guys in the class that had started and been playing together since we were in (junior high) and our only loss as freshmen came to Linsly, so we thought we could be decent down the road,” Gehrig said.

During the course of the season, the Pilots found themselves in some murky waters, especially in Week six against Martins Ferry. After defeating Meadowbrook (21-0), Tyler (34-13), Monroe Central (6-0), Magnolia (13-7) and Belpre (48-7) to hit the mid-way point, the Pilots prepared for the Purple Riders, who were led by Chad Brinker.

“We had a few close games,” Snively said. “Probably for the fans’ sake, the best game was the Martins Ferry game. The kids just seemed to find a way.”

With the Purple Riders’ game in the rear-view mirror, the Pilots reeled off victories against Newton Falls (34-20), Barnesville (55-8), Wheeling Central (19-7) and then closed with a convincing 55-13 victory over rival Shadyside.

“We expected a battle in that game against Shadyside, but we just kind of jumped on them,” Snively said. “Against Barnesville, I believe we scored the first five times we had the ball.”

Though the Pilots celebrated on Flannery Field as OVAC champions and with a perfect regular season, the work wasn’t done.

After learning their seed, the Pilots were informed they were headed to Athens to take on Lucasville Valley.

While the Pilots spent all week preparing for Lucasville, they didn’t have an opportunity to prepare for what was ahead during the game in terms of Mother Nature. As the Pilots were wrapping up their pre-game meal in Marietta and preparing to board their buses, it began it rain. It didn’t quit raining either.

“It absolutely poured in Athens that night,” Gehrig said. “We played Central on the Island and that was the only time we played in the rain all season.”

The Pilots — despite the weater — had their way with Valley in terms of the stat sheet. However, it produced two “big plays,” including an interception return for a touchdown.

“We basically dominated them in every aspect of the game,” Gehrig said. “We outgained them, had more first downs, possessed the ball longer, it was just one sided. It just wasn’t our time.”

The table for that season was set long before 1997, according to Gehrig.

At the varsity level, River went 8-2, 8-2 and then 5-5 to set up the 1997 season.

“After the Shadyside game (in Week 10) our junior year, we got together and decided it was time to start,” Gehrig recalled. “We started lifting in mid November and everyone was dedicated and wanted to achieve the same thing. We developed the mindset to go out and win football games and everyone got along well and no one cared who did what.”

Quite simply, all of those ingredients are crucial to successful teams, regardless of sport, level or year.

The Pilots 1997 squad also included: Stanley Stalder, Jay Saner, Steve Lallathin, Ben Frye, Ed Trifinoff, Justin Isaly, Matt Caldwell, Steve Cecil, Jonathan Moser, Steve Horn, Matt Corwin, Josh Rosen, Eric Yonley, Ed Conley, Marty Ramsay, Todd Fry, Gene Schmidt, Brandon Heslep, Tony Ensinger, Jesse Howard, Mike ISaly, Mark Isaly, Nathan Pletcher, Jonathan Riethmiller, Brian Blatt, Tom Frye, Aaron Stalder, Justin Mozena, Ross Ogilbee, Seth Tolzda, Greg Gehrig, Justin Wolfe, Matt Walters and Aaron Lee.

Snively’s coaching staff consisted of Mark Holenka, Tom Tisher, Mark Romick, Bob Strawn, Chuck Baker, Bob Cicogna and Tim Frye.

[Proud_Pirate63]

Tartan strong!!!!

[Jolly P(irate)]

Good luck Tartans. Leave it all on the field.

[Blue33]

Tartan strong!!!!

Good luck to the Pirates!

[Blue33]

Good luck Tartans. Leave it all on the field.

Good luck Burg!

[UKblue4ever1968]

Lets go blue.........hope you are still playing come week 13