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Riverside advances past Mid Valley

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 4, 2023

Playoff football sometimes means a rematch from a regular season game. That was the case as the #3 seed Riverside Vikings came to town to play the #2 seed Mid Valley Spartans. These teams played a nail-biter early in the season, with Mid Valley getting the narrow 14-12 win down at Riverside. With that road win, the Spartans may have thought they had the advantage playing at home against the Vikings in this one.

That was not the case, at all. It was Senior WR Reese Gaughan, the Lackawanna Football Conference all-time receiving leader, who took to the ground and scored 3 rushing touchdowns to lead his team to a decisive 28-6 win for Riverside in a turnover-filled District 2 Class 2A semi-final against Mid Valley.  The Spartans and Vikings combined for 5 fumbles and 4 interceptions in the game.

Mid Valley received the opening kickoff and on the first play immediately fumbled the ball away at their own 22. The Spartan defense was ready for the challenge though, as Riverside would net only 4 yards and turned the ball over on downs. On the next Spartan drive it was Junior RB Jakob Lesher who started with 2 rushes for 5 yards. The third rush however wasn’t as good as Lesher fumbled the ball and Riverside recovered at the Mid Valley 22 yet again. This time, the Vikings gained ground immediately as Senior WR Reese Gaughan ran it for 11 yards. FB Robbie Garvey and QB Chase Taddonio also made some short gains down to the 6. On 4th and 5 from the 6, Taddonio threw it to TE Richie Kostoff for a 6-yard TD that made it 7-0 for Riverside with 5:11 left in the 1st quarter.

Mid Valley started their next drive again with Lesher on the ground, but he was hit hard by Garvey for a small loss. A false start pushed the Spartans back further, and they only gained 5 more yards on the drive and punted it away. The Vikings had good field position at their own 43 and appeared to be making headway as runs by Gaughan, Garvey and RB Jacob Cottle gained 16 yards total. But on 3rd and 5 from the Spartan 46 it was Lesher making a big play with an interception that he returned all the way to the Riverside 32.

As the 1st quarter ended and the 2nd quarter began, the Spartans were at the Viking 27. The Riverside defense rose to the occasion and made a stop on Lesher for a loss of 2 yards. On 3rd and 7 from the 32, QB Brett Yanoski threw it to WR Victor Holt but the Vikings’ Gaughan made a great read and dropped Holt behind the line for a loss of 3 yards. The Spartans went for it on 4th down but the pass from Yanoski was incomplete and Mid Valley turned it over on downs.  Riverside appeared to strike it big immediately when Taddonio threw it to WR Brayden Rose for a huge gain, but an offensive pass interference call on the play put the Vikings in a tough spot with a 1st and 28 from their own 18. After an incomplete pass, Taddonio hit Kostoff for 12 and then threw it to Gaughan for 8 but faced a 4th and 8 and had to punt it away.

The turnover party continued, as on the very next play it was Spartan WR Connor Hughes who fumbled and Riverside recovered at the Mid Valley 15. The Vikings were not immune to the turnover bug either, as Garvey fumbled on the very next play also and the Spartans LB Charles Davey recovered the ball at the Mid Valley 20. After an incomplete pass, Yanoski hit Hughes for an 8-yard gain. Lesher and Hughes then had small gains, and on 3rd and 7 from the 38 Yanoski threw a pass intended for Holt that was picked off by the Vikings’ Rose and returned for a TD. Unfortunately, a holding penalty on the return negated the touchdown but Riverside was back in possession.

Starting at the Mid Valley 40, Gaughan took over on the ground. He gained a quick 21 yards on 3 successive runs, and then Garvey had a nice 5-yard run down to the 14. Taddonio then hit WR J.J. Rogers for 12 yards down to the 3 yard line, but the Spartan defense came up big and stopped Gaughan twice in a row for a net loss of 3 yards. Unfortunately, on 4th and 2 from the 6 the Spartans jumped offsides and gave the Vikings a fresh set of downs. Riverside then capitalized as Gaughan ran it in for a 4-yard score that made it 14-0 with 1:05 left in the half. A nice kick return gave the Spartans good field position at their own 40 but only made it as far as the Viking 42 yard line as time expired in the half.

Riverside took the 2nd half kickoff to their own 40, but a holding penalty made it 1st and 20 from the 30. On the next play, Garvey fumbled and Mid Valley recovered it at the Riverside 31. Lesher ran it 3 times for 10 yards down to the 21, and after an incomplete pass Lesher gained another 6 yards. On 3rd and 4 from the 15, Lesher took the handoff but was hammered immediately by the Vikings’ Garvey for a loss of 1. On 4th and 5 from the 15, RB Mason Vinansky was stopped for no gain and the Spartans again turned it over on downs.

Riverside then embarked on the longest drive of the game. Starting at their own 15, several runs by Gaughan and Taddonio moved the Vikings down to the 42. Taddonio then hit Kostoff for a 25-yard highlight reel catch down to the Spartan 27 yard line that electrified the crowd.

After a holding penalty pushed the Vikings back to the 35, Taddonio threw it to Kostoff again for 8 yards. An offsides penalty by the Spartans moved Riverside to the 22. Gaughan ran it 3 times for 10 yards, and Taddonio gained 7 on the keeper to make it 1st and goal from the 5. On the next play, it was Gaughan again who hit paydirt for the score as he reversed field and scored untouched to make it 21-0 for Riverside with 1:39 left in the 3rd quarter.

With the clock starting to become the enemy, Mid Valley took to the air on their next drive. Starting at their own 37, Yanoski threw it to Holt twice in a row for 12 total yards. As the 3rd quarter ended, and the final quarter got underway, the Spartans faced a 3rd and 13 at their own 46. Yanoski connected with Holt again for 10 yards and then got a clutch reception by Hughes on 4th down to move the chains. Mid Valley then had a holding penalty that pushed them back to the Viking 44. On a crucial 4th down from the 39 and needing 15 yards, Yanoski hit Hughes again for 19 yards to keep the drive alive. The Spartans immediately got back to the line and Yanoski caught the Vikings off guard when he hit Holt for a 20-yard TD. The PAT was blocked but Mid Valley was back in the game at 21-6 with 9:38 to go in the game.

The Spartans then pulled off some trickery as they recovered an onside kick at their own 45. The Riverside defense would have none of it however, and stood tall in breaking up 2 straight passes. Lesher then gained 10 yards on the next 2 plays. The Vikings then broke up 2 more passes on big plays by Rogers and DB Casey O’Brien. Going back to the run on 3rd and 10 at the Viking 45, Lesher took the handoff but was tackled hard by DL Tavian Branch after only a 1-yard gain. Facing a 4th and 9, Yanoski threw it to Holt again but gained only 8 and turned the ball over on downs again.

Riverside could not get anything going on their next drive, and punted it away after a 3-and-out. Mid Valley got thing going again on the ground as Lesher gained 25 total yards down to the Riverside 36. Disaster then struck however, as Yanoski’s pass was intercepted by the Vikings’ Rogers and returned all the way to the Mid Valley 39. Gaughan then finished things off, carrying the ball 4 straight times for 38 total yards and then capping the drive with a 1-yard TD run to make it 28-6 with only 1:52 left in the game. With little time left, Mid Valley moved quickly downfield but the game ended as Yanoski was intercepted by Rose for the 2nd time, sealing the win for Riverside.

After the game I spoke with WR Reese Gaughan about tonight’s rematch win, and you can see the interview here:

Riverside advances to the District 2 Class 2A Championship game next week against the Dunmore Bucks. Be sure to check out the photo gallery from the game, courtesy of Sherryl Samuel:  https://pafootballnews.com/pfn/riverside-at-mid-valley-photo-gallery/

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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