Lake County Sentinel
Riverside's season ends with 21-0 loss to Hoban
BY JOEY SCHNEIDER
STAFF
(TWINSBURGH, OH) - High fives, hugs, and tears were everywhere you looked at Tigers Stadium in Twinsburg following the Riverside Beavers round three playoff loss to the Arch-bishop Hoban Knights, 21-0. It was an absolute slug fest from start to finish. The Riverside Beavers gave it everything they had and held Hoban to just 21 points. Hoban on the other hand, who has won five out of the last ten division II state championships, were even more dominant.
You could point to any player on the field on Friday and that player has an offer from a division 1 or division 2 college. There was so much talent on the field, it felt more like a college game than it did a high school contest. Riverside's seniors Mikey Maloney, Brady McKnight, Jason Mackey, Isaiah Walter, and Dominic Kirks who has verbally committed to the University of Washington. among others all have multiple scholarship offers at the college level. Then you looked across the field at Hoban and the same could be said as seniors Tysen Campbell, Rick-ey Williams, David Bell, Jordan Pritchard-Sewell, and William Satterwhite all have big offers as well, not to mention junior linebacker Eli Lee who has already com-mitted to The Ohio State University.
The game had a big time feel and both communities traveled well to support their teams. Riverside started the game with the ball. On just the third play of the game Hoban's junior linebacker Tanner Mintz jumped a wide receiver screen pass for an interception and ran it back 25-yards for an early defensive touchdown, giving the Knights the lead 7-0.
Hoban would again score late in the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Caleb Jones after a lengthy drive extending the Knights lead to 14-0.
Both teams’ defenses would then put on a hard-hitting show in the second quarter, not giving up any ground in a true, down, and dirty fight with neither team will-ing to let the other score. With less than two minutes left in the half Riverside senior quarterback Mikey Maloney broke his nose and went to the bench. At halftime, the score stayed 14-0. Maloney would stay on the bench as phenome-nal team doctor Dr. Brian Juriga would work his magic and fix it. After a quick test by Maloney, he was given the okay to play by his coaches and parents as noth-ing would stop him from finishing the game.
Hoban struck again on the opening drive in the second half as once again Caleb Jones would score on an 8-yard run up the middle giving the Knights all the breathing room they would need and led 21-0.
Riverside fought with everything they had as Maloney would connect with senior wide receiver Brady McKnight often, and even hit McKnight down the sidelines on a 54-yard pass. Hoban's defense would just not budge and was able to knock Riverside out of range after two sacks by senior linebacker Rickey Williams.
Riverside finally scored on a high reaching catch by senior wide out Ethan Ross only for the score to be called back due to offensive holding. The Knight's de-fense would again push the Beaver's back and eventually stopped them on a fourth and long.
Riverside fought hard until the very end, but Hoban took the final snap of the game in victory formation to continue on in the playoffs, while Riverside's season ended.
There was a lot of respect between the players as they congratulated each other after the game, as well as the coaches. Both teams knew the game would not be easy, and both teams were well coached and prepared. As the Riverside players took a knee in the end zone, each coach stepped forward and said something different. Some words of encouragement, how much the team meant to the school and community, and most importantly how much they loved them. Coach Dave Bors went last and had a few messages for the team. The most important was that they belong there. They fought all year. They put the work in and against one of the best teams in the state the Riverside Beavers belonged.
After the game Coach Bors talked about how proud of his team he was. "I'm ex-tremely proud! The fight, the continued effort, This game could have gone a number of different ways. Winning was one of them, but that didn't happen to-night, but to see these guys fight and battle. The resiliency, backs against the wall numerous times." "It could have been a 49-0 game, but no, not with these guys. They wouldn't let it happen and that is just who they are. They have elevat-ed the expectations beyond even what we as a coaching staff do."
The season may be over at Riverside, but the players will remember this season forever. The work they put in. The wins. The losses. The way the community supported them. The friends and brothers they made along the way, and most importantly, the belief that anything is possible if you are willing to put everything you have into it..
POSTED 11/11/2023 01:39
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Photo by Joey Schneider
