Entering 2023, Riverdale had 12 previous opportunities to take down their longtime rivals at Oakland, none of which were successful.
Those margins weren’t exactly close, either – none of them were fewer than 17 points during that stretch.
It was kind of fitting, then, that a 17-point deficit was just what the Warriors erased Friday evening – four days before Halloween – in a Battle of the Boro exorcism of demons accumulated over that span. The Warriors’ 25-24 victory came just more than 11 years to the day (Oct. 26, 2012) since Riverdale’s last triumph over Oakland.
“We knew what we were going up against,” Graham said. “A great team, you know (Oakland head coach Kevin) Creasy does a great job with those guys, and a lot of great players as well. The first half, they got after us … you know, shut us down in moments and we just had to work ourselves out of it.”
The rally began with the Warriors’ opening possession of the second half – a 15-play, 80-yard drive that took 6:31 off the clock, but it ended just as it needed to – with a Graham-to-Montgomery toss in the corner of the end zone to finally get the Warriors on the board after they trailed 17-0 at halftime.
“I had never played against Oakland before,” Montgomery said. “In the first half, I was getting a feel (for the rivalry). We went down 17-0, but we all pulled together, man. It’s a team game, so we all came together like ‘We’re going to come back and win this game.’”
The turning point
Cue the defense – three plays later, Ryan Edmiston came up with a fumble at the Oakland 27 and although it did not result in a touchdown, it did prove fruitful despite back-to-back false starts turning Khalil Arman’s field goal attempt from 30 yards into 40. Arman still connected and Oakland’s lead was trimmed to seven.
Riverdale’s defense forced a three-and-out, and although Oakland punter Jacob Taylor turned one over for a 58-yard missile that put the Warriors back at their own 12-yard line, the offense still worked methodically downfield. 5:03 later, after 12 plays and 88 yards, Graham found Keshawn Williams in the back right corner of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown that tied the game at 17-17 with 7:21 left.
Oakland’s offense cranked up again, going 80 yards in 4:42 with Ashton Jones finishing it off on a 9-yard touchdown run and it looked like the upset bid might fall just short with 2:39 left.
One more response
However, three Bs – Braden (Graham), Brock (Montgomery), and Braylen (Vanderbilt) – made A-plus plays on the Warriors’ key series to snatch a victory and a region title away from their cross-town tormentors at Oakland.
Graham connected with Montgomery three times on the decisive series, including 29- and 37-yard completions on back-to-back plays that put Riverdale at the 1-yard line. DJ Taylor’s 1-yard plunge pulled the Warriors within one, and they rolled the dice right then and there, going for two and the lead.
On the try, Graham rolled right and fired toward Montgomery, who was crossing from right to left. But Craig Tutt got a hand on the ball and deflected it up into the air. Riverdale’s Ben Woodruff had a shot at it, but three Oakland players converged to deny his effort. The ball tipped away from Vanderbilt, but he was able to reach out with his left hand and corral it before it hit the ground.
“We run that play all the time in practice,” Vanderbilt said. “Normally it doesn’t go to me, but you’ve got to be ready, no matter what. The ball came to my hands, and I seized the opportunity.”
“(Oakland) played it really well,” Graham said. “We thought it was going to be man (coverage), and 12 (Oakland junior Bronson Crisp) did a good job being spaced out on the flat we were running, so my initial thought was just ‘rip it into my guy Brock’ and I couldn’t really see what happened, but all I know is that we caught it.”
The Patriots had another shot to respond in the final 90 seconds, but JC Haynes sacked Kyler Creasy and forced a fumble that Joseph Guzman recovered to seal the victory.
Riverdale’s comeback spoiled a big night for Oakland’s Daune Morris, who piled up 295 yards of total offense (247 rushing yards on 27 carries, four catches for 48 yards, and two touchdowns. He had 176 yards on the ground in the first half, including an 80-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
The new region champions will host Green Hill in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs next week.