(Oakland) The 1-4 Riverside football team will host 0-5 Missouri Valley on Friday night.
Riverside coach Darrell Frain says these teams are similar in what they want to execute. “For the most part we competed real heard. We played great. In the third quarter we had three or four guys go down with cramps and a couple of other injuries to go along with it. We were fighting just to put kinds on the field at that point, so it was kind of a tough go, but for three quarters we felt we matched up well. We looked like we had a chance. We took an onside kick after being down by six and we were about to score and it just didn’t work out for us at that point. It’s like all the games, we are 1-4 and we feel like we can compete with every team we play. Things just haven’t went our way yet. Hopefully we can go on a run. The last three games if we win our we are selling to the kids that we have a chance at the playoffs, so that’s our plan.”
The Bulldogs were within 25-19 in the 2nd half before falling to undefeated AHSTW last week 39-19.
Friday’s matchup is a non-district game, but they are hoping it can kickstart a big finish with remaining non-district games against SW Valley and Earlham.
The win-loss record may not reflect it, but the Bulldogs have had a lot of people that have perhaps exceeded expectations this season. “We have a lot of kids that have done well for us this year. As a leader and receiver and kick returner, punt returner, and defensive back Ayden Salais has done really well for us. On the offensive line Jon Alff has really taken some giant steps for us also. We expected a lot out of Grady Jeppesen at quarterback even though he’s never played it and he’s done well. We have a handful of kids that have done well. On defense Brody Zimmerman at Mike linebacker has done well for us. I could give a number of kids I could call out, but those kids have really stepped up for us.”
Grady Jeppesen has thrown for 947 yards. Ayden Salais has been the go-to guy with 29 catches for 481 yards and four scores. Brody Zimmerman has a team best 32 tackles with two sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss.
Riverside coach Darrell Frain:
