[Baltimore Sun] River Hill football takes advantage of Reservoir miscues in 15-7 win
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River Hill football beat itself in each of its first two games, totaling nine turnovers. Entering Friday night’s contest against Reservoir, coach Brian Van Deusen preached the importance of protecting the ball.
Not only did the Hawks follow their coach’s plea, they completely flipped the script, finishing with a plus-four turnover margin. River Hill cashed in on Reservoir’s mistakes, scoring both of their touchdowns after turnovers in a 15-7 win.
“Our emphasis is protecting the ball and making good decisions offensively and then defensively, create those turnovers,” Van Deusen said. “It was great to see some big hits tonight. Those turnovers were huge. They weren’t able to get momentum going. We had the ball almost the whole first half. We probably had 30 more plays than them and then we were able to wear them down a little bit, just run the clock.”
Despite repeated mistakes, Reservoir had an opportunity to tie the game inside of two minutes remaining. inside of two minutes remaining,”] Gators quarterback Elijiah Green launched a ball toward Cruz Tsabang in the end zone. However, River Hill senior defensive back Yusuf Shabazz was there for the pass breakup. Two plays later, Green scrambled inside of the red zone, but a Hawks defender knocked the ball loose — the fourth and final turnover — sealing the win.
Green’s fumble capped off a frustrating offensive night for the Gators. Reservoir’s mistakes began on the opening drive, losing a bad snap on the second play of the game. River Hill (1-2) responded with a seven-play, 50-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 14-yard pass from Shane Schrecengost to Josh Newman. Newman outjumped multiple Gators defenders on the play, eliciting cheers from River Hill’s sideline, including former Hawk and Baltimore Ravens safety Beau Brade.
“It means a lot,” Brade said. “For me, this is not exactly where it started, but definitely where a lot of my younger days, I made big plays here. Seeing these guys out here, running around, giving 100% effort. No matter what happens as long as they give 100% effort, that’s all I really care about. Seeing that happen out here, that means the most to me. And that’s when big plays like they’re making now happen. These kids are playing their butt off.”
The Gators (1-2) fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, but their defense held strong, including a pair of sacks from senior Moses Bailey. River Hill remained up by a touchdown at half. Reservoir appeared to gain momentum on its initial second-half drive. However, a fumble near midfield thwarted the drive.
Schrecengost capped off another seven-play touchdown drive from 4 yards out. The senior quarterback added a two-point conversion, bulldozing a Gators defender on his way to the end zone, pushing the Hawks advantage to 15 midway through the third quarter.
Friday marked Schrecengost’s first full game action since last year after sustaining an injury during the season opener against Atholton and strictly playing offense last week against Howard. He’s continued to become more comfortable as the signal caller after starting several games last season due to injury.
“I really credit it to Coach Van Deusen,” Schrecengost said. “He really helped me this offseason with my timing on throws, my patience with the line, really getting everybody together, playing for the team, not just myself.”
After struggling to keep possession, Reservoir orchestrated its best drive of the game. Leaning on their ground game, the Gators marched down the field, bookended by a 9-yard run from Tsabang.
Their defense provided one more opportunity to get back into the game with a key stand. However, the turnovers reared their ugly head again as the Hawks closed out a hard-fought first win, in front of one of their most notable alumni.
“It’s awesome,” Van Deusen said. “We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of former players come back and coach and be involved. I think we have four former players on the staff now and then with Beau back, it just shows important this is to people, this high school experience and the River Hill football program. The guys get to talk to Beau. He brings the intensity on the sideline. I think that helps, guys stepped up in the game and got some big hits. It’s pretty cool to see, a guy that’s in the pros, he’ll be playing in Dallas in a couple days and still coming back to his high school. We love having him around.”
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