After Close Loss to Eastside, Riverside Ready For Greer

Riverside fell to fell to the Eastside Eagles 13-12 last week.

“We started out good,” said Head Football Coach Phil Smith. “Defensively, we had an interception for a touchdown. The extra point got blocked; we’re frustrated abut that. But we played well, the whole first half defensively. We missed a few tackles early in the game. “

The Eagles got in the red zone and stalled, making a field goal attempt probable, Smith said.

“I’ve been preaching to our kids all summer long and all year that on fourth down, I believe in you and I’m going to go for it,” Smith said. “I’m not scared to put the ball in your hands and see what you can do with it.”

After a roughing the kicker call, the refs came over, Smith said.  

“I’m like, ‘Well, where are we going to be?’ and he said, ‘Around the two,’ and I said, ‘All right, we’re going for it,’” Smith said. “The guys got jacked up. And I looked at the field marker and it was more like around four. I was like, ‘Should I call time out? Should I call time out?’”

The team went into halftime ahead over Riverside 12-0.

“We were excited,” Smith said. “I don’t know that they’ve been in that position in a long time. Obviously, they didn’t know how to react to that. We played well in the third quarter.”

Then Eastside ran into Riverside’s “big bruiser,” – Nick Sams. 

Sams was named the Greer Touchdown Club’s Defensive Player of the Week.

“You are a man child,” Smith told Sams. “Jeff decided to put this big bruiser in and they ran down the field and we couldn’t stop them. We had our opportunities.”

Riverside is used to getting the “40 to nothing type whipping,” Smith said.

“Our kids, they were devastated on the loss, because it was so close,” he said. “It’s a building process that we’re going through.  Our kids are responding well.”

Tonight, Riverside takes on the Greer Yellow Jackets, “who I think could give any college a run for their money, speed-wise,” Smith said. “They’ve got so much speed on the field. They’ve got a lot of weapons, obviously. We just hope to contain them and slow them down a little bit.”

Addressing Greer Head Coach Will Young, Smith said, “Will, if you’ll just stay under fifty, I’ll keep my job,” drawing laughs from the crowd.

“I’m sure the place is going to be packed,” he said. “I was very excited to see, at our game last Friday, that the stands were full. It’s an exciting time to be at Riverside. We’re going to get out there and do our best.”