Football: Riverside Takes Late Lead, Surges Past Freedom

Leesburg, Va. — Entering their Week 4 game unbeaten for just the second time in school history, the Riverside High School football team had their eye on a 4-0 start for the first time since 2018, but the traveling Freedom High School Eagles stood in their way. The Rams didn’t take the lead until the 9-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but once they did, it was all Riverside as they surged past the Eagles, 35-14, on September 14 in Leesburg.

“Right now, we’re a second half team who’s good at making adjustments, but we have to get better, especially starting games,” Riverside head coach Ernie Porter said. “These teams that are coming up are tough, so we have to start playing better in the first half.”

The Rams looked to get off to a great start against Freedom when defensive linemen Zach Bloom and Nathaniel Hanna busted through the Eagles’ offensive line and sacked senior quarterback Krish Rawat for a 9-yard loss. On the very next play, the Riverside defense stuffed Rawat at the line of scrimmage, setting up a 3rd-and-19 from the Freedom 11 yard line on just the third play of the game.

After a couple penalties, Freedom was forced to punt as the Riverside offense trotted onto the field for their first series. A slow but steady drive gave the Rams 1st-and-10 from the Freedom 33-yard line, but on the first play with their fresh set of downs, the Rams coughed up a fumble which was corralled by Freedom senior linebacker Jordan Morales, who then rumbled down the sideline 62 yards for a touchdown.

“We knew [Morales] was going to be their key player. He’s a phenomenal player, and he gave us fits,” Porter said. “He’s a talented young man, and he brings it every play.”

Less than two minutes later, the Rams had an answer as junior quarterback Robert Evelyn connected with sophomore receiver Cam Thomas on a 33-yard touchdown pass to tie the game up at 7-7.

“Cam’s a great kid, he’s got talent, and we’re excited about his future,” Porter said.

Exactly seven minutes later, Rawat answered Evelyn’s touchdown pass with one of his own as he found Morales open in the endzone for a 30-yard touchdown connection as the Eagles retook the lead, 14-7.

Coming out of halftime, the Rams knew they needed to bring a renewed energy, but it wasn’t until late in the third quarter that they were able to find the endzone as Evelyn once again connected with Thomas, this time for a 26-yard touchdown to tie the game up at 14-14 with less than a minute to play in the third.

“Both touchdowns were amazing throws by Robert,” Thomas said. “I was a little bit nervous on both of them, because they were both close to being out of bounds, but they were great play calls and great plays.”

With just less than nine minutes to play in the game, Riverside took its first lead of the game when Evelyn hit senior receiver Jeremy McCloud with a 35-yard touchdown strike. Following a 2-point conversion, the Rams extended their lead to 22-14.

“The energy was really high after halftime,” Thomas said. “We got a pretty good speech, and we just took off.”

On the ensuing Freedom drive, the Riverside defense—which held the Eagles to just 46 yards of total offense in the second half—showed what it was made of when junior defensive back Syed Basit Sherazi picked off Rawat to give the Rams the ball at the Freedom 33.

“We’ve been getting better defensively,” Porter said. “The first couple of weeks, our defense was behind and the offense was ahead of us, but now the defense is starting to settle in and do what we want them to do.”

Two plays later, Riverside senior running back Ed Abbott found an opening and broke free for a 34-yard touchdown run to extend the Rams’ lead to 29-14. Abbott capped off the night with a 3-yard touchdown run as time expired, giving the Rams a 35-14 win.

Following a Week 5 bye, the Rams will travel to Loudoun County High School, where they’ll spar with the Captains in hopes of improving to 5-0 for the first time in school history on September 29.

“We made some adjustments at halftime, but we have to be able to start a little bit faster,” Porter said. “We play a couple of good teams coming up in Loudoun County and Briar Woods, and we can’t afford to get behind and not play well in the first half.”

Andrew Weitzel captured 75+ photos at the game!

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