By Molly Seales

On Thursday evening, October 1, the JV Claiborne Academy Rebels came to town to play the JV Riverdale Rebels.  It was a great game with helmets clashing almost the entire game.  The Riverdale Rebels came out with the 16-8 win.  Early in the first half, Kyle Guillory took the handoff from quarterback Ryder Huddleston and made a long run for the first touchdown of the game.  Right after the touchdown, Ryder was able to score on the 2- point conversion.  In the first half, Huddleston and Guillory were joined by Ashton Almond, who was wearing his Paw T’s  #81 in honor of his late grandfather and long-time Riverdale supporter Tremmell Almond,  for some valuable offensive yards.  Guillory also had a big interception that saved an almost certain touchdown by Claiborne.  Defense the first half was strong and was led by huge tackles from Hayden Hillman, Logan Gryder, Tanner Carlisle, Almond, and Huddleston.  Despite this defensive effort, Claiborne managed to score a touchdown and 2-point conversion to tie the game 8-8 at the half.

The RA Rebs came out looking strong in the second half as well.  On the offensive side, Ryder Huddleston scored a touchdown and followed it up with another 2-point conversion, making it 16-8 in favor of Riverdale.  Almond and Guillory again put up some important offensive yards for the Rebels.  The defense was outstanding in the second half as well.  Claiborne threated to score several times, but almost every time Claiborne had the football, the Riverdale defense took them down.  Ryder Huddleston had an interception, and Jaxon Gates, Gryder, Huddleston, Hillman, Almond, Guillory, and Carlisle had some hard tackles.  Ben Moseley, Caleb Dabbs, and Remington Dabbs also gave the Rebels some valuable minutes as well.

The Riverdale JV Rebels were able to hold on and win their first game of the season 16-8.  The JV Rebels will travel to Claiborne on October 12 for a re-match.  Go Rebs!