River Bluff-Gilbert showdown lives up to the hype

The “We want River Bluff” chant fell silent Friday night in The Swamp.

For weeks, the Gilbert High student section had been chanting those words at the conclusions of what was typically a resounding victory for the Indians.

But that mantra was squashed by the running of Braden Walker and Riley Myers. Walker scored three touchdowns and Myers added two more to give the Gators a thrilling 48-40 victory over Gilbert in front of an electric, playoff-type atmosphere of roughly 5,500 fans.

“This was very similar to last year’s game when we were down two scores,” River Bluff coach Blair Hardin said. “They scored quickly but our kids kept fighting. (Jackson) Stone, our quarterback, extended some plays and that really helped. We just kept chipping away.”

It was a heavyweight battle between River Bluff, the No. 8 Class 5A team, and Gilbert, the No. 6 team in Class 3A.

The Gators led by two scores in the first half but also trailed by two scores in the second half before relying on their bruising offensive line and the tandem of Walker and Myers. They also got their only turnover in the final 12 minutes to aid in the comeback.

Gilbert (5-1) took its first lead on the first play of the second half. Alec Holt, who finished with 100 yards rushing and 118 yards receiving with five total touchdowns, took a reverse 80 yards to give the Indians the lead at 28-21.

They extended that lead to 34-21 on a 4-yard touchdown pass from QB Jy Tolen to Holt late in the third quarter.

Myers, who had 110 yards on 10 carries, answered that score with a 27-yard scamper on an option pitch.

Holt scored the final of his touchdowns on a 13-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 40-28 lead, but that’s all the Indians could muster.

Jackson Stone connected with Kendall Long on a 70-yard touchdown strike to again make a one possession contest with over 10 minutes remaining.

The Gators defense came up with a stop and Hardin went almost exclusively to the ground game at the points. River Bluff held a noticeable size advantage up front, and they started to exploit that will Myers and Walker.

Walker, the Shrine Bowler, gave the Gators the lead for good, 41-40, with a 9-yard run with 3:16 remaining. Austin Glad intercepted a pass to set the stage for Walker’s final touchdown — a 61-yard run with 22 seconds remaining.

“We said, let’s just run the football. It was clicking for us, so we just stayed with it,” Hardin said. “We would like to be balanced, but when it’s working, I’m not really smart, but you better stay with it, so we stayed with it.”

Walker finished with 154 yards on 20 carries and added a 98-yard kickoff return for a score to open the game. The Gators had 438 yards of total offense, 318 yards on the ground.

“I saw a team that fought hard all four quarters and had each other’s back through being down two scores to being up two scores at the beginning of the game,” Walker said. “We kept our foot on the petal and didn’t stop for anything.”

Tolen finished 26-of-42 for 413 yards and four touchdowns as the Indians finished with 566 total yards. Even with the loss against the bigger opponent, Gilbert coach Chad Leaphart was proud of the effort.

“It was tough,” Leaphart said. “Some of that stuff does catch up with you but they were getting tired too. When it came down to it in the fourth quarter, they made some plays and we didn’t. I’m proud of how our kids played, they played their butts off.”

Gil-14-7-13-6—40

RB-14-7-7-20—48

HOW THEY SCORED

1st Quarter

RB – Braden Walker 98 kickoff return (Braeden Stiles kick) 11:46

RB – Tyson Trottier 35 pass from Jackson Stone (Stiles kick) 5:55

G – Dre Harris 77 pass from Jy Tolen (Rajan Cheema kick) 4:30

G – Alex Holt 25 pass from Tolen (Cheema kick) 0:16

2nd Quarter

RB – Riley Myers 16 run (Stiles kick) 9:07

G – Holt 72 pass from Tolen (Cheema kick) 2:13

3rd Quarter

G – Holt 80 run (Cheema kick) 11:45

G – Holt 4 pass from Tolen (kick failed) 3:22

RB – Myers 27 run (Stiles kick) 0:37

4th Quarter

G – Holt 13 run (pass failed) 11:51

RB – Kendall Long 70 pass from Stone (Stiles kick) 10:09

RB – Walker 9 run (pass failed) 3:16

RB – Walker 61 run (Stiles kick) 0:22

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: G: Alec Holt 4-100, Ty Walker 10-36, Jy Tolen 8-(-1), Ja’Mias Holloway 3-18. RB: Braden Walker 20-154, Riley Myers 10-110, Jackson Stone 10-54.

Passing: L: G: Tolen 26-42-413-1. RB: Stone 6-12-0-120.

Receiving: G: Holt 4-118, Matt Reed 4-86, Harris 8-140, Holloway 8-57, Joel Franklin 2-12. RB: Tyson Trottier 4-51, Kendall Long 1-70, Austin Outman 1-(-1),