Richland Northeast ousts Emerald
Richland Northeast opened the 3A postseason strongwith a 38-6 victory over Emerald. With the win, the Cavaliers will go on the road next week to play No. 1 South Pointe.
Richland Northeast (6-5) didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard. Aloysius Jackson broke loose for a 58-yard touchdown run 57 seconds into the game, and Barry Moorer added a 2-point conversion. After an Emerald (8-4) punt, the Cavaliers embarked on a 12-play, 89-yard scoring drive, capped with Tyquandre Davis’ 3-yard score. Moorer added another conversion.
Late in the second quarter Jackson found Donovan Harris for a 32-yard completion that set up another Jackson TD run, this time from 2-yards out. Matthew Anderson caught a Jackson pass to put Richland Northeast up 24-0.
Emerald scored its only touchdown in the final seconds of the first half. Richland Northeast’s Moorer and Charles Simons scored touchdowns in the second half.
TURNING POINT
The Cavaliers drove straight through the first half, racking up 41 offensive plays to Emerald’s 20. The Vikings did knock out a 10-play, 70-yard drive capped with Meldrecous Jones’ 25-yard TD pass to K.J. Chamberlain, but before that drive Emerald punted twice and fumbled once.
KEY PERFORMERS
Jackson: The Richland Northeast quarterback rushed 14 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns, and completed 3 of 5 passes for 54 yards.
Davis: The Cavaliers running back rushed 15 times for 121 yards and a TD.
RNE Defense: The Cavaliers held the Vikings to 126 yards on the ground and 62 passing.
THEY SAID IT
“I wasn’t really pleased with everything, but overall it was a great effort and we’ll take a win in the playoffs any time we can get one. Our running backs ran hard, and of course Aloysius is doing a great job of quarterback, and the defense stepped up when they had to.” – Jay Frye, RNE coach
“We didn’t play very well and they did. They’re definitely faster than we are. We didn’t tackle very well and we got behind early, and that type of situation doesn’t play to our strength, it plays to theirs.” – Tim McMahon, Emerald coach
“This was a great opportunity for us, we haven’t been here (in the playoffs) since 2011, and we look at tonight as a way to start and a way for Richland Northeast to say we’re up to something.” – Aloysius Jackson, RNE quarterback
KEY NUMBERS
3: Number of plays Richland Northeast took to knock out a 64-yard scoring drive to open the game.
93: Emerald total offensive yards in the first half, 31 rushing and 62 passing.
10: Number of Richland Northeast penalties, for 100 yards.
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
R – Aloysius Jackson 58 run (Barry Moorer run) 11:03
R – Tyquandre Davis 3 run (Moorer run) :13
2nd Quarter
R – Jackson 3 run (Matthew Anderson pass from Jackson) 2:42
E – K.J. Chamberlain pass from Meldrecous Jones (run failed) :06
3rd Quarter
R – Moorer 2 run (Jackson run) 6:16
4th Quarter
R – Charles Simons 8 run (kick failed) 2:03
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Emerald – Keshawn Settles 10-42, Meldrecous Jones 14-24, Willie Reynolds 13-58, Anthony White 5-12, K.J. Chamberlain 1-(-1). Richland Northeast – Aloysius Jackson 14-114, Tyquandre Davis 15-121, Barry Moorer 15-42, Charles Simons 2-21, Demetrius Bethel 1-60.
Passing: Emerald – Meldrecous Jones 8-4-0. Richland Northeast – Aloysius Jackson 5-3-1
Receiving: Emerald –K.J. Chamberlain 2-62, Willie Reynolds 2-0. Richland Northeast – Matthew Anderson 1-17, Tyquandre Davis 1-5, Donovan Harris 1-32.
This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 11:27 PM.