Xeryous Dewberry (2) and teammates Phillip Goodrum (11) and Rodney Jackson (4) work on the return team Thursday night at Southern Crescent Stadium in a game against Riverdale.
Spalding lost its fourth straight game to fall to 1-4-1 overall (0-2 subregion) while Riverdale bounced back from its big loss to Griffin to improve to 5-2, 2-1.
Spalding played without injured senior linebacker Jevaris Jones, junior running back Brandon Thomas and senior quarterback Powell Krepps Thursday and that left the short-handed Jags at a huge disadvantage on both sides of the ball. The Jags couldn’t run or throw at all and on defense, they were susceptible to the pass all night.
How bad was it for Spalding? The Jags offense only netted 29 total yards of offense (10 yards rushing and 19 yards passing) while Riverdale had 332 total yards of offense. Spalding averaged a measly 0.8 yards per play.
Despite such meager stats, Spalding’s defense held the Raiders scoreless in the first quarter and looked to keep the game scoreless at the half. They got good defensive plays from Larry McCord, Greg Thaggard, Jake Jeffcoat (who was later injured) and Garrett Bell. But Jags sophomore quarterback Monquez Sullivan — in his first game back since his ankle injury — threw an interception in Jags territory to Riverdale’s Chinedu Okonya, who rumbled 16 yards for the touchdown and the 7-0 Raiders halftime lead.
The Raiders never looked back after that score. Fullback Troy Wyche scored on a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter and reserve quarterback Asania Aderhold scored from 3 yards out in the fourth for the final 21-0 margin.
Spalding’s next game will be against subregion B foe Jonesboro High Friday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Tara Stadium in Jonesboro.
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