Skinner helps Riverside defeat Travelers Rest, 49-7
Wide receiver Mikkel Skinner did it all for the Warriors against Travelers Rest, accounting for 214 total yards and 4 touchdowns.
Riverside silenced a packed house at Travelers Rest on Friday night, demolishing the Devildogs 49-7.
The Warriors pressed the gas early. By the end of the first quarter, Riverside led 21-0.
“We started out really hot,” said Riverside head coach Matt Rochester. “But we kind of started to slow down in there. I want us to stay on that gas pedal a bit more.”
Junior quarterback Ty Breeze — in his first Riverside start — threw for 238 yards and 6 touchdowns.
“I thought Ty did really well commanding the offense for us,” said Rochester.
“For him to come in like that in his first game and command the offense as well as he did, you can’t ask for much more than that from your quarterback.”
Despite the resounding win, Rochester believes the Warriors left plenty on the table. That’s a good sign, he says.
“Our defensive coordinator, Coach [Tyson] Wright, said it best after the game. If you can go out there and win 49-7 but look yourself in the mirror and still feel like you didn’t play your best football, you know you’re doing something right. We’ve got minor mistakes to get cleaned up, but moving forward, I’m really excited to see what we can do.”
I AM SPEED(Y)
Sophomore Jaiden Taylor wasted no time Friday showing why he’s been given the nickname “Speedy.” He got off to a fast start in his first game in a Riverside jersey.
On the Warriors’ opening drive, Taylor motioned in from the left and took a pop pass from Breeze. He juked his way around three would-be tacklers and found the end zone from 13 yards out.
“I just saw a little hole, then the defenders tried to grab at me so I cut up, did my thing and got in for the score,” said Taylor.
Taylor quickly found himself getting on the board again. On the Warriors’ second march down the field, Breeze found Taylor in the middle of the field for a 23-yard score. Breeze stayed composed in the pocket, taking a huge hit as soon as he released the ball.
“Ty saw me on that little seam route and the safety had come down,” said Taylor. “That’s that kind of one-on-one matchup we like, so we took it.”
“That kid’s just a footballer,” said Riverside offensive coordinator Mario Cusano of Taylor. “He adds this second wrinkle into our offense where if you’re going to double team Mikkel [Skinner], what are you going to do with Speedy? It’s really nice as an offensive coordinator.”
Taylor finished the game with five receptions for 50 yards and two scores. The Southside transfer was thrilled with his debut as a Warrior.
“It felt so good, man. We came out and played as a team. Ty’s a great quarterback, and he got the ball in my hands whenever he could. I’m just glad I did my thing,” said Taylor.
Taylor’s immediate connection with his quarterback is no coincidence either. For the pair of Riverside newcomers, their performance Friday was years in the making.
“It’s actually kind of crazy,” said Breeze. “Me and Speedy, we kind of grew up together. We used to go to summer camps together as kids. So when I found out that he was going to Riverside, I was like, ‘Man, that’s crazy.’ It’s kind of like full circle.”
“It started when we were little,” said Taylor. “We knew each other and we built that chemistry. So now we’re out there clicking like that.”
LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING
If anyone didn’t know Mikkel Skinner’s name before Friday night, they certainly knew it by the time they filed out of the stands.
Skinner dazzled the sizable amount of visiting Riverside fans, accumulating four total touchdowns on the evening — three through the air and one electric 86-yard rushing score. He finished with 85 receiving yards and 129 yards on the ground.
He’s Riverside’s undeniable do-it-all star.
“They were playing off me tonight for some reason,” said Skinner. “I guess they felt like I was going to burn past them. They weren’t playing true, they were just playing off the film they saw from our scrimmages… but I think I had them beat on everything.”
Skinner was a defensive matchup nightmare for Travelers Rest. Devildog cornerbacks had trouble containing his speed down the field, and even when the coverage was decent, Skinner’s 6-foot-3 frame allowed him to pluck multiple tough catches out of the air over the heads of defenders.
“Having someone like Mikkel at his height and strength makes my job so much easier,” said Breeze. “He’s someone I know that I can look to when I’m in a tough situation.”
Skinner — who transitioned this offseason from running back to mainly wide receiver — did a bit of everything Friday. Even when the ball wasn’t in his hands, Skinner used his strong frame to help block for his fellow receivers and backs.
“I’m a team player,” said Skinner. “I’m going to make sure I block, run, catch, anything I can do to help. I grew up a running back, but as I got taller, I switched over to wide receiver. I’m an athlete; I can do both.”
“When you have a dynamic player like Mikkel who can be an outside threat or be a running back when we need him to be, it’s huge,” said Cusano. “And let me add this: Mikkel hasn’t even taken a single running back rep this offseason. We’ve only practiced with him out wide. So everything that we do with him at running back, that’s just carried over from last year. That’s the kind of athlete Mikkel is.”
3 CHAINZ
All offseason, the Riverside secondary bet on themselves. They talked the talk on social media and put faith in the players in their room.
“Losing in the first round of the playoffs last year put a chip on our shoulder,” said Riverside senior defensive back Robbie Robertson. “So this year, we knew we wanted to show everybody that we’re the best defense in the state.”
While only week 0, it’s safe to say they got off on the right foot.
The Warrior defense allowed just 97 yards of total offense as a unit. The Devildogs converted a mere two of their 11 third down attempts. The only Travelers Rest touchdown of the game came on a wild 24-yard fourth-down pass in the third quarter, a jump ball that a Devildog receiver somehow — impressively — came down with.
And the secondary? 55 passing yards allowed on just 11 completions. That’s it. Not to mention three interceptions, for which the “turnover chain” was brought out each time. It’s been a tradition at Riverside for several years now: Force a turnover, rock the “R” chain.
“All I know is that whenever someone does force a fumble or get an interception, you put on that turnover chain and you just start feeling different,” said Robertson.
Senior defensive back Robbie Robertson was the first player to don the “turnover chain” against Travelers Rest.
Robertson was the first to don the chain, picking off an overthrown deep ball in the second quarter. Somad Eaddy threw it on in the third quarter after tiptoeing down the sideline for a pick. Tristan Pressley got his turn in the final frame, his interception putting the nail in the Devildog coffin.
“We definitely feel like we made a statement against TR,” said Robertson. “But we know the competition’s not going to get any easier. Next week against J.L. Mann, that’s going to be our statement game.”
UP NEXT
This Friday, Riverside heads to J.L. Mann for a highly-anticipated matchup for both schools. J.L. Mann — a 5-A program on the rise — is fresh off a 49-0 thumping of Eastside. Rochester knows it will be one of the Warriors’ toughest challenges all season.
“You’ve got to be prepared for a little bit of everything with them,” said Rochester. “Coach Scoot [Watson] does a really great job with that program. You can see it on tape, they’ve got a really good group, especially at the wideout position and on defense. Those kids fly around and play really hard. It’s going to be a good matchup.”
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Riverside 21 0 21 7 - 49
Trav. Rest 0 0 7 0 - 7
STAT LEADERS
Riverside Passing: Breeze 18/21, 238 yards, 6 TDs
Riverside Rushing: Skinner 4 carries, 129 yards, TD | Martin 3 carries, 40 yards | Abercrombie 3 carries, 23 yards
Riverside Receiving: Skinner 5 rec, 85 yards, 3 TDs | Leamon 3 rec, 52 yards, TD | Taylor 5 rec, 50 yards, 2 TDs
Riverside Defensive: Merriman 6 tackles, 1 sack | Hood 6 tackles | Downs 5 tackles, 2 sacks