Spartanburg picks apart Riverside, 49-6

Despite an early pick-six, Riverside was overwhelmed on both sides of the ball by a talented 5-A Spartanburg team on Friday night. The Warriors face off with 3-A powerhouse Daniel at The Reservation this week.

Sometimes, it’s just not your day. Friday certainly wasn’t Riverside’s.

The Warriors welcomed a scorching hot Spartanburg team to The Reservation for a highly-anticipated matchup. Spartanburg—ranked No. 8 in Class 5-A—couldn’t be stopped. The Vikings poured it on the Warriors at home, taking down Riverside 49-6.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes tonight,” said Riverside head coach Matt Rochester. “But hats off to Spartanburg. Their defense is super athletic. They played really physical all night. They showed us that we’ve still got a lot of work to do on the offensive side of the ball.”

The lone major highlight for the Warriors came in the first quarter. Trailing 8-0, Warriors defensive back Somad Eaddy picked off a deep pass from Vikings quarterback Tamijai Johnson. Eaddy sprinted down the right sideline, bobbed his way through a few tackles, and took it 90 yards back to the house.

Those would be the only points the Warriors put up all game. Rochester was full of praise for his sophomore cornerback, who he called “a bright spot” on an otherwise dark evening.

“He’s been such a great addition to our defense,” Rochester said. “Anytime we see that ball go up in the air and it’s a one-on-one, we feel good with Somad out there.”

Eaddy—who transferred from Southside after his freshman season—has done an admirable job adjusting to his new team, said Rochester.

“He’s a great asset to our team. He’s done a great job of learning our system and learning what we do defensively. We’re blessed to have him.”

In terms of what Riverside had going for them Friday night, that was about it. After Eaddy’s pick-six made it 8-6 in favor of the Vikings, Spartanburg outscored Riverside 41-0 the rest of the way.

“It was an off night for everybody. I don’t think our stats anywhere on offense were great,” said Rochester. “But I don’t think it’s anything that we can’t get fixed. We’ll go back to practice and get better.”

There’s no rest for the weary Warriors yet. Riverside’s next challenger is a scorching-hot Daniel Lions squad favored by many to win this year’s Class 5-A state championship.

“We’ve got to go back to doing what we do on offense. Working on our basics, our fundamentals, so that we can better execute on Friday night against Daniel,” said Rochester. “They’ve got a talented roster and they’re always well-coached.

“We’re going to have our hands full. But we’ll watch our film, see what we like, and go to work at practice this week.”