It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Riverside can now relate to. They lost 35-14 to the Hillcrest Rams on Friday. The Warriors have struggled against the Rams recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Riverside lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Keyon Knowles, who rushed for 127 yards and one touchdown while picking up 7.5 yards per carry. Another player making a difference was Gideon Merhib, who threw for 152 yards and one TD.
Jackson Free continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Hillcrest, throwing for 250 yards and three touchdowns while completing 81% of his passes, and also rushing for 66 yards and one score on only five carries. Free's passing game has become a key predictor of the Rams' success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 1-3 otherwise. A healthy portion of Free's aerial production (86 yards to be exact) went to Logan Moore, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Riverside's defeat dropped their record down to 4-7. As for Hillcrest, the win (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 8-3.
Riverside does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Hillcrest, they will venture away from home to face off against Indian Land at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The Warriors' defense has only allowed 12.2 points per game this season, so the Rams' offense will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
