The Riverbend High School football team has spent its fair share of time getting bullied by the big boys in the Commonwealth District over the years.
Friday night, it was the Bears who played the bully role — and it came at the expense of an unlikely victim.
Ian Shook Jr. and Adrien Picot ran for two touchdowns apiece, and Riverbend amassed 348 yards rushing in a commanding 41-27 victory over perennial district power Colonial Forge.
The win keeps the Bears (7-0, 3-0 Commonwealth) unbeaten, and it gives them sole possession of first place in the district. It also marks just the second 7-0 start in program history, and the first time they’ve accomplished the feat since 2009.
Meanwhile, the Eagles (7-1, 3-1) saw their quest for an undefeated season come to a screeching halt.
“We came into this game wanting to prove a point,” said Shook, who carried the ball 14 times for 147 yards. “Everybody came into this game doubting us. You look at every poll, everybody on social media. … Everybody just knew Forge was going to blow us out. And we just couldn’t go for it. We had to show them how we play bully ball.”
The Riverbend faithful didn’t doubt them, though. The parking lots surrounding the Bears’ stadium and the school were full well before kickoff, forcing fans who didn’t arrive early to hunt for parking real estate along both sides of Spotswood Furnace Road.
Riverbend didn’t waste any time rewarding the overflow crowd, either. The Bears went 65 yards in seven plays on their first possession, taking a 7-0 lead on Camden Simmons’ 14-yard scoring run. On their second drive, Picot scampered 41 yards to extend that advantage to 14-0 with 10 minutes to go in the first half.
That was the beginning of Picot’s coming-out party. The sophomore, who’s shared carries with a handful of other ballcarriers this year, racked up 74 yards by intermission, setting up Shook’s 3-yard touchdown run that made it 21-7 with 2:24 left in the half.
Shook threw a 68-yard scoring strike to Simmons to give Riverbend a 28-13 lead at intermission and then capped the opening possession of the second half with a 17-yard run that pushed the Bears’ edge to 34-13.
After Forge pulled within 34-20 on Jaylen Carter’s 11-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Picot effectively broke the Eagles’ backs. Taking a handoff up the middle from Shook, he absorbed initial contact from a Forge defender at the line of scrimmage before bouncing outside and racing 54 yards to pay dirt for a 41-20 Riverbend lead.
Picot finished with a career- and game-high 155 yards on 13 carries.
“Every time they called my number, I felt like I had to make it count for my team,” he said. “My running style is to get the ball and go, and I feel like that’s what I did.
“[Forge] has so many D-I guys, and we feel like we don’t get our recognition,” he added. “So tonight was the night that we were going to show everybody what we’re about.”
Bears coach Ed Webb admitted that he was surprised by how well his squad played against the Eagles, who advanced to the Class 6 state semifinals last season and are considered one of the top teams in the state this year by many observers.
“I don’t want to say they shocked me, but they showed that they are capable of lining up and bullying people,” he said. “And that’s how we want to win football games. We want to be a bully ball team that lines up and pushes people around.”
Forge quarterback Brock Brimhall stood out in defeat, completing 18 of 23 passes for 204 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He connected with Darion Majeed on scoring strikes of 15 and 6 yards in the first half and found TaySean Jones for a 19-yard touchdown with 2:10 left in the contest.
Jones finished with eight receptions for 112 yards.
“[Riverbend] has a very good team with explosive athletes,” Eagles coach John Brown said. “They’re also probably the biggest team we’ll see up front until we get to the later rounds of the playoffs. They just have the right mix of size and speed.”
Riverbend will hit the road to take on Stafford next Friday, as the Bears are in search of their first (outright) district championship in program history. Forge will travel to Mountain View the same night.
