Gap scores 7 in 4th to beat Gladiators

SWOOPE — Buffalo Gap got just the treat it was looking for on Halloween, a win over rival Riverheads and a extending its winning streak to 24-games. Gap beat the Gladiators 21-14 on Friday night in Swoope.

The Gladiators looked to spoil senior night early after recovering a fumble on the kickoff.

With a short field, Riverheads moved the ball 16 yards, punching it in with a one-yard touchdown run by Demetrius Younger.

Gap would even up the game after Cameron Brown’s pass was intercepted by Michael Johnson.

With the ball on the Riverheads 25, the Bison handed the ball to Pickle Nuckols five times, getting a touchdown on an eight-yard run.

The excitement was only beginning with the culmination of all the pregame buildup about to be decided in the final 12 minutes.

After the Bison defense forced Riverheads into a 3-and-out, the home team had the ball with 9:01 remaining and the game tied at 14.

With a new game plan of rotating Nuckols and Logan Huff on carries each play, the Bison were able to rack up an average of six yards a carry.

“We put that set in this week,” Gap coach Rob Maxwell said. “I told them they had to buckle down. It was all on them and we were going straight ahead.”

The offense line continued to buckle down once the Bison worked the ball into the red zone, ending with a Nuckols dive across the goal line for the final score.

“[The offensive line] gets a bunch of the credit for that drive,” Nuckols said. “Probably about 97 percent. I’m just kidding about that number though.”

The offense could afford to kid a little after giving their defense the lead with 6:05 to play, but the defense still had to return the favor for the home crowd to leave happy.

After a long run by Cory Sandridge, the Gladiators were in business with the ball on Gap’s 35-yard line and 4:40 to go.

After the Bison defense held on the first three downs, Riverheads had a 4th-and-3 to decide how the game would end.

On a quick fade route, the pass from Brown to Joseph Cash was underthrown. The Bison defense could kid right along with Nuckols and the offense after that big hold.

“There defense made some plays in the second half that held us down some,” Riverheads coach Robert Casto said. “We had an opportunity on that final drive and we just under threw the thing.”

Buffalo Gap will try to attain another undefeated regular season in the finale at Luray. Riverheads tries to bounce back on the road against Page County.