Gap’s defense wakes up in 2nd half

SWOOPE

Michael Johnson had had enough.

Sitting in the locker room at the half, the Buffalo Gap senior knew his Bison had been outplayed.

Riverheads had scored two touchdowns — including a game-tying score with 13 seconds left in the first half — and had dominated the line of scrimmage in the showdown for first place in the Shenandoah District football race.

“We really hadn’t stopped them [in the first half] and then they picked up that score to tie it,” the Gap safety said.  “We were mad at each other in the locker room. Coach thought we were yelling at each other, but we were trying to figure out a way to stop [Riverheads] in the second half.”

After giving up 149 first-half yards, the Bison put the squeeze on Riverheads, holding the Gladiator running game to just 65 yards after the intermission.

Johnson — who led the Bison with 11.5 tackles — made one of the big defensive plays in the opening half, stopping a Riverheads drive with an interception at midfield. His 27-yard return set up the first Bison score.

“Our kids have expectations of how they should play,” Bison coach Rob Maxwell said. “We were really disoriented in the first half. They knew they had to buck up and play.”

And buck up they did.

Buffalo Gap didn’t allow the Gladiators past midfield until a late Riverheads drive stalled at the 26. Two of the four Riverheads drives were three-and-outs.

“The kids responded well,” Maxwell said. “It was just a matter of stopping them. The kids knew what the problems were in that first half and they did a much better job in the second half.  They knew they had to go out and play.”

The Gladiators took the second half kickoff but had to punt after a Bison stop. The visitors picked up just five yards on their next series and lost six on their first drive of the final frame.

“We made [Riverheads] bounce to the outside several times when they wanted to go inside,” Johnson said.  “Our corners are pretty quick and we were able to shut them down.”

Johnson said that the Buffalo Gap cover-3 defense didn’t allow a big play. “We just got after them in the second half.”

Linebackers Logan Huff and Phillip Smith, both juniors, were in on 15 tackles while defensive back Boone Jones added 5.5.  But Johnson was the key.

“Michael made a couple of good kick returns and he just shut down their offense,” Maxwell said.

The play of the shut down safety also helped to shut the door on the Gladiators’ bid to upset the Bison’s run for another perfect season.