RIVERHEADS: Keep it simple

It’s a different breed of football player in Greenville.
That’s why Robert Casto — Riverheads’ veteran football coach of 13 years and holder of two Group A, Division I state titles — can begin an interview with a joke when he’s asked about the secret of success in this small Valley hamlet.
“If I knew,” said with the hint of a laugh, “I could write a book and make a heck of a lot of money.”
Then Casto quickly turned the conversation to his players and the serious tone echoes through the phone as though he were screaming it across one of the many hollers of the Blue Ridge that are visible from the school’s palatial football field, just an extra-point kick away from Interstate 81.
“It’s a big deal to be able to wear a red helmet,” he said. And his players know that.
What Casto has at Riverheads is a high school football coach’s dream. A plug-and-play feeder system from peewee to JV where kids fill in the holes left by departed seniors. Holes in positions they’ve been playing for years under the auspices of the red, white and black. It seems easy enough to make hooking up your iPod feel like trigonometry.
“It’s having the kids in place not just one year, but for two years and three years down the road,” Casto said. “We try to get our kids in position where we don’t move them around a whole lot.”
Chances are, if you’re on the defensive line for Casto’s varsity squad, you were probably filling up the B-Gap before you could write cursive.
Casto, and this football crazy town replete with Friday night fireworks and rescue-squad sirens blaring after each touchdown, have reaped the benefits. Things don’t look like they’ll change much in 2008 for the Gladiators. It’s all the same, only the names have changed.
“We have good kids,” Casto said. “They’re the success of our program.
Make no bones about it, Riverheads’ success comes from the offensive backfield. Old-school football in Greenville calls for old-school methods, and schools don’t get any older than an up-the-gut ground game. And that’s where Riverheads, once again, should be sound with Casto’s squad returning two running backs from the last season’s 8-3 team — Demetrius Younger and Cory Sandridge.
Younger at 5-10 and 230 pounds is the bruising fullback who carried the ball into end zone 10 times last season. Sandridge, 30 pounds lighter and an inch taller, ran for close to 800 yards during the 2007 campaign. Both will reap the benefits of another Riverhead staple — frontline blockers.
“Another big thing for us every year is offensive linemen,” Casto said. And big is the best way to describe Brian Freed — the Gladiators’ 260-pound all-region center — who anchors the line that opens up holes.
The glaring question mark for the Gladiators come from the loss of quarterback Jacob Hutchinson who will take his skills to the gridiron at Bridgewater College. But Casto has two to choose from with senior Cameron Brown and sophomore Lance Diehl able to take the snaps from under center.
“Cameron’s backed up Jacob [Hutchinson] the last two years,” Casto said. “He’s worked really hard. It’s one of those things were it’s his turn.”
The Gladiators will be looking for others to take advantage of their turns on the defensive side of the ball, an are which the Gladiators “don’t have a whole lot returning,” Casto said. Seniors Nathan Anderson (linebacker) and Stansford Shifflett (defensive tackle) key the core returners to the defensive unit.
“We’re a little thin on that side with returning players,” Casto said.
The coach will have to relay on his plug-and-play system of Gladiators to keep the Pride sound on defense.
“We play a lot of kids, we really do,” he said. “We just play them and I think that gets them ready too.
“Our expectations are high every year, but they’re not unreasonable.”

Capsule
Coach: Robert Casto (13th year)
Last year: 8-3
District: Shenandoah
Region: B (Division I)
Players to Watch: Brian Feed, 12, C/DT; Cory Sandridge, 11, RB/LB; Nathan Anderson, 12, OG/LB; Stansford Shifflett, 12, FB/DT; Demetrius Younger, 11, FB/LB; Cameron Brown, 12, QB/DB.
Promising Newcomers: “Hopefully all of them,” Casto said.
Key losses: Jacob Hutchinson, Jeremy Heizer, Josh Cash, Brandon Desmond, Brent Wolcott.
Offense: Wing-T
Defense: 4-4
Outlook: Ask the questions. Who’s going to take over at quarterback? Who’s going to fill in the slots on defense? It’s not the first time they’ve been asked when it comes to Riverheads football. Yet Casto’s system — one based on a plug-and-play farm system that goes all the way to the Augusta County Quarterback Club — answers them every year. The loss of Jacob Hutchinson does provide a legitimate question mark, but senior Cameron Brown backed up the Bridgewater freshman the past two years and, as Casto puts it, it’s his turn now. The return of two seasoned backfield mates in Demetrius Younger and Cory Sandridge should take some of the pressure off the probably first-year starter. Casto, however, will be looking to fill holes on defense, an area he admitted his team is “a little thin on that side with returning players.” Look for senior tackle Stansford Shifflett and linebacker Nathan Anderson to be some play stoppers.
Coach’s quote: “We live in a ‘now’ society and a ‘me’ society and a lot of people aren’t willing to wait their turn. We have kids that wait their turn.”