CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Riverside High has an enviable quandary entering the 2008 football season.
On one hand, the Warriors possess junior wide receiver Raheem Waiters, a Daily Mail Preseason All-State pick and a player capable of breaking open a game if he gets the ball in the open field.
On the other hand, the young man throwing the football to Waiters, senior quarterback Tyler Long, runs the option as well as any player in the state.
How Riverside decides to attack in its season-opener tonight against South Charleston depends on what an opposing defense is going to give it," said Riverside Coach Ralph Hensley.
"I like to see us have a balanced offense. I like to throw the ball, but I also like to run the ball a lot," Hensley said after his team finished a couple of solid scrimmages at the Mountain State Athletic Conference Grid-o-Rama last week.
"We practice the option all the time and Tyler knows how to run it. It makes you a lot harder to defend if a team can't focus on stopping you just one way."
Riverside brings its multi-faceted attack into Warrior Stadium tonight to face a South Charleston team that is eager to reverse its horrible start to 2007. The Black Eagles were pegged by many to make a deep run into the playoffs last year, but started the season 0-4 and could not dig themselves out of such a deep cavern. They finished 5-5.
The first of those four losses to start the season came at Oakes Field to a Riverside team that few expected much from in Hensley's first year back as a head coach. The longtime East Bank High boss, Hensley had served as an assistant at Riverside for the first eight years of the school's existence under the now-retired Dick Whitman.
Riverside won last year's opener 18-9 on its way to a 7-3 regular season and a somewhat surprising appearance in the Class AAA playoffs.
South Charleston looks much like it had hoped to appear in 2007, though without one key element - current WVU Tech freshman Deion Spurlock.
Spurlock was tabbed as one of the state's best tailbacks in 2007, but an injury to starting quarterback Marcel Brown forced Black Eagle Coach John Messinger to move Spurlock under center. He excelled at the position, accounting for 27 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards of total offense.
Brown (6-1, 180) is back at the controls of the offense for his senior year, and has his own preseason All-State pass-catching target in senior Aaron Dobson (6-3, 190).
Dobson caught 39 passes for 720 yards and seven touchdowns last year, and has been listed by various recruiting Web sites as one of the top prospects in the state.
South Charleston's only scrimmage appearance this summer was in the Grid-o-Rama, a fact that left Messinger unsure about his team's overall readiness, though the Black Eagles appeared solid against St. Albans and Lincoln County.
"The problem with that is you get one or two series against a team's first string and the rest of the time you're playing backups," Messinger said. "I think we look OK so far, though."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Riverside High has an enviable quandary entering the 2008 football season.
On one hand, the Warriors possess junior wide receiver Raheem Waiters, a Daily Mail Preseason All-State pick and a player capable of breaking open a game if he gets the ball in the open field.
On the other hand, the young man throwing the football to Waiters, senior quarterback Tyler Long, runs the option as well as any player in the state.
How Riverside decides to attack in its season-opener tonight against South Charleston depends on what an opposing defense is going to give it," said Riverside Coach Ralph Hensley.
"I like to see us have a balanced offense. I like to throw the ball, but I also like to run the ball a lot," Hensley said after his team finished a couple of solid scrimmages at the Mountain State Athletic Conference Grid-o-Rama last week.
"We practice the option all the time and Tyler knows how to run it. It makes you a lot harder to defend if a team can't focus on stopping you just one way."
Riverside brings its multi-faceted attack into Warrior Stadium tonight to face a South Charleston team that is eager to reverse its horrible start to 2007. The Black Eagles were pegged by many to make a deep run into the playoffs last year, but started the season 0-4 and could not dig themselves out of such a deep cavern. They finished 5-5.
The first of those four losses to start the season came at Oakes Field to a Riverside team that few expected much from in Hensley's first year back as a head coach. The longtime East Bank High boss, Hensley had served as an assistant at Riverside for the first eight years of the school's existence under the now-retired Dick Whitman.
Riverside won last year's opener 18-9 on its way to a 7-3 regular season and a somewhat surprising appearance in the Class AAA playoffs.
South Charleston looks much like it had hoped to appear in 2007, though without one key element - current WVU Tech freshman Deion Spurlock.
Spurlock was tabbed as one of the state's best tailbacks in 2007, but an injury to starting quarterback Marcel Brown forced Black Eagle Coach John Messinger to move Spurlock under center. He excelled at the position, accounting for 27 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards of total offense.
Brown (6-1, 180) is back at the controls of the offense for his senior year, and has his own preseason All-State pass-catching target in senior Aaron Dobson (6-3, 190).
Dobson caught 39 passes for 720 yards and seven touchdowns last year, and has been listed by various recruiting Web sites as one of the top prospects in the state.
South Charleston's only scrimmage appearance this summer was in the Grid-o-Rama, a fact that left Messinger unsure about his team's overall readiness, though the Black Eagles appeared solid against St. Albans and Lincoln County.
"The problem with that is you get one or two series against a team's first string and the rest of the time you're playing backups," Messinger said. "I think we look OK so far, though."
Messinger said one of the biggest hurdles tonight will be Riverside's loyalty to its head coach.
"We went down to Logan to watch them scrimmage and they looked real tough," Messinger said of the Warriors. "They've got some size and they're tough and you know that they'll come out and play hard for Ralph. They always do."
In other games tonight:
Nitro at Class AA No. 7 Poca - Affectionately known as the Backyard Brawl, this year's meeting could jump start the Dots' season or give Nitro some confidence and stability under first-game Coach John Sowards.
Sowards took over the program this summer after Scott Tinsley left for WVU Tech, then watched a drama play out in front of him as quarterback C.J. Crawford first transferred to Nitro from Huntington, then returned to Cabell County on the third day of August practice.
Sophomore Bodie Johnson (5-11, 170) took over as the Wildcats' starting quarterback and has capable receivers in junior Mark Chandler (6-3, 170) and senior Chris Smith (6-3, 185).
Poca, which has been successfully experimenting with a spread offense this summer, is counting on sophomore quarterback Trevor Dunlap (5-10, 165) to be able to pull the trigger with as much accuracy as he showed in the preseason.
The Dots have three Class AAA opponents on their schedule, with Winfield and Logan joining the Wildcats.
Class AAA No. 2 St. Albans at Ripley - The Red Dragons, who finished as state runner-up in 2007, will finally line their starters up against live competition in the season opener.
St. Albans Coach Derek Christian rested his first string in the Grid-o-Rama a week ago, not wanting to risk injury.
Running backs Marcus Fox (5-11, 200, senior) and Markus Guy (5-8, 180, junior) each ran for more than 1,000 yards last year for St. Albans, and will be featured in the same backfield for the first time along with sophomore quarterback Duran Workman.
Winfield at Hurricane - This game has been moved to Hurricane after an electrical fire damaged the pressbox at Winfield. Game time is still 7:30 p.m.
Other games featuring area teams include Ravenswood at Herbert Hoover, Chapmanville at Sissonville and Buffalo at Gilbert.
Contact sports writer Derek Taylor at derek.tay...@dailymail.com">derek.tay...@dailymail.com or 304-348-5170.
