WHAT WE SAW: River Bluff 25, White Knoll 14

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>River Bluff used a bruising offense and an opportunistic defense to rally for a 25-14 victory over No. 4 ranked White Knoll in the Region 4-5A opener for both teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='443497' first='Cooper' last='Johns']</strong> ran for 227 yards and touchdowns of 80 and 27 yards to go over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. But it was the play of the guys up front that opened the holes for the Gators to hold a 30:01 to 17:59 time of possession advantage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jordan Allen, Davon Bell</strong> and <strong>Caden Hersey</strong> were instrumental in making that happen. Johns has 1,097 yards on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We have probably the smallest offensive line in Class 5A, but they play with a lot of heart and want to,” River Bluff coach Blair Hardin said. “We put the pressure on Coop and the O-line and they responded.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>River Bluff (6-1, 1-0) forced three turnovers and didn't allow a point in the final 31:26 of the game. <strong>Kaleb Long </strong>set up the go ahead score when he intercepted a screen pass and returned it 11 yards to the Timberwolves 37-yard near the end of the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Six plays later, <strong>Gray Herring</strong> powered in from two yards out to give the Gators a 19-14 lead with 9:51 remaining.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>White Knoll (6-1, 0-1) was unable to move the ball and punted it back to River Bluff with 7:30 remaining in the game. The Gators converted three third downs and a fourth down in running 5:20 off the clock and sealed it with John's 27-yard burst with 2:10 remaining. That capped a 14-play, 76-yard drive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If any doubt remained, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360145' first='Aaron' last='Griffin']</strong> intercepted a pass on the Timberwolves next offensive play, allowing the Gators to take a knee and run out the clock.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johns gave the Gators an early 7-0 lead when he raced 80 yards on his first carry of the game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='911088' first='Jaiden' last='Kimble']</strong> scored from 10 yards out to make it a 7-7 game at the end of the first quarter. The Timberwolves took the lead on a 22-yard touchdown pass from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='346199' first='Landon' last='Sharpe']</strong> to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='448995' first='Austin' last='Cunningham']</strong> on a fourth-and-19 play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='336147' first='Jesse' last='Ross']</strong> ran for 100 yards and Sharpe threw for 138 yards for White Knoll.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brady Orr</strong> kicked field goals of 34 and 31 yards for River Bluff.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We gave up some big plays in the first half, but I thought our defense had some key takeaways and we were able to chip away offensively to get points when we could,” Hardin said. “I'm proud of the way guys and how they finished.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tyler Stoudemire</strong> recorded 15 total tackles and <strong>Nick Pierce</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142518' first='Demenico' last='Banks']</strong> added 10 each for the Timberwolves. <strong>Daniel Harper</strong>, <strong>Thomas Powell</strong> and <strong>Stephen Collier</strong> helped lead the Gators defense.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->