2024 Preview: Riverside Warriors

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After taking over a Riverside program that won a total of 16 games from 2010 to 2020, Matthew Rochester has coached the Warriors to 16 wins over the past three seasons. Consistency is something Riverside is still striving for though. In going 5-6 last season, the formula was pretty simple. In the Warriors' five wins they scored anywhere from 37-49 points. In their six losses, they scored anywhere from 7-21.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A key player in Riverside's hopes of bringing a prolific offense every Friday night is ultra talented athlete <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012616' first='Mikkel' last='Skinner']</strong> (pictured), who's announced he will be signing with Cincinnati. While Skinner (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) is set to play receiver in college, he's lined up all over the place for the Warriors. Last season, Skinner led Riverside in rushing and was second in receiving. He finished with more than 1,200 yards of total offense and 15 touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"He's such a valuable player and a natural at a lot of different positions. The only thing we haven't tried him at is quarterback and he probably thinks he can play that too," Rochester said. "You can even put him on defense and let him rush the quarterback.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"You've just got to put him in the best situation sometimes. I think we did a good job of that last year and will have to do it a little bit more this year."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Skinner was a running back during his youth football days before growing into more of a receiver body, so running back still comes easiest to him. While it's no fun for opposing defenses, he said it's fun to not know if he might carry the football 10 times or have a shot a 10 catches on a given Friday night. He just wants to do whatever is needed to help the team win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Receiver's my main position, but this year I think we're going to have a lot of guys play both ways so I'm looking to be kind of an edge rusher," Skinner said. "Then I'll be in the (offensive) backfield as needed."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whenever Skinner lines up in the offensive backfield, there's not a whole lot of drop off at receiver. Riverside returns all of its top receivers led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1025814' first='Jaiden' last='Taylor']</strong> . The junior had nearly 800 yards receiving and caught 10 touchdowns last season. Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1575314' first='Israel' last='Leamon']</strong> is also back after leading the team in yards per catch at 15.3 last year. Leamon had 321 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Another senior who could be in the mix at receiver this year is <strong>Jacob Medlin</strong> (6-foot, 165 pounds), who split time last year at quarterback. Medlin threw for 1,067 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions last year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Leading the way up front for Riverside's offense is senior <strong>Roman Luccia</strong> , who's set to return to his spot as starting left tackle. He believes playing as a team and chemistry will be a key.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Last year, we had a lot of individuals. This year, I think we're more bonded," Luccia said. "This group of seniors have basically all grown up together."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defensively, Riverside returns three starting linebackers: senior <strong>Zach Martin</strong> (5-foot-11, 220 pounds), senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1253925' first='Jack' last='Merriman']</strong> (6-foot-1, 180 pounds) and <strong>John Miedrich</strong> (5-foot-8, 160 pounds). Merriman, who also serves as the Warriors' long snapper, had 89 tackles including team highs in tackles-for-loss (18) and sacks (6). Miedrich piled up 119 tackles last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The secondary is led by a pair of talented cornerbacks in junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='402507' first='Somad' last='Eaddy']</strong> (5-foot-11, 150 pounds) and senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1573976' first='Spencer' last='Adderley']</strong> (5-foot-10, 165 pounds).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>STARS SET TO SHINE</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1025814' first='Jaiden' last='Taylor']</strong> WR, 2026 - At 5-foot-4 and 160 pounds, Taylor could be overshadowed by Skinner - literally and figuratively, but they're equally dangerous with the football in their hands. There's a reason he's called "Speedy," but he's also strong and tough. Taylor is more than willing to take a handoff on a jet sweep or go across the middle in traffic, in addition to deep routes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1573976' first='Spencer' last='Adderley']</strong> DB, 2025 - In addition to breaking up passes and grabbing interceptions, Adderley is a physical corner as well. His film shows a strong ability to shred blocks from receivers and go make a tackle in the backfield.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Roman Luccia</strong> OL, 2025 - Luccia (6-foot-4, 250 pounds) provides plenty of time for Riverside quarterbacks to get the football to the playmakers. Film shows that he's also agile enough to make pull blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>FILM STUDY</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012616' first='Mikkel' last='Skinner']</strong> WR, 2025 - A tall receiver with running back tendencies has been a home run formula for Riverside. Skinner rushed for 588 yards and five touchdowns, including a long carry of 85 yards, last season. He averaged 8.6 yards per rushing attempt. Skinner caught 44 passes for 651 yards and 10 scores and his longest catch was 67 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16942809/653ee5af32e74d09142d14c4' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66b558d024df8"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BIGGEST LOSSES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Marcus Downs</strong> DL - Downs was a big presence for Riverside's defense the past few years and capped his high school career by participating in the Shrine Bowl. He's now at Central Florida.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Quinton Hood</strong> DB - From his safety position last season, Hood led the Warriors in tackles (144) and had three interceptions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ty Breeze</strong> QB - After beginning his high school career at Summerville, Breeze threw for 1,027 with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions at Riverside last year. He's now a senior at Greer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>UP-AND-COMING POTENTIAL</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='463113' first='Gideon' last='Merhib']</strong> QB, 2027 - Riverside's quarterback of the future tossed 29 touchdowns for the JV team last fall. Merhib (5-foot-11, 160 pounds) has developed chemistry with receivers this summer through 7-on-7 competitions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Keyon Knowles</strong> DB/WR, 2027 - As a freshman at Eastside last season, Knowles saw a little bit of playing time on the varsity at quarterback and kick returner.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["402507"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66b558d027a7b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Eaddy burst on the scene as a freshman two years ago when he had six interceptions at Southside. In his first season at Riverside last fall, he added three more. Eaddy also took some snaps on offense out the Wildcat formation, one of which resulted in a wild touchdown run in Riverside's win over Eastside. He's already earned offers from West Virginia and Maryland.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17906535/64eac9ecc11b26029c9cbc08' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66b55aa17907b"} /--> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->