Although the weather was suspect, the scenario was clear Saturday afternoon at Thomas Field on the North Cross campus.
North Cross was in a must-win situation to advance to the VIS football playoffs. Their opponents from Hargrave Military Academy entered the contest at 0-9, having given up 405 points this season, with nothing to lose.
Nasty combination.
Scoring on their first offensive series of the game, North Cross built a 26-0 lead after one quarter and 39-0 advantage by the halftime break to roll to the easy 53-0 takedown over the visitors from Chatham.
On a blustery afternoon, Raider senior quarterback Max Revercomb struck before the North Cross faithful could get their blankets unfolded when he caught the Tiger secondary napping on a 55-yard bomb to fellow-senior Ryan Dent.
Less than four minutes into the game, Revercomb made it 12-0 on a 12-yard TD toss to Jordan Lowery. An Isaiah Harris 2-yard run made it 19-0 with 2:19 left in the opening frame, and when freshman Tyler Slash hauled in a 30-yard scoring pass in the last 20 seconds of the quarter to make it 26-0, the Raiders were well on their way to make sure this day offered no surprises.
Harris picked up his second touchdown of the afternoon with 10:11 left in the second quarter on a 30-yard scamper and Dent followed at the 6:43 mark with a 55-yard touchdown run that sent the teams to the locker room with North Cross holding a cozy 39-0 lead.
The 39-point disparity meant the clock ran continuously to begin the second half, not a problem for most in attendance.
The Raiders added 14 points in the third quarter on a pair of Maurice Garrison touchdown runs from 43 and 12 yards out that secured the final margin. Both teams were content to let the clock tick off the final 12 minutes.
North Cross head coach Stephen Alexander said the wide margin was a welcome breather.
“Yea, everyone got reps today, “Alexander noted. “You never know who’ll be needed in a key role in the playoffs. We were able to start two freshmen today, so that’s always exciting. Even though we won’t host in the playoffs, I feel good about this team; we’re getting better.”
Revercomb, who has thrown for nearly 2,500 yards this season, including 32 touchdowns, was playing in his last game on the North Cross turf.
“It was an exciting day,” the senior said. “A big win. All eyes were on us to make the playoffs. We’re weren’t taking this game lightly. Today, we were able to play well because we prepared hard.”
“It’s been a great season,” Alexander told his players at midfield. “It’s the North Cross way. We have senior leaders at the top, and others that fall in line. We weren’t able to play this game in August.”
The Raiders will open the playoffs this weekend. Their expected opponent was undefeated and #1 ranked Fredericksburg Christian.
– Bill Turner