Speed and space was key in Raiders beating Riverside at their own game

Everything that Milwaukee Riverside was supposed to be, Wisconsin Rapids was more.

Coming into the game, Riverside’s speed was expected to give the Raiders problems but Wisconsin Rapids was faster. Riverside was more athletic and could run in space, but the Raiders were the most athletic of the two and scored using elusiveness and creativity on sweeps.

Riverside is a great team, Raiders coach Toni Biolo said.

“They made good adjustments in the second half — they slowed us down, but it was almost too little too late by that time,” he said.

As good as the Tigers were, they could not match up with Wisconsin Rapids.

The Raiders’ athleticism was not more evident than in Rylan Lubeck’s first-quarter scoring attempt. The 5-foot-7, 165 pound senior took a pitch right, turned the corner and leaped over a would-be tackler at the goal line.

Lubeck, who actually fumbled out of bound at the 1-yard line, set up the first Raider touchdown through his dive.

And Rapids was better in the open spaces on the football field, which was where Riverside was supposed to have an edge.

Zach Campbell scored on a 28-yard run by slicing through the Riverside secondary then outrunning the Riverside defensive backs, who were supposed to be quicker.

The speed of the Wisconsin Rapids running backs forced Riverside to spread out on defense.

“They stopped our perimiter game often but we were able to break a couple of plays on the outside to force them to defend it,” Biolo said.

On defense, Wisconsin Rapids benefited from the quick-scoring Raiders offense. Playing from behind, Riverside turned to the arm of their quarterback to catch up with the Raiders.

“They didn’t run in the open field as much as we thought they would,” said Raiders linebacker Regis Henke. “They passed more, which helped us actually because they weren’t running around as much.”

Not only did Wisconsin Rapids beat Riverside at their own game — the Raiders just beat up the Tigers. Ultimately, Wisconsin Rapids beat Riverside by playing the same game that beat every other speed team the Raiders face — Kimberly, DC Everest, Marshfield, all the Fox Valley teams — controlling the ball on offense and stopping the other team’s attacks.

Link to game story: Raiders capitalize on Riverside turnovers to punch ticket to state