Riverside overwhelms Grand Island Heartland Lutheran, 74-6

Riverside's defense (white jerseys, right) crowds the line of scrimmage against Heartland Lutheran's tight offensive set. *(photo by Bobby Mills)

Grand Island----Riverside junior Ty Martinsen set the tone for the 6-Man clash when he delivered a 55 yard touchdown pass to 190 pound senior Riley Swerczek on the very first play of the game.

Coach Joey Imus two-time defending 6-Man State Champion Chargers would nearly score at will for the remainder of the football game, en route to a 74-6 win over Grand Island Heartland Lutheran.

In what has become an almost “normal” margin of victory for Joey’s Riverside 6-Man juggernauts, their level of excellence seems to be a big cut above the remainder of the state’s 6-Man football field the past three seasons.

Back to Ty Martinsen, the 195 pound junior, playing only in the first half, piled up 173 yards on just 9 carries, three of which were scoring jaunts, covering 54, 13 and 46 yards. The 2016 All-State defensive player also threw 4 touchdown passes in that opening half. Riley Swerczek caught two (30, 33 yards), junior Joseph Bloom hauled in a 45 yard TD strike, while sophomore Trey Carraher was on the receiving end of a 10 yard Martinsen scoring toss.

It didn’t help matters that Heartland Lutheran was without their starting quarterback, Ivan Messersmith, who tore his meniscus kicking a football in practice 3 weeks ago. But in reality, the Red Hornets are a young group of primarily freshman and sophomores, and on this warm September evening, the youthful Red Hornets were simply overmatched, but still are 2-2 for the season.

It also must be noted that Joy Imus and his Riverside forces are youthful as well, which is not a great sign to the 8-Man football world for next season, where Riverside will play it’s football.

It was noticeable, standing on the Riverside sideline, that Imus and his assistants were not happy with the performance at times during the first half, despite building a 47-0 lead heading to the break. All this simply points to the fact that Coach Imus has high expectations for this football team year in and year out, and their 35-1 record since Cedar Rapids and Spalding High joined forces, illustrates that his players listen and carry out those expectations in practice and on the gridiron come game time.

A trio of other Chargers got into the scoring column in the second half, despite the running clock. Flashy 170 pound freshman Michael Bernt swept his right side for a good-looking 49 yard TD run. Freshman classmate Jeffrey Schmeits added a 16 yard scoring dash as time expired in the 3rd quarter, then escaped on a 49 yard touchdown run with 7:37 left in the game.

Heartland Lutheran’s Daniel Warneke, who took absorbed some punishment much of the night carrying the football, had the last word though, as the 170 pound junior escaped down the Riverside sidelines for a nice 49 yard scoring dash. It also must be noted that 5-10, 215 pound sophomore Trevin Carpenter played a whale of a defensive game for Gehle’s Red Hornets. The kid can flat out bring the wood.

I also witnessed something I have not seen in over 50 years of watching high school football in Nebraska. On Riverside’s final drive of the night, Joey Imus apparently instructed his ball carriers to either run out of bounds, or purposely head into a group of defenders to avoid breaking away for another score. On one play, Schmeits simply slid down after getting the first down.

I have seen quarterbacks kneel instead of scoring at the end of a game, but never have I seen such a display of sportsmanship such as what Joey Imus demonstrated on the final drive. Pure class.

Joe Imus is truly, one of the “good guys” in the coaching ranks, and one of the brightest young football minds this old guy has seen in years.

On a final note, high praise also goes out to Heartland Lutheran head coach Preston Gehle, who has really taught this program how to play the game of football. From the pristine football field to the basics of blocking and tackling, Coach Gehle has done a terrific job for west Grand Island school. His passion for the game can be felt by all those who come in contact with him.

………………………….1……..2……..3……..4……….F

Riverside……………....12…....35…....21…….6……....74

Heartland Lutheran…...0……..0……..0……..6……….6

1st Qtr.

R - Swerczek 55 pass from Martinsen……PAT - Pass failed………….0-6

R - Martinsen 54 run……………………...PAT - Pass failed………….0-12

2nd Qtr.

R - Martinsen 13 run……………………...PAT - Bernt to Bloom pass….0-19

R - Martinsen 46 run……………………...PAT - Reardon run…………..0-26

R - Swerczek 30 pass from Martinsen…....PAT - Bernt to Carraher pass..0-33

R - Team Safety…………………………………………………………...0-35

R - Swerczek 33 pass from Martinsen…….PAT - Pass failed…………....0-41

R - Bloom 45 pass from Martinsen………..PAT - Pass failed…………....0-47

3rd Qtr.

R - Carraher 10 pass from Prososki……….PAT - Reardon run…………..0-54

R - Burnt 49 run…………………………...PAT - Bernt to Schmeits pass..0-61

R - Schmeits 16 run……………………….PAT - Craven to Schmeits pass..0-68

4th Qtr,

HL - Warneke 49 run……………………..PAT - Kick failed……………....6-68

R ----Schmeits 49 run……………………..PAT - Run fail, Schmeits kneel..6-74