“We want River Bluff!”

Over the past 3 weeks, Gilbert High School fans have made that confident chant towards the end of a football team victory. 

After victories this past Friday to both improve to 5-0, the 8th-ranked Class 5A Gators and the 6th ranked Class 3A Indians are among the 4 remaining undefeated teams in Chronicle Country along with fellow Lexington District 1 school White Knoll and 3-time defending Class 5A champion Dutch Fork. 

At 7:30 pm this Friday in The Swamp, the Indian fans will get their long-awaited wish. Gilbert and River Bluff will face off in what will be the 2 teams’ final non-region contest. 

 "It might be a non-region game but it will be a big game," Gilbert head coach Chad Leaphart said. "Both teams 5-0 and it will be a great atmosphere over there... the kind of game that Friday Nights are all about." 

“The student bodies and (both) communities get real excited which is what you want,” River Bluff head coach C. Blair Hardin said. “(Gilbert) has a great tradition and a great fan base, so it’s neat to see 2 communities get excited. I know they’re a really good football team. Coach Leaphart and staff does an excellent job. We know them well. They know us well. That’s what high school football is all about. So it’s going to be a great environment. 

The matchup is being billed as the Indians’ explosive offense versus the Gators’ dominating run game and stifling defense. Gilbert averages 48.5 points and 532.6 yards a contest led by senior quarterback Jy Tolen (100-147 passing, 1544 yards, 17 TDs, 1 INT).

“I hope we can knock his (passes) down and I hope we can get to him,” Hardin said. “He’s a very, very accurate quarterback. You can tell he knows his system extremely well. He doesn’t make any mistakes and he can run the football. He’s a lot of fun to watch, but not a lot o fun to prepare for.” 

River Bluff has allowed an average of 7 points, forced 5 turnovers and held opponents to 108 yards a contest. Meanwhile, Shrine Bowl running back Braden Walker has rushed for 293 of his 460 yards in the last 2 games and accounted for River Bluff’s 2 touchdowns in the 14-7 win over Irmo. 

"Walker is a Shrine Bowl RB and is very deserving of the honor," Leaphart said. "He ran all over us last year (183 rushing yards in the 42-30 win at Gilbert). We will have to gang tackle him and try to get to him before he gets downhill on us."

The Gators hold a 3-2 lead in the series. The Indians, however, have won 2 of the last 3 meetings and defeated River Bluff 21-17 in their last visit to The Swamp in 2016.

A win for Gilbert would give it a 3-0 mark over Region 5-5A teams dating back to the preseason. They defeated White Knoll 21-7 at the Lexington Sportsarama and Lexington 31-14 on Sept. 6. 

Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.

RIVER BLUFF VS. GILBERT

AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE.COM

The all-new Gator GameDay Crew will be giving their new live-stream program a test run Friday night for the highly-anticipated River Bluff-Gilbert football game.

This will be the team’s first published broadcast and plans are to show the video feed with audio coming from the River Bluff PA game announcement. Please be cautioned that with anything of this magnitude, hiccups and technical difficulties could occur.

Eventually, the GameDay team will live-stream sporting events with play-by-play and color commentating provided by River Bluff students. Students already man the cameras and handle graphics on the backend of their productions.

To access the live-stream, follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEfmNiuFUi_PZlfWzZC3wUA

BY THE NUMBERS
Region 5-5A teams Dutch Fork, Chapin, Lexington, White Knoll and River Bluff were all victorious last week. Through 5 weeks, the region’s combined record is 21-2-1...Dutch Fork has gone 30 consecutive games without a loss and 17 straight at home. This past Friday, the Silver Foxes won its 20th straight road game. In addition, Boiling Springs became the 12th straight team dating back to the start of the 2018 season to win a game the week after facing Dutch Fork following the 45-0 rout of Boiling Springs. Blythewood will try to extend the streak Friday against Beaufort...White Knoll is 4-0 for the first time since 2013 and 2nd time in school history...Gilbert is 5-0 for the 3rd time in 4 seasons under head coach Chad Leaphart, who’s 35-7 during that span...River Bluff is 5-0 for the 2nd straight year...Gray Collegiate wide receiver Omarian Dolleson, a transfer from Irmo High School, leads the nation in receiving yards (872) and quarterback Hunter Helms is 2nd in passing yards (1,995), according to www.maxpreps.com . 

(Class 3A)

1.Dillon (9)

2. Chapman (2)

3. Camden

4. Chester

5. May River

6. Gilbert

7. Wade Hampton

8. Strom Thurmond

9. Aynor

10. Marion

(Class 5A)

1. Dutch Fork (11)

2. Byrnes

3. Fort Dorchester

4. Gaffney

5. Dorman

6. T.L. Hanna

7. Sumter

8. River Bluff

9. Clover

10. Carolina Forest

WEEK 5 SCHEDULE

(All games set for 7:30 pm)
Brookland-Cayce at Newberry
Chapin vs. A.C. Flora (at Memorial Stadium in Columbia)
Dutch Fork at Northwestern
Gilbert at River Bluff
Clover at Irmo
Lexington at Spring Valley
Northside Christian at Beaufort Academy
Columbia at Pelion
Silver Bluff at Swansea
Wardlaw Academy at W.W. King

Airport, Batesburg-Leesville, Gray Collegiate and White Knoll all have a bye this week.