Skinner, Taylor dominate at RB as Riverside downs rival Eastside, 41-20

Coming into Friday’s matchup with Eastside, Mikkel Skinner (pictured) and Jaiden ‘Speedy’ Taylor knew the recipe for Riverside’s success was getting the ball in their hands. Head coach Matt Rochester helped dial up a game plan to ensure that happened.

After last week’s shocking upset loss to Laurens, Riverside’s Mikkel Skinner and Jaiden “Speedy” Taylor sat down with their coaches.

The two star wide receivers combined for just 97 total yards on eleven touches against the Raiders — both season lows.

“Speedy and I told the coaches, whatever position they need us to play so that we get the ball in our hands, we’ll do it,” said Skinner. “We’ll do what we need to help the team win.”

As a result, Skinner and Taylor were featured primarily as running backs against Eastside Friday.

The pair combined for 16 carries, 105 yards, and two touchdowns out of the backfield. At wide receiver they also dazzled, combining for six receptions, 109 yards, and two more scores.

They powered Riverside (5-4, 2-1 region) to a bounce-back win over the rival Eagles, 41-20.

“We kind of evaluated ourselves after that rough loss to Laurens and asked ourselves ‘What do we need to do?’” said Riverside head coach Matt Rochester. “And one of those things we needed to do was get the ball in the hands of our playmakers.

“We struggle at times doing that through the air, so doing that on the ground is what we wanted to try.”

Eastside wasn’t prepared to see both Skinner and Taylor lined up out of the backfield, either. That was clear from the opening snap when Skinner heard confused shouting from the Eagle defense.

“When they saw both me and Speedy in the backfield on that first play, they didn’t know what to do,” said Skinner. “They had their schemes to try and stop us out wide, but not at running back.”

“We’ve worked on that package a little bit this year,” said Taylor. “But we waited to really pull it out until this game.”

Skinner and Taylor were the stars of a game that might be remembered as much for the extracurricular as the score.

The matchup was intense. Both teams were physical with each other during every play, and well after most plays, too. Pushing and shoving between players was fairly frequent.

For Taylor, who transferred in from Southside this year, he’d never been a part of such an intense rivalry. It caught him by surprise.

“I didn’t really know this rivalry went so hard,” he said. “But it felt good to play against those boys. I knew from that first altercation when Mikkel blocked their cornerback all the way out of bounds that it was going to be that kind of game.”

“Always in a rivalry game, I think it can get chippy,” said Rochester. “The biggest thing is trying to keep everything calm in those situations, making sure no one is getting in trouble and that you don’t have a bigger altercation.”

THE RUNDOWN

Taylor’s 12-yard touchdown run got the scoring started for the Warriors before Eastside’s Kalvin Banks answered with a touchdown rush of his own. An Israel Leamon 39-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jacob Medlin made the score 14-6 at the end of the first.

Medlin — in his third start of the season — put together arguably his best performance yet. He went 13-of-23 passing for 188 yards. That strike to Leamon was the first of his three touchdowns on the day.

“I think he did well,” said Rochester of Medlin. “I really think putting Speedy and Mikkel back there with him made him a lot more comfortable. There were definitely some throws I think he’d like to have back, but overall, he did his job well for us.”

Medlin’s second touchdown pass went to Skinner from 20 yards out to push Riverside’s lead to 21-6 in the second quarter. Robbie Robertson returned an interception of Eastside quarterback Peyton Schrader to give the Warriors a 28-6 cushion. Banks would answer for the Eagles just before halftime to close the gap to 28-14.

Skinner’s 8-yard touchdown rush increased the Warrior lead yet again in the third to 34-14, and Taylor’s 42-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter capped the scoring for Riverside. Schrader’s touchdown pass to Banks produced the final score.

“It’s an important win,” said Rochester. “Both teams wanted those bragging rights, and adding in the region implications made it even more important.”

UP NEXT

Region implications indeed loom large for Riverside in their final matchup of the regular season. That’s Oct. 27 against Greer. They’ll have a bye week to prepare. But Rochester and his team have been waiting all season for this one.

After last year’s heartbreaking 49-48 overtime loss to the Jackets caused Riverside to miss out on a region title, it’s been circled on their calendars ever since.

“We’ve got to make sure this bye week is productive to get ready for Greer,” said Rochester. “We know what happened last year. Nobody’s forgotten it. It’s going to be a really big game. We’ve just got to stay focused.”