Riverside football rebuild continues in year three under Davis

BELLE, W.Va. — The rebuilding process for the Riverside football program is now into year three under head coach Zach Davis.

A 4-2 start last year had the Warriors in the mix for a playoff spot, but finished the year outside the top 16 with a 4-6 record. Still, to even be in playoff contention for much of the year was a significant step itself.

“We were 0-10 in our first year, but we kept getting better and our best two games were our last two,” Davis said. “We are just building this slowly. When I got here, I said we were going to build it brick-by-brick and that’s what we’ve done.

“It’s been nothing magical,” he continued. “There’s no magic scheme, no magic call. You just have to become better football players through the weight room and the practice field – I’m proud of our guys for doing that.”

Early season wins a year ago over Woodrow Wilson, Ripley, St. Albans and Liberty (Raleigh) were signs of that progression, while four straight losses to end the year against Spring Valley, Morgantown, George Washington and Parkersburg gave Riverside plenty to keep working towards.

“We hit the bulk of our schedule where we really had to grind it out,” Davis said. “Our guys fought. We made some mistakes and we need to fix those. But the majority of our team is back and we’re proud of their effort. They never quit. Those four wins last year were as many as the previous four years combined.”

Senior quarterback Mark Scites is one of those key returning players for Riverside, coming off of a junior campaign where he threw for 1,263 yards and seven touchdowns.

“He’s a competitor, he’s tough, he’s gritty,” Davis said of Scites. “His arm strength has gotten a lot better and he’s a guy who refuses to lose. He will fight to the end.”

Sophomore running back Caden Easterling also returns after leading the Warriors with 529 rushing yards as a freshman. Some of those other returning leaders include center Ben Billanti, receivers Jacob Clark and Blake Wentz, safety Kain Ford and linebackers Jacob Pierson, Danny Pierson and Austin Wheelis.

The Warriors open up the 2017 campaign at home against Woodrow Wilson, a team Riverside defeated 19-14 last year to open up the season on the road.

“We were ranked last year in the top 16 for the majority of the season and that’s a testament to our players, they’ve done a really good job,” Davis said. “I have really good assistant coaches and they do a great job at their positions and our coordinators do a great job of calling offense and defense. Our program is going the right way.”