Prep football: Riverdale runs past Lely in 2nd half

Riverdale runs past Lely

Riverdale wins 45-21.

NAPLES — Midway through the third quarter Friday night, Lely High took possession with a lead for the first time.

One play later, a fumble put the ball back in Riverdale’s hands, and it went terribly downhill from there for the Trojans.

Visiting Riverdale scored 35 unanswered points to open a big fourth-quarter lead, running away with a 45-21 season-opening victory.

With a 17-14 lead, Lely recovered a fumble near midfield with 7:45 left in the third quarter. Trojans quarterback Karbel Dirogene’s ensuing fumble gave Riverdale a short field, resulting in the go-ahead touchdown.

Riverdale then scored three touchdowns in 53 seconds early in the final quarter, with two of the scores coming off Lely turnovers.

“You finally get the lead and it all fell apart,” Lely coach Dave Miller said. “We just stopped executing.”

The Raiders didn’t dominate in total yardage, outpacing Lely 356-302. But Riverdale began three touchdown drives in Trojans territory and had a 73-yard fumble recovery for a score to secure the win.

Four Raiders ran for 60 yards or more, paced by Deviaun Diggins’ 85 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Jeff Colton only completed 3 of 5 passes, but two went for touchdowns.

Lely was paced by Dirogene, who completed 7 of 15 passes for 97 yards. He also ran 16 times for 86 yards. Max Cavaliere carried 15 times for 63 for Lely.

The Trojans kept up in the first half against Riverdale’s powerful rushing attack, limiting the Raiders to 106 yards on the ground. More importantly, only three carries went for more than 10 yards, and none for more than 19.

The Trojans also pushed Riverdale off the field at key times early, stuffing an opening Raiders drive on fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line. Riverdale went 1-of-3 on third downs in the first half, an emphasis for Miller heading into the season opener.

“We came out ready to play in the third quarter, but it was a change of momentum,” Miller said. “Instead of running with the lead, we let our guard down.”