Riverside has been on the short end of many close games so far this season. In Week 5, the Beavers flipped the script and won one of the close ones. Changing up things on offense and focusing more on the run game, Riverside ran for 397 yards and scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take a 37-21 win over Boardman. The win came after Riverside had lost three close games earlier in the season, 17-10 to Green, 16-14 to Cathedral Prep and 17-3 to Austintown-Fitch. “The kids played their hearts out,” Coach Jeremy Ishmael said. “The second half was amazing. We just kind of decided to go back to what has made us successful, which is running the ball.” Kyndall McCaleb Down, 21-17, going into the fourth, Riverside got two touchdown runs from senior Donovan Conwell and another from junior Kyndall McCaleb — as well as a 19-yard field goal from Conwell — to complete the comeback effort. McCaleb (23 carries, 190 yards), Conwell (seven carries, 108 yards) and David Seibert (13 carries, 103 yards) all ran wild for the Beavers. Seibert got the start at quarterback after Bo Brandehoff started the first four games of the season. “Bo got injured in last week’s game and David came in and gave us a little jolt offensively,” Ishmael said. “We wanted to give David an opportunity to see what he could do for a full game.” In addition to running the ball effectively, especially in the second half, Ishmael gave credit to his team’s defense for getting crucial stops to give the ball back to the Riverside offense. “We were inches away from making those stops in the first half,” Ishmael said. The win was much-needed, as Riverside opens Western Reserve Conference play on Sept. 27 against South. The adrenaline from the win over Boardman is just what the Beavers needed, according to their first-year head coach. “Oh, it’s monumental,” Ishmael said. “This was a big win. Going into conference play with a win like this is a big momentum boost for us.”