The annual Big River Rivalry since its inception in 2013 has become a ceremonial celebration of high school football within the 804 fitting the end of the season. This meeting on this day was the 10th game, the 10th anniversary and it provided a memorable experience for those who came out to Randolph-Macon College.

One of those experiences was the fact that it might have been the coldest on record. Attending 9 of 10 these games there have been some cold games but with temps in the low 40's and a blustery wind blowing through much of the day, it felt like it was in the 30's. That wind carried the aroma of food trucks on hand across the field making anyone who got a whiff, hungry.

Rivalry is in the name but sometimes rivalry games don't live up to the billing. That was not the case this year by any stretch. This one had all you could ask for.

Football weather? Check. The aforementioned cold temps speak for itself.

North versus South? Check. All part of the rivalry game, which side of the river has bragging rights for a year?

Intense crowds? Check. They came out despite the cold temps and they made their presence known and felt, particularly in the fourth quarter when the North began storming back.

Hard hits? Absolutely. Ask Jahkei Chavis of Armstrong who took a vicious hit from Jessiah Parker of LC Bird.

Intensity? Absolutely. Ask the coaches and players who took offense to the hard hit laid on Chavis and were ready for a scuffle before cooler heads prevailed.

Turnovers? Check. Three fumbles and an interception.

Defense? Check. A shutout for three quarters of the game put on by the South. A heads up play in overtime to keep the North from converting a game winning 2-point try.

Offense? Check. Jahkei Chavis, Bryce Yates, Butter Stephenson, Jason Wright all put on a show with many others, particularly in the second half.

Comeback? Check. Ask the North about comebacks... down 13-0 in the fourth quarter the North stormed back with Jahkei Chavis leading the way.

Overtime? Check. 48 minutes of football was not enough to settle this rivalry game this year as for the first time ever, we had overtime.

Celebration? Check. As the North came up short, the South stormed the field; players and coaches a like took to the field celebrating.

In the SEC, "it just means more" but on this day it felt like this game meant more and this all-star game has taken on the form of a true rivalry.

The first quarter was dominated by two long drives for both the North and the South and with 33 seconds to go in the quarter, the first turnover of the day.

LC Bird's Jason Wright steered a 90-yard, 6-play drive that saw the South overcome not one but two penalties. Jason Wright was big on this drive with two carries and three passes. Bryce Yates found himself on the receiving end of the first touchdown of the day when Wright got Yates from 25 yards out.

The North appeared ready to fire back with Henrico's own Lavell Winston the first QB out for the North squad. The North drove 62 yards on 11 plays behind production from Butter Stephenson and Rashaud Cherry along the way. The South defense did their best to take the passing game out of the equation disrupting a couple of passes but the North shot themselves in the foot on a false start facing 4th & 6 at the South 13. An incomplete pass on 4th & 11 ended the drive for the South.

Moments later the South second possession of the day would suffer an abrupt end. Huguenot's Linwood Johnson was in at QB for this series and after rushing for 4 on a keeper, two plays later Linwood would fumble with the Springers Jayden Shuler coming away with the loose ball.

Glen Allen's Nana Utsey was the second quarterback out for the North squad on this day. On his first play he picked up 7 before Jesse Logan of James River brought him down. The North, however, suffered the same fate of the South moments prior as on 2nd & 3rd the North fumbled and Malik Brown of Matoaca came up with the cover of the loose ball.

The South could only garner 11 yards on their next possession. Credit the North defense for stepping up after allowing one first down. Trenton Stallings of King William had two stops on this drive and a false start against the South certainly did not help. The South faced a 3rd & 12 when they went with a razzle dazzle play that fell incomplete.

The North put together a long drive that appeared destined for an end zone. The North got as close as the 11 of the South before the drive fell apart. A drive that started with Nolan Crist at QB for the North and Jahkei Chavis the recipient of a 9-yard pass that Jesse Logan of James River was again able to stop. After a false start call, the North faced 2nd & 15 when Crist found Butter for a pickup of exactly 15 yards. Bennett McCandless of Midlothian and Daron Thompson began to make their presence felt in this one slowing the North. The North faced 4th & 2 when Butter again came up big for the North moving the chains to the 13. A flag against the North and Victor Afolabi put a permanent hold on the drive and thus the North opted for a field goal try. That field goal was not meant to be.

The South got the ball back shortly before the half but a hold against the South stalled this drive before it could even really get going and that is how we went into the half. The South led 6-0.

The third quarter was defined by defense. How do I mean?

Dinwiddie's Brady Slade had a pass breakup versus Lavell Winston of Henrico. Powhatan's Jameson Britt stopped Winston on 3rd & 3 which translated to 3 plays and only 5 yards.

On the next North possession which saw Glen Allen's Nana Utsey at QB it began promising with a 25-yard shot to Armstrong's Jahkei Chavis on 2nd down but moments later Utsey was intercepted by Bryce Yates of Matoaca who returned the pick 28 yards.

Very first snap with the Skyhawks Jason Wright back at QB, Yates was in the end zone again on a 40-yard shot. The South had a 13-0 lead.

The North would have the ball twice more in the third quarter with nothing to show for me. 3 & out with just 6 yards with Lavell Winston of Henrico at QB and then between a false start, a Victor Afolabi (Matoaca) sack of Nana Utsey (Glen Allen) and a delay of game, the North went backwards as opposed to forwards.

For all the struggles of the North on offense, the South was not exactly pulling away despite another Bryce Yates TD.

While the South might have owned the third quarter, the fourth was all North.

With the ball at the 50 the South came away with just six yards. Kai Thompson of Thomas Jefferson broke up a Jason Wright pass and although Wright picked up 7 on the ground on the next play; Trenton Stallings of King William forced a punt after allowing just one yard from Meadowbrook's Tyson Norman.

After the punt, the North was pinned back deep, as in their own 5. A flag against the North only compounded the bad position. A 3-yard pickup from Hanover's Nolan Crist won't going to cut it but the next play sure did. A short little up and over pass to Jahkei Chavis was transformed into a 92-yard touchdown as the Chavis turned on the jets racing up the North sideline evading defenders and ending the shutout with a little over nine minutes to go!

It didn't take the North long to get the ball back. Despite the Skyhawks Jason Wright under center again the South were held to no gain and forced to a 3 & out. The pendulum of momentum was swinging more in favor of the North.

Malik Johnson of Caroline found himself on the receiving end of a Nolan Crist (Hanover) pass for 3 yards then hit Butter Stephenson of Douglas Freeman for a first down on an 11-yard shot. Earlonte Winston (Hermitage) and Rashaud Cherry (TJ) had back-to-back carries but a third down pass fell incomplete. No worries, Crist found Jahkei Chavis (Armstrong) again for a pickup of 14 yards.

After two incomplete passes it felt as if the North would stall but a personal foul against the South would give the North new life at the South 18 and a fresh set of downs. That personal foul was called on a wicked hit laid on the Wildcats Jahkei Chavis by the Skyhawks Jessiah Parker. That hit drew the ire of not just the refs but the North coaches and players who ready to go and had nothing nice to say to the South.

Within 2 plays the North was inside the 10 and Rashaud Cherry of TJ converted for the first. The North now sat at the 7 but in two plays the North had netted just 2 yards off two runs.

Ball at the 5, Rashaud Cherry dunked it over the defenders to Armstrong's Jahkei Chavis for a touchdown. The PAT proved no good so rather than taking the lead, the game was tied with a little over 2 minutes to go, 13-13.

This fourth quarter packed all sorts of action. The South got the ball back at their own 23 and thanks to a Jason Wright-Brandon Phillips hookup and penalty against the North, the South was at the 47 in two plays. TJ's Rashaud Cherry nearly had a pick, should have had the pick but at the least he broke up the pass. The South faced 4th & 1 when they were called for a false start and brought about a punt. Would the North have a chance to win this thing?

The answer is no... As the media speculated to overtime rules being as there had never been overtime in this annual tradition, the North was fumbling the ball on 2nd & 4 with LC Bird's Jaqui Vaughn making the cover. Thus we were headed to overtime.

Jason Wright of Bird, the most consistent QB of the day for the South was under center and picked up 2 yards on first down before finding Brandon Phillips of Manchester for a pickup of 4 yards. 3rd & goal, ball at the 4 and Wright finds Matoaca's Bryce Yates in corner of the end zone on the North sideline for their third TD combo of the day. With the PAT the South had a 20-13 lead and now it was the North's turn.

Butter Stephenson of Douglas Freeman is a slick runner (pun intended) and he was in from 10 yards out on the very first play.

The North could have elected to kick the PAT and force another overtime period but riding a wave of momentum from the fourth and confident in the players they had on the field, they rolled the dice. Rashaud Cherry of TJ took off to the left and rounded the corner with his sights set on the end zone but Powhatan's Jameson Britt wouldn't have it and brought him down from behind.

The South sideline erupted in celebration as coaches and players a like ran out onto the field celebrating, waving bye to the North. The 10th Big River Rivalry belonged to the South, 20-19!

In a rotation of QB's for the North it was Hanover's Nolan Crist who shined at that position completing 8 of 10 for 154 yards and 1 TD.

The recipient of not just Crist's touchdown pass but also that of Rashaud Cherry's would be to no surprise, Armstrong's Jahkei Chavis. Chavis, like the North as a whole caught fire in the second half. Chavis finished the day with 6 catches for 147 yards & 2 TD's. His 2nd TD came just a couple of plays after a vicious hit that had him down for a a minute. Chavis was the selected at the MVP of the North.

Rashaud Cherry's impact was most felt on defense but the Thomas Jefferson Viking did have a touchdown pass in this one. Cherry finished with 5 tackles and had a pass break-up that was nearly a pick.

Cherry was not the only Viking making plays on defense as Kai Thompson finished the day with 4 tackles and had a pass break-up himself.

Butter Stephenson scored the overtime TD for the North on a 10-yard dash to the end zone. The Freeman Maverick finished with 79 yards of offense between running for 29 on 7 carries & 3 catches for 50 yards.

Jason Wright was sensational in his final game in the 804 as the LC Bird Skyhawk threw all three South TD's on this day racking up 163 yards through the air, completing 10 of 16. Wright also added 34 yards on the ground off 7 carries but surprisingly enough he was not the MVP on this day.

The MVP honors belonged to Bryce Yates of Matoaca who reminded everyone what an asset he is in the receiving game with 3 catches for 69 yards including all 3 TD's plus he had an INT on defense.

In a game defined by defense for much of the day, Victor Afolabi of Matoaca recorded a sack against the North and six tackles.

Not far behind Victor was Midlothian's Bennett McCandless who 5 tackles on the day.