The Seneca Fighting Irish owned the second quarter Saturday against visiting Port Bryon Riverdale.

As a result, the Irish now own a Class 2A first-round playoff victory and the right to host Wilmington next weekend.

Seneca outscored the Rams by 14 points in the second quarter, ultimately the difference in its 35-21 victory over a Riverdale team that refused to go quietly into the offseason.

“Me as a senior, we’ve made playoffs all four years, but it doesn’t change the specialness of how great it is to be out here,” Irish running back and outside linebacker Wyatt Biffany said. “I love all of our seniors, it’s a great atmosphere, basically the whole town comes out.

“I think what carried us through was our composure ... and our coaching.”

Seneca - now a perfect 10-0 – advances on to face old rival Wilmington (9-1) next weekend in Seneca. Wilmington defeated Seneca in overtime in the 2023 Class 2A quarterfinals on the Wildcats’ way to a state championship.

Riverdale finishes 6-4.

The Fighting Irish nearly doubled Riverdale in yards from scrimmage (393-200), converted three times as many first downs (24-8) and never trailed. Regardless, it was never quite as comfortable on the scoreboard as it looked on the statsheet, with Riverdale staying in the contest by working on what has been Seneca’s Achilles’ heel late in the season, big-play passes.

Riverdale quarterback Abram Krier connected on touchdown passes of 75, 14 and 7 yards as part of a 9-of-21, 173-yard afternoon that kept the Rams alive until Biffany recovered an onside-kick attempt with just under four minutes remaining that finally put the visitors away.

“This week was a lot different than what we ran with all year,” Riverdale coach Guy Dierikx said. “[Seneca] stopped our run, so we had to go to the pass, and I think we threw more passes today [22 for 181 yards] than we have in the last two years combined.

“Our kids went out and executed, and I’m so dang proud of them for making plays and having opportunities. Ultimately, the scoreboard didn’t end up in our favor, but we felt like we battled it toe-to-toe with a team that’s going to contend for a state title.”

“It’s the playoffs,” Seneca coach Terry Maxwell said of the hard-fought battle. “They’re fighting for their next week; we’re fighting for our next week. No one’s going to lay down.

“[Riverdale] fought really hard, and we couldn’t get off the field several times on third and fourth down. That’s playoff football, but our guys stepped up.”

It was second quarter when Seneca took control, entering the stanza tied 7-7 and finishing it ahead 21-7.

The Fighting Irish’s two second-quarter scores came on a Cam Shriey 4-yard run to punctuate a 13-play, 65-yard drive and a Brayden Simek 6-yard scamper to paydirt to close out a seven-play, 74-yard drive and, after Cooper Hamilton’s extra point, make it a 14-point advantage. For the quarter, Seneca ran 14 offensive plays to Riverdale’s nine, outgaining the Rams 132-7 in yardage and, more importantly, 14-0 on the scoreboard.

Ethan Othon (10 carries for 113 yards, including the game’s longest run, a 54-yarder), Shriey (18 carries for 92 yards and touchdowns of 4 and 2 yards), Liam Knoebel (16 carries for 85 yards and a 10-yard touchdown) and quarterback Gunner Varland (nine carries for 63 yards and a 2-yard touchdown) led the Seneca attack.

Like its next opponent, Wilmington, in its 70-8 opening-round win over West Hancock, Seneca did not attempt a single pass.

“Their physicality, right?” Dierikx said when asked what makes Seneca’s power-T offense so difficult to stop. “They don’t switch up formations. Instead of doing a thousand things an inch deep, they do one thing, and they’re really good at what they do.”

Knoebel, Avery Phillips, Shriey, Othon and Zebadiah Maxwell were all in on tackles for loss for the Seneca defense. Biffany and Breckin Anderson teamed up on a quarterback sack, and Brayden Simek recorded two passes defensed.