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Riverdale Baptist School football coach Bob Shields and his staff gave a halftime speech on Saturday about sending the Cursaders' seniors off in style.

Those seniors responded in their final home game, lifting Riverdale Baptist to a 21-6 win Saturday against Friendly High.

Senior Morgan Taylor returned the second-half kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown, and added a 42-yard interception return for a score in a 21-point third quarter for Riverdale Baptist (4-5).

"[The kickoff return] was real big for us, we needed a spark coming out of the half," said senior Brian Burns, who had two interceptions in the first half to go along with a 9-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

After Taylor's kickoff return, Friendly's Coree Holmes fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Riverdale Baptist's Andrew Johnson recovered at the Friendly 26-yard line. Seven plays later, on fourth and 6 from the Friendly 9, Burns dove over the left pylon.

The Crusaders had only 12 yards of offense in the first half, but kept the game scoreless by twice intercepting Friendly starting quarterback D'von Dorsey. Riverdale Baptist's defense forced six turnovers on a day when the Crusaders only dressed 21 players. Because of his limited bench, Shields said he had to get creative on both sides of the ball.

"Our punter was playing defensive end. We were just pulling kids from everywhere, but we just kept fighting," he said.

Friendly (3-5) controlled the first half, holding the ball for 17 minutes. But the Patriots committed two turnovers in Riverdale territory. Friendly's offense had only 74 yards of offense and turned the ball over six times, three on interceptions, two on fumbles and once on downs.

"It's just something that we've been going through all year, not protecting the ball and being careless," said Friendly coach John Morgan. "The players are not doing fundamentally what they're taught to do."

Dorsey started at quarterback for Friendly in the first half, but Morgan went with junior Sherrod Baltimore in the third quarter to try and give his team a spark. Though Baltimore only completed 2 of 9 passes for 25 yards, his 29-yard touchdown to Delonta Hall gave Friendly its only score. Holmes' two-point run attempt failed. Morgan said his team will start Baltimore at quarterback the rest of the season.

Neither team produced much on offense, as Riverdale outgained Friendly, 104-74. Crusaders' quarterback Trevon Bennett completed

2 of 4 passes for 46 yards. Running back Donte Cotton added 30 yards on 13 carries for Riverdale.

With two games left in the season, Shields said it would be a big achievement if his team could win its final two games at St. Mary's Ryken in Leonardtown and Tuscarora in Frederick to finish over .500. Shields said considering the school's enrollment of around 250 students, his team plays one of the toughest schedules in the state.

Riverdale Baptist has already played undefeated DeMatha, arguably the top team in the Washington, D.C. region, Landon School of Bethesda, which is 6-1, and Bishop Ireton of Alexandria, Va. (6-2).

The Crusaders' game at St. Mary's will be at 7 p.m. Friday.