The James River football team will open Three Rivers District play this Friday when the Knights take on Radford High School in Radford. The Knights are 3-1 after shutting out Hidden Valley last week, 50-0, while Radford is 2-1.
Radford has not played since losing to Giles on September 5, 34-21. The Bobcats had their scheduled bye the following week and last week Galax forfeited their game when the Maroon Tide found themselves short on numbers. Radford was 8-4 last year following a Class 2 state championship season in 2023.
“They still have some athletes from that state championship team,” said River coach Jack Baker. “They have a very good football team.”
Baker, River’s first year head coach, has never coached a team against Radford. The Bobcats have had River’s number of late, winning the last eight meetings between the two. In the last six games Radford has outscored River by a combined 297-22 with three shutouts.
This year could be different. The Knights have started out 3-1 and last week’s 50-0 shutout was the first time since October of 2021 that the River defense has posted a shutout, holding Hidden Valley to just 26 total yards for the game three first downs.
“We challenged them all week,” said Baker. “People have been throwing on us all year and it was time we got some interceptions. Parry McCluer threw the ball 34 times and we ought to get a few more hands on the ball if that’s the case.”
Photos by Leigh Downey
Against Hidden Valley River got a pick in the first quarter that resulted in six points. The Knights opened the scoring with a safety. Then, after Hidden Valley kicked it back to the Knights, they drove in for a touchdown with Sam Wilson scoring on a one yard run.
On the next Titan series Wilson came up big, intercepting a pass and running 32 yards for the score. Sam also scored a two-point conversion and River led 16-0 just four and a half minutes into the game.
At this point the rout was on. Merit Hammons scored on a five-yard run and it was 23-0 after one quarter. In the second period Hammons hit Ryder Ward with an 18-yard TD pass and Gavin Binns ran one in from the one for a 37-0 halftime lead. Hammons and Ben Whitt had scoring runs in the second half with the clock running continuously due to River’s advantage of 35 points or more.
“The second half rolled by pretty quick,” said Baker.
River finished with 359 total yards, including 300 on the ground. Binns had 173 yards on 14 carries to lead the team, averaging 12.3 yards per attempt. Hammons rushed for 40 yards and Whitt, Wilson and Maddox Woodyard combined for another 87 on 19 carries.
Hammons passed just seven times, completing three for 59 yards. Ward had two receptions and Josiah Merchant had the other.
On defense, Xander Carlough, Efraim Echarravia and Briar Sink had five tackles each. River had seven tackles for losses and 23 different players made at least one tackle. CJ Mullins had two sacks and a tackle for a safety and Jayden Alston had two sacks.
The win over a Class 3 team will help River down the road when it comes time to total up points for the playoffs. However, at this point of the season Baker is taking them one week at a time.
“Right now we’re in the process of just getting better every week,” he said. “If you do that everything else will take care of itself.”
