A missed extra point and a late William Byrd score proved to be the difference in a Blue Ridge District football thriller last Friday night in Vinton. The host Terriers took a 42-41 win over Lord Botetourt in a game that went down to the final seconds.
“The fans got every penny of their money’s worth,” said LB coach Jamie Harless. “We should have won that game. We had a couple instances where if we make the tackle we should make the game is over.”
This one was back and forth all night. Byrd got the ball first but Triston Graves picked off a long pass for LB and the Cavaliers drew first blood on a four-yard TD run by Quentin Jones. The extra point try failed and the lead didn’t last long when Byrd’s Tate Kotz ran back the ensuing kickoff for a 95-yard TD. Byrd converted the kick for a 7-6 lead.
The Terriers made it 14-6 on a 35-yard TD run up the middle by Gray Matthews and led 14-6 after one quarter. Botetourt then answered just six seconds into the second period when Jones scored on a four-yard run. Quentin then caught a two-point conversion pass from Angel Rigney to tie the game at 14-14.
Photos by Brian Hoffman
The momentum swung back to Byrd at this point. Jamez Toler broke free for a 69-yard TD run and Matthews added a second score on a 40-yard run for a 28-14 Byrd lead. The Cavs then cut it to 28-21 when Rigney found Eric Irons in the end zone for a 26-yard TD pass with just 19 seconds left in the half.
Botetourt got the ball first in the second half and put together a five-minute drive that was highlighted by a long pass from Rigney to Jones. Rigney scored on an 11-yard run and Caleb Miller’s kick tied the game again at 28-28. Then Botetourt regained the lead, 35-28, on another Rigney run with 57 seconds left in the third quarter.
That set up a wild fourth quarter. Byrd tied the game at 35-35 on a 73-yard run by Matthews. Botetourt answered with another sustained drive, with Jones running it in from 14 yards out with just 2:06 remaining. However, a bad snap on the extra point attempt left the door open for Byrd at 41-35.
The Terriers went through that door. Quarterback Cannin Lutz hit Thomas Purcell with a pass and Purcell broke tackles and rumbled 69 yards to the red zone. Then, on third and eight, Lutz found Stephen Byers alone in the end zone for a TD with 29 seconds remaining. Connor Whitehead, whose father played football against Harless in high school, kicked the extra point and that was the difference in the 42-41 final.
Botetourt finished with two 100-plus-yard rushers again as Rigney had 146 yards on 26 carries and Jones had 142 on 27. Rigney completed six passes for 170 yards as Irons had three catches for 125 and Jones had three for 46.
With the loss Botetourt fell to 6-2 on the season and the Terriers are also 6-2. Botetourt hung on the second spot in the Region 3D rankings, behind Magna Vista, and Byrd moved up to third.
This week the Cavaliers have a big Blue Ridge District game at Class 5 William Fleming. The Colonels are 5-3 and have played a very strong schedule with non-district games against Varina, Patrick Henry, GW Danville and Salem.
“They’re fast, and they make up for that by being very fast,” said Harless.
The Cavs finish up with Fleming and Northside and Harless feels LB can still grab the top spot in the region if they win out.
“If we can win the last two and Magna Vista loses to GW (Danville) I’m pretty sure we would pass them,” he said.
