It will be a big night in Springwood this Friday as the James River football team will host Radford at 7 p.m. It’s the Three Rivers District opener for both teams and it’s also Homecoming for James River.
Both teams come in with three wins. Radford is undefeated in three games and the Knights are 3-1 after hammering Hidden Valley at Bogle Field last Friday, 41-7. The Knights could easily be unbeaten as well save for a two-point loss to Blacksburg on the second week of the season.
“We’re only a couple plays from being undefeated,” said River coach Jack Baker. “Our kids have played hard every game.”
While Radford is 3-0 the wins have come against 1-3 George Wythe, 0-4 Giles and 0-4 Galax, and George Wythe’s win was against an 0-4 Fort Chiswell team that has given up 254 points in four games. Meanwhile, River has faced two Class 3 teams along with 3-1 Parry McCluer and 3-1 Auburn.
With that said, Baker knows his team will have their hands full with Radford. The Bobcats won last year’s game, 38-22, and Radford has won four of the last five meetings.
“It’s a typical Radford team,” said Baker of this year’s version of the Bobcats. “They have a little size and a whole lot of speed.”
Some coaches worry about distractions that may occur from Homecoming, but Baker isn’t concerned with that.
Photos by Regina Devinney
“I don’t worry about it, we have a fairly mature football team,” he said. “They’ll do some goofy things during the week, but when they’re here it’s up to us to get them ready to play.”
The Knights went to Bogle Field ready to play last week and laid the hammer down on host Hidden Valley, 41-7. River jumped on top early, leading 14-0 after the first quarter and 27-0 at the half.
Sam Wilson scored the first touchdown for the Knights on a 47-yard run, then Eli Baldwin recovered a fumble in the end zone for a 14-0 lead with Knox Taylor drilling both extra points.
Quarterback Merit Hammons scored twice in the second quarter as River pulled away. The first was a 12-yard run just two minutes into the quarter and the other was a 66-yard jaunt to close the first half.
Wilson scored again, this time on a 45-yard run, early in the second half. Hammons added his third TD on the first play of the fourth quarter and that set the clock running continuously with a 41-0 lead. The Titans scored a late touchdown to deny River the shutout after Baker substituted on the defensive side of the ball.
“It’s always nice to get the shutout, but we were able to play a lot of kids,” he said.
Hidden Valley never did stop the Knights’ rushing attack. River rolled up 376 yards rushing on 49 carries, an average of 7.6 yards per attempt. Ashton Orange led he attack with 162 yards rushing on 20 carries. Wilson had 101 on just three attempts, scoring a touchdown on two of them, and Hammons ran seven times for 58 yards. Ben Whitt had 48 yards on 12 carries.
Hammons passed just four times, completing three for 110 yards. Wilson, Whitt and Bentley Painter had one reception each.
Baldwin had seven tackles including one for a loss and a sack. Wilson had seven tackles as well and Hammons had an interception. Alijah Orange had three tackles for losses.
River will try to keep the ball rolling with Friday’s Homecoming game. Believe it or not this Friday will mark the midway point of the regular season and the Knights have only been 4-1 at the halfway mark twice since 2003.
