River is looking to get back on track after ending the regular season with a 42-0 loss to Radford in Springwood last Friday. Radford is the third seed in the tournament and the Bobcats will host Floyd County in the opener. Other first round games have top seeded Glenvar hosting eighth seeded Patrick County and second seeded Appomattox at home against the seventh seed, Gretna.
Martinsville finished the regular season at 4-5 and they’re also coming off a butt kicking last week, losing 47-3 to Piedmont District rival Bassett, the third seeded team in Region 3D. Martinsville plays a very tough Piedmont District schedule with other games against Class 4 teams GW-Danville and Halifax County and Class 3 Magna Vista, all losses on the Bulldogs’ schedule. Martinsville opened the season with a 25-7 loss to 9-1 Glenvar. The Dogs’ wins came against Morehead, NC, Dan River, Chatham and Tunstall.
“They play in a real tough district,” said River coach Tim Jennings. “They have athletic ability similar to Radford. Maybe not quite as many, but more than enough to give us trouble.”
The Knights hung tight with Radford for a half. After a scoreless first quarter the Bobcats scored on 24- and 34-yard pass plays for a 14-0 lead at intermission, then all heck broke loose in the third period. Landon Clark, who played sandlot ball at Glenvar before transferring to Radford, threw touchdown passes of 76 and 18 yards, ran for a 16-yard TD and then ran back an interception for a 97-yard “pick six” on the final play of the third period. Twice the Bobcats recovered squib kicks to maintain possession during a nightmare of a quarter for River. The clock ran continuously in the fourth quarter and the Knights licked their wounds and started to get ready for the playoffs.
“We have to fix some things,” said Jennings. “Martinsville won’t spread us out as much, and we’ll need a good game plan to stop the run.”
Statistically, Radford outrushed River 88-16 and had 339 passing yards to 111 for the Knights. Zeal Hammons was nine for 17 passing and Jake Benson was one for five and the two had three interceptions between them. Benson led the rushing with just 10 yards gained.
The Knights head into the post-season with a 5-5 record. It will be their first playoff appearance since 2018, when they lost to Gretna in the opening round. The Knights will be looking for their first playoff win in school history, having gone winless in eight previous playoff games.
