Blue Ridge District football arch-rivals Lord Botetourt and William Byrd will play each other for the fourth time in two seasons this Friday, and this one’s for the Region 3D championship. LB will host the game Friday at 7 p.m. in Daleville.
Byrd has won two of the last three, and the Terriers are defending Region 3D champs. However, Botetourt won this year’s regular season game, 21-13, ending a last-minute Byrd drive with an interception in the end zone.
“I think it’s great,” said LB coach Jamie Harless about playing the Terriers for the championship. “We’ve had a good rivalry and it says something about the quality of our district.”
The Blue Ridge District did not have one of the top two seeds in the tournament, as LB is the third seed and Byrd is fourth. Two more BRD teams followed, Staunton River and Northside, but Byrd beat Staunton River in the region opener and Botetourt eliminated Northside. Last week Blue Ridge teams eliminated the two top seeds, as Byrd beat top-seeded Abingdon, 28-23, and LB won at second-seeded Magna Vista, 36-26. That gave the Cavaliers an unanticipated home game for the region championship this week.
It was a cold night in Ridgeway when the Cavs traveled for last week’s region semifinal, the first cold night of the whole season. Challenging weather tends to favor the team that runs the ball, and the Cavaliers ran for 289 yards and three touchdowns against the Warriors. However, Botetourt’s first TD came on a pass play.
Magna Vista struck first in this game and led 6-0 after the first quarter but Botetourt answered with what Harless called the “Chunky Special.” In a play the LB coaches put in just last week, they put offensive lineman Taygen Sanchez-Huerta out wide where a receiver usually lines up. That fooled the Warrior defense and Cody McConnaughey, a legitimate receiver, ended up open down the middle and Angel Rigney hit him for a 25-yard touchdown. Botetourt’s kick also failed but the game was tied at 6-6.
Photos by Jim & Regina Devinney
The Warriors regained the lead on a 45-yard pass, and the kick failed again as Magna Vista took a 12-6 lead. Botetourt then took the lead for the first time when McConnaughey returned a fumble nine yards for a score and Dean Webb kicked one through for a 13-12 LB lead at the half.
The Cavaliers added a five-yard run by Quinton Jones to open the third period, but the kick failed and the Warriors tied the game at 19-19 on a 37-yard run and conversion. Jones’ second TD of the game, on a four-yard run, regained the lead for LB and Webb’s kick made it 26-19 after three quarters.
Botetourt made it a two-score game early in the fourth quarter when Webb kicked a 30-yard field goal, giving the Cavs a 29-19 lead. Tristan Overbay’s 39-yard touchdown put the game out of reach despite a late score by the Warriors as Botetourt captured a big win.
Overbay had another big game for LB with 189 yards rushing on 26 carries. Jones had 98 yards on 20 attempts while Rigney passed for 30 yards and Overbay for 24.
With the win the Cavaliers improved to 9-3 on the season and they’re in the region championship game for the eighth time in Harless’ 13 years as coach. Friday’s winner will advance to the state Class 3 semifinal against the winner of the Region 3C championship game between Liberty Christian Academy and Turner Ashby.