The Lord Botetourt football team remained unbeaten on the young season by beating a team that didn’t lose any regular season games last year. LB used a dominating second half to win at Blacksburg, 23-7.
“It was a good, physical football game,” said LB coach Jamie Harless. “We played good defense. I think that was the first time they were held to single digits since 2014.”
Botetourt scored first on an 11-yard run by Evan Eller, who had the bulk of the rushing attempts with workhorse Hunter Rice sidelined with an ankle injury. The Cavaliers had a chance to go up two scores but were stopped at the goal line on fourth and one, and the Bruins were able to tie the game on a 29-yard run by Luke Goforth in the second quarter. The score stood 7-7 at the half and it was anyone’s game.
The Cavaliers stepped up after intermission and played their best football of the young season in the second half. They shut out the Bruins and put 16 more points on the board on a 25-yard field goal by Terran Baker and runs of five and 19 yards by Eller.
“We played a lot better in the second half,” said Harless. “We didn’t play well last week (at Brookville) and we started a little slow in Blacksburg, but I was pleased with how we looked in the second half.”
Eller led LB with 165 yards on 22 carries, while junior Dylan Wade also stepped up for the Cavaliers. He rushed 19 times for 102 yards.
Eller completed five of seven passes for 48 yards while James-Ryan Salvi completed the only pass he threw. Kyle Arnholt and Bryson Oliver had two receptions each.
Defensively, Botetourt held the Bruins to just 73 yards rushing while piling up 252. However, Blacksburg had 244 passing yards and the first downs were virtually even, with Botetourt holding a 17-15 edge. The Cavaliers were able to get the stops when they needed them to keep the Bruins out of the end zone in the second half.
Botetourt is now 2-0 and has yet to play a home game. That will come this week with a game in Daleville against Bluefield High of West Virginia.
