Photos by Edmee Hasler
The Lord Botetourt football team lost a nail-biter to E.C. Glass in their season opener, but last week the Cavalier fans left the stadium with nails intact. Botetourt scored early and often in a 62-3 rout of the visiting Bruins in Daleville.
“They’re a lot better football team than they were last year,” said coach Jamie Harless, as LB beat Blacksburg 83-6 in 2023. “We were a little over-aggressive at times and made some mental errors, but otherwise I was pleased. I thought our offensive line had a good night.”
Indeed, Botetourt rushed for 272 yards on 30 carries for seven touchdowns. The Cavaliers averaged over nine yards per attempt with Tristan Overbay leading the team with 115 yards on 10 carries. Quinten Jones had 84 yards on eight attempts and Kamden Umber had 45 yards on four carries in the second half.
Botetourt got on the board first on a two-yard run by Jones and Cameron Bailey scored a two-point conversion on a pass from Conner Dowdy. Blacksburg countered with a 32-yard field goal to make it 8-3, but after that LB put 54 unanswered points on the board.
It was 55-3 at the half. Jones had three more TD runs of eight, five and 37 yards, Overbay had a 31-yard touchdown run and Cody McConnaughey had an 11-yard run just before intermission. McConnaughey also had a 50-yard TD catch from Garrett Lonker, who took over at quarterback for banged up Angel Rigney. Garrett completed three passes for 122 yards, including a 45-yarder to Dowdy and a 27-yard connection to Grant Holmes.
“Garrett did a good job,” said Harless.
The clock ran continuously in the second half with a scoreless third quarter. Harless cleared the bench and ran the ball in the second half with Umber scoring on a 30-yard run in the fourth quarter to finish things off.
This week the Cavaliers will travel to Pulaski County to take on the Cougars at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium. Pulaski had an early season bye last week after opening with a 28-21 loss to Northside.
The Cavaliers have only played Pulaski County seven times, with the Cougars holding a 5-1-1 edge. However, last season was the first time they played since 2008 and LB won 48-20 in Daleville.
“They’re old school,” said Harless. “They’re an option team and when you play an option team it’s always a little different.”
