Lord Botetourt shut out Franklin County in the second half to rally for a 22-21 win in football last Friday night in Rocky Mount. The win kept the Cavaliers undefeated and in first place in the Region 3D rankings with a game against the second ranked team, Northside, this Friday.
“We played well in the second half,” said LB coach Jamie Harless of the win over Franklin County. “The second quarter was a nightmare. We gave up a couple big plays and had a couple things not go in our favor.”
The Cavaliers scored first on a 33-yard run by James-Ryan Salvi and led 7-0 after the first quarter. Franklin answered early in the second period on a three-yard TD pass but LB regained the lead on an eight-yard run by Salvi. From that point things went south for LB as Franklin connected for touchdown passes of 42 and 44 yards from Joshua Luckett to Garrett Garman, giving the Eagles a 21-13 halftime lead.
Botetourt closed to within two points in the third quarter as Salvi found Dalton Breese for a 44-yard TD pass play, but the two-point conversion try in an attempt to tie the game failed and Franklin retained the lead at 21-19.
With the LB defense holding the Eagles at bay, Botetourt regained the lead early in the fourth quarter. Mikey Rago, who had missed an extra point in the second quarter, nailed a 32-yard field goal to put the Cavaliers on top 22-21. It was his first field goal of the season and it came at the most opportune time as Botetourt held on for the win.
Friday’s game marked the return of Hunter Rice to the LB offensive backfield and he made his presence known with 141 yards on 30 carries. Rice missed five full games after an ankle injury in the season opener with Brookville. He returned in LB’s win over Staunton River a week prior but played only defense. He looked like his old self against Franklin County.
“I would say he’s pretty close to 100 percent,” said Harless. “He had over 100 yards and we didn’t block particularly well.”
Salvi ran five times for 56 yards and Dylan Wade, who carried the load while Rice was sidelined, had five attempts for 29 yards.
Salvi was four for 11 passing for 65 yards. Kyle Arnholt had just one catch for 13 yards as he received “extra attention” from the Eagles’ secondary. Breese had the 44-yard touchdown reception.
The game marked the return of Harless to the Franklin County field where he was an assistant 11 years ago, and Jamie was happy to come away with the win.
“It was weird,” he said. “Everything was different.”
