The Lord Botetourt football team moved up from seventh to sixth in the Virginia High School League Region 3D rankings this week with a win over Northside last Friday. The Cavaliers took a 36-15 win in Daleville.
The victory also put LB on the winning side of the ledger for the first time this season. After starting out 1-3 the Cavs have now won three in a row and are 4-3 overall. They have two games remaining of what will be a nine-game regular season after having lost one date due to COVID.
This week the Cavs have another chance to move up when they travel to Rocky Mount to take on Franklin County. The Eagles are a Class 6 team with a 4-4 record.
“I’m not worried about the playoffs right now,” said LB coach Jamie Harless. “I haven’t even looked at it. I’m more focused on getting things right with our kids.”
Harless was an assistant coach at Franklin County for nine years. Since coming to LB, Harless has played the Eagles twice, winning 22-21 in 2019 and 57-7 in the spring of this year. Jamie taught the father of one of Franklin County’s offensive linemen.
“They’re big and athletic and their quarterback throws the ball well,” he said. “Their kids always play extra hard.”
“The kids are growing up,” said Harless. “We have a bunch of kids in new positions and we put a lot of responsibility on them, but now we’ve won three in a row and they’re playing a lot better. They’ve improved their attitude and desire to play as a team.”
Bryson Harvey kicked two more field goals for the Cavaliers, including a 44-yarder to open the scoring in the first quarter. He added a 22-yarder just before the half to give LB a 13-8 lead at intermission.
Nicely ran for a TD in the third quarter to make it 20-8, but Northside answered on a 19-yard pass play to cut the lead to 20-15 early in the fourth quarter. Two more TDs by Nicely salted it away and LB is now 3-0 in Blue Ridge District games with two to play.
