Last Friday wasn’t the kind of opener Lord Botetourt football fans were expecting, but at least it was a win. The Cavaliers scored late to win at Brookville, 15-9.
Botetourt may have had a case of opening night jitters as the Cavaliers had five turnovers and over 100 yards of penalties. They found themselves with their backs to the wall for much of the night, handing the ball to the Bees in excellent field position.
“All of our turnovers were on our side of the field,” said LB coach Jamie Harless. “It was a bad night.”
Topping off the night was an injury to standout running back and linebacker Hunter Rice. He went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter and took a large part of the offense to the bench.
But Botetourt managed to prevail. They scored first on a four-yard run by Ethan Clower and led 7-0 after the first quarter. The Bees answered on a 40-yard fumble return but missed the extra point and LB held on to a 7-6 lead at the half.
Brookville got a 36-yard field goal in the third period to take a 9-7 lead but LB was able to score with about three minutes remaining. A pass interference play in the end zone kept Botetourt’s drive alive and Evan Eller scored on a nine-yard run for what proved to be the winning touchdown. Kyle Arnholt caught a two-point conversion for icing on the cake.
Eller finished as Botetourt’s leading rusher with 72 yards on 14 carries. Rice had 33 yards on five carries before leaving and Dylan Wade ran seven times for 24 yards.
Botetourt was just two for nine passing for 12 yards and had two passes picked off. However, the LB defense was up to the task, holding Brookville to 57 total yards with 52 rushing and five passing.
“We played really good defense, that saved us,” said Harless. “Playing good defense won the game for us.”
