The Lord Botetourt football team went 15 months between football games, then hurried through the second half like they wanted to get out of there.
Actually, it was the George Washington of Danville team that wanted to get out of town. The clock ran continuously after halftime as LB took a 42-0 lead at intermission on the way to a 70-6 win Saturday afternoon in Daleville. It was the worst loss for the Eagles in the history of the GW program.
This game was all Botetourt. The Cavaliers scored 21 points in each of the first two quarters and pushed the Eagles all over the field. LB coach Jamie Harless was somewhat sympathetic of his rival due to conditions imposed on the team by their school.
“They weren’t allowed in the weight room until January, and that makes a big difference,” said Harless. “I thank our superintendent (Dr. Jonathan Russ) and School Board who had the foresight to take care of the kids. The leadership in Botetourt County has been exemplary.”
Dr. Russ was on hand to watch the Cavaliers run roughshod over the Eagles. The rout started early when starting quarterback Sammy Peery hit a wide-open Kyle Arnholt for a 32-yard TD pass. Then Hunter Rice ran for scores of two and 47 yards for a 21-0 lead after 12 minutes.
Arnholt caught a second TD pass, this time from junior KJ Bratton II, for a 17-yard TD to open the second quarter. Peery was back in to pass to Zach Horton for a 35-yard score, and Bratton polished off the half with a 61-yard TD run around left end.
With a 42-0 lead the clock was set to run continuously in the second half. Despite that LB was able to put four more scores on the board, beginning with a 27-yard run by Rice on LB’s first possession of the half. Arnholt then scored twice on interception returns of 78 and 45 yards to give him four touchdowns for the game. The Generals broke up the shutout with a 62-yard pass play, but LB added insult to injury when Joey Isaacs returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for the final touchdown.
Every varsity player got in the game for LB as the Cavaliers put up almost 350 yards of total offense. GW had 127 yards, but a minus 24-yard rushing total.
Rice led the LB rushers with 146 yards on 16 carries. Bratton had 78 yards on five attempts and Dylan Wade had 25 on seven.
Peery completed all five of his passes for 93 yards while Bratton was one for two for 17, and both had a touchdown pass. Arnholt caught three passes for 50 yards and two scores. Horton had two for 47 with a TD and Xavier Stephens had one catch for 13 yards.
This week the Cavaliers will hit the road for the first time with a Friday evening game at William Fleming High in Roanoke. The Colonels are usually big and fast, and they’ve been allowed in the weight room.
“They can thank Roanoke City,” said Harless. “And I’m very grateful to all the people who worked so hard to make sure we could play.”
