The James River football team will be at Floyd County High Friday night in a game between two teams looking to score. The Knights were shut out by Carroll County last week, 40-0, while Floyd took a 34-0 whitewashing at Glenvar Saturday.
River heads to Floyd with a 1-2 record, while Floyd awaits at 1-3. River is eighth in the Region 2C standings, while Floyd is 10th, so the loser will see hope of a playoff spot disappear as only the top four in the region qualify in this COVID-shortened season. Despite Floyd’s 1-3 record the Knights won’t be taking them for granted.
“They’re always well-coached,” said River coach Tim Jennings. “He’s (Floyd coach Winfred Beale) been coaching for 40 some years and I have a lot of respect for that man. I know they’re going to play us hard. That score wasn’t indicative of how they played last week.”
Meanwhile, River struggled with a rejuvenated Carroll County team. The Cavaliers were the punching bags of area football for years but have turned things around this spring with a 4-0 record. They trail only Lord Botetourt in the Region 3D rankings.
“They’re a much different team than last year,” said Jennings, as the Knights beat Carroll last year, 28-13. “They have a program in place and they’re playing with confidence.”
River struggled on offense for the second week in a row. After 50 yards of total offense in a loss to Radford the Knights managed just 24 yards last week, including minus five yards on 28 rushing attempts. Carroll had 385 total yards in the lop-sided game.
“Our offense is struggling,” said Jennings. “We’re trying to find an identity.”
Freshman Zeal Hammons was just two for seven passing for three yards before being relieved by Aaron Bridges, who was two for five with 26 yards and a pick. Jennings said he’s sticking with the freshman.
“He just needs to adjust to the speed of the game,” he said. “The mental part is there. He never gets rattled.”
George Toliver, Sam Bell, Logan Campbell and Brian Moran had one reception each for River. Colin Cook and Hunter Forbes rushed five times each for a combined 16 yards.
Defensively, Campbell had a good game with 10 total tackles, including nine solos. He’s been a bright spot so far.
Moran had eight tackles and Adam Bridges, Addison McCaleb and Toliver had seven each. Cook had five, two that went for losses, and Cook and Bridges both blocked extra points.
This will be the second of three straight games on the road for the Knights. They won’t be home again until the regular season finale on April 2.
