The James River football team scored 28 points in the first quarter and never looked back as the Knights took a 49-15 win over Randolph-Henry in Springwood last Friday.

The Statesmen never did stop River. The Knights scored on their first seven possessions of the game before turning the ball over on downs on their eighth. At that point the game was well in hand, and on River’s ninth possession of the game they ran the “victory formation,” taking a knee to kill out the clock.

“It was a good win for us,” said River coach Jake Phillips. “A lot of guys were able to get in. The jayvee game got rained out the night before and we were even able to get some of them in the game.”

River scored four first-quarter touchdowns. Luke Peay scored the first TD on a one yard run, followed by a 14 yard run by Coulter Hodges. Coulter hit River Clonch with a 60-yard TD hookup for the third score, then Hodges ran for 36 yards and the fourth TD of the opening period.

The Knights were able to get two more scores on the board before the half, one on an eight-yard run by Peay and then on a 37-yard run by Clonch for a 41-0 halftime lead. A 60-yard TD run in the third quarter by Chase Perkey capped off the scoring as the Statesmen scored two meaningless touchdowns late in the game.

“I thought we played well all around,” said Phillips. “We had too many penalties(15) but we’ll work on that this week.”

River outgained Randolph-Henry 464-182 overall.

Hodges had another outstanding game for River with 116 rushing yards on nine carries while completing five of seven passes for 120 yards. Clonch had three catches for 89 yards and also ran for 49 yards, scoring a touchdown by air and land.

Dyllan McAllister had 11 rushes for 62 yards and Peay carried 11 times for 57. Deacon Paivanas had two receptions for 31 yards.

Defensively, Andrew Bridges led River with nine total tackles, causing one fumble and recovering another. He was followed by Daniel Holter, Kevin Theimer and Nathaniel Farris with seven tackles each. Peay and Caleb Shipwash had six each. Logan Campbell and Addison McCaleb had sacks and Perkey blocked a Randolph-Henry punt.

With the win the Knights improved to 2-0 overall and they’ll go on the road for the first time Friday night when they play Parry McCluer in Buena Vista.

THIS WEEK’S GAME JAMES RIVER AT PARRY McCLUER

The James River football team will go on the road for the first time this season when the Knights travel to Buena Vista for a 7 pm game against traditional rival Parry McCluer.

The Fightin’ Blues are off to a tough start. They lost their opener at Rockbridge County, 47-0, then lost their home opener to Buffalo Gap last Friday, 42-41. But don’t let that fool you. The Blues have been a thorn in River’s side for many years and figure to give the Knights all they can handle.

“They’re a tough matchup for us,” said River coach Jake Phillips. “They have their quarterback back and a couple pretty good backs. They have a Dawson.”

Marcellius Dawson, a senior, is the youngest of a family of backs who have fueled the Blue’s running game for years. He’ll be the one River has to stop Friday night.

River beat the Blues last year, 30-14 in Springwood. River has won 10 of the last 12 meetings against a school that used to dominate this series in the ‘70s and ‘80s. If the Knights can cut down on the penalties (15 last week) they should come out on top again and improve to 3-0, their best start in many years.

“I feel pretty confident as long as we play a clean game and execute,” said Phillips.