The James River football team can clinch their first winning season since 2018 with a victory in Hillsville this Friday. The Knights are 5-4 after defeating Patrick County, 14-7, in Stuart last week.
“No question, it would be great to have a winning season,” said River coach Jack Baker. “It builds confidence and puts the program in the right direction.”
The Knights won a thriller on the road last week. Host Patrick drew first blood on a 24-yard pass play with just 18 seconds left in the first quarter. River evened the score at 7-7 when Sam Wilson bulled his way into the end zone with 8:31 remaining in the half and that’s how it stood at intermission.
River took their first lead midway through the third quarter. Gavin Binns ran in from the 11 and Knox Taylor converted his second extra point for a 14-7 lead.
That’s how it stood through the end of the third quarter and well into the fourth. However, Patrick was driving late in the game and was inside the River 10-yard line with two and a half minutes to play. River had been in a similar situation, on offense, the week prior against Floyd and failed to score. The Knights weren’t looking for two heart-breakers in as many weeks.
It didn’t happen. The Knights’ defense stiffened and kept the Cougars out of the end zone to preserve the win. On a fourth down passing attempt the Knights blanketed the Patrick receivers and Eli Baldwin pressured the quarterback into throwing an incomplete pass, ending the threat and nailing down a big district win.
“It was a good effort by the whole defense,” said Baker. “We had them covered up.”
Patrick outgained River for the game, 244 yards to 207, and had 16 first downs to 10 by the Knights. However, the visitors got the big plays when they needed them to bring a win back to Springwood.
Binns continued his outstanding play with 150 yards rushing on 28 carries, an average of 5.4 yards per attempt. Merit Hammons ran for 36 yards and completed two passes for 20, one to Josiah Merchant and one to Bentley Painter.
The defense came up big for River, led by Ryan Daniels and Briar Sink with 10 tackles each. Wilson had nine and Baldwin, Jack Beheler and Jayden Alston had eight each. Merchant had an interception and Ryder Ward had a fumble recovery.
This Friday the Knights will wrap up the regular season with a trip to Carroll County. The Cavaliers are a Class 3 team and fifth ranked in the Region 3D rankings with a 7-2 record. They’ve won six of their last seven with the only loss to undefeated Glenvar.
Carroll presents some problems. They run an old-fashioned “T Formation” with a full house backfield. Baker was able to scout them in person when the Cavaliers played Floyd during River’s bye week.
“It’s a unique offense and they’ve scored a lot of points,” he said.
The Knights are currently sixth in the Region 2C rankings but not far behind Appomattox. A win over a Class 3 team with a 7-2 record would likely move the Knights up a spot as well as clinching a winning season for River.
