The James River football team got the season off to a flying start with a win over Auburn last Friday night. The Knights shut out the Eagles, 21-0, in Springwood.
“It’s always good to win your opener, you know you’re going to win at least one game,” said coach Jack Baker with a smile.
If the Knights keep playing defense like they did Friday night many wins could follow. Auburn didn’t get any closer to the James River goal line than 35 yards away all night. The Eagles managed just five first downs and 118 yards of total offense, an average of two yards per play for the whole game.
“Our defense did a nice job,” said Baker. “It’s always a good feeling to shut someone out.”
The Knights scored one touchdown in each of the first three quarters, leading 14-0 at the half and 21-0 after three periods. They ended the game on a 13-play drive, taking 8:05 off the clock.
River relied on the rushing attack, gaining 200 yards on the ground while spreading the work around. Ashton Orange had 62 yards on 14 carries, Merit Hammons had 57 yards on 15 attempts and a score, Ryan Daniels ran once for 28 yards and a touchdown and Bryson Spangler had five carries for 20 yards.
Hammons passed just four times, completing three for 41 yards. One was a 17-yard touchdown to Sam Wilson and Bentley Painter caught two passes for 24 yards.
“What I was really pleased with is that we didn’t have a turnover on offense,” said Baker. “We only had one negative play all game.”
On defense, Orange led the Knights with six solo tackles and two assists, including two tackles for losses totaling 14 yards. Wilson and Keegan Price had six tackles each and Efraim Echavarria had two tackles in the backfield. Painter had an interception, Eli Baldwin recovered a fumble, Hammons had three pass breakups and Daniels broke up two.
This Friday the Knights are home again to host Blacksburg, a Class 4 team from the River Ridge District. The once mighty Bruins have struggled in recent years, going winless for three seasons through 2022, but they’re steadily coming back. They won two games in 2023, four in ’24 and went 5-6 last year, qualifying for the Region 4D playoffs. The Bruins beat James River in Blacksburg last year, 36-26.
Photos by Regina Devinney
Blacksburg has a new head coach in Phillip Reese, who was on Zack Leonard’s staff before Zack moved to William Fleming this year. Blacksburg opened their season with a 27-22 win over Giles last week.
“Their offense is very similar to what they did last year,” said Baker. “When you play Giles it doesn’t show a true picture of who you are. They run that single-wing and you defend it differently.”
The River jayvees played Northside last week and lost 14-6. There is no jayvee game this week.
“I thought they made a good showing to have just 14 kids,” said Baker of the jayvees.
