The James River football team has had a week off between games, and that seems like a long time for the Knights. River had played three games in eight days prior to that, finishing with a 21-14 loss to Giles last Friday night in Springwood.
“Were we a little tired for the third game?” asked River coach Tim Jennings. “Probably, but we’re not using that as an excuse. They just played better down the stretch than we did.”
This game could have gone either way. The Knights jumped on top just a minute and 13 seconds into the game on a three-yard run by Conner Church. Giles tied the game with a two-yard run early in the second period and that’s how it stood at the half.
The Spartans took their first lead on their first drive of the second half when Nathan Sheetz broke free for a 45-yard TD run. However, Ben Bailey returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a score and James Voight’s extra point kick tied the game again at 14-14.
“You almost have to play a flawless game to beat them,” said Jennings. “We’re not used to seeing that offense and they’ve been running it since they were little kids. I thought we had a good game plan, but mistakes here and there will kill you.”
The Giles single wing attack rolled up 236 yards of rushing against River without gaining a single yard through the air. Meanwhile, the Knights had just 38 yards rushing but 180 passing in two distinctly different methods of attack.
Zeal Hammons completed 12 of 31 passes for the Knights, including four to Bailey for 107 yards. Levi Rock had three catches for 23, Church had two for 12 and Tanner Dillow, Brian Moran and George Toliver had one reception each. Church rushed 13 times for 45 yards, while Bailey had 184 all-purpose yards counting returns and rushing.
On defense, Logan Campbell had 14 total tackles to lead River, including six solos. Andrew Wheeler had 10 tackles, Colin Cook had seven, Dillow and Landon Barger had six each and Jake Benson and Toliver had five each. There were plenty of tackles to go around as Giles had the ball for two-thirds of the clock time during the second half, 16:57 to 7:03 for River.
The loss dropped River to 4-4 overall and fifth in the VHSL Region 2C rankings but the Knights have a chance to move back into the top four and grab a first round home game. They play at Carroll County, a Class 3 school, this Friday then finish up with Radford, the third-ranked team Region 2C. The Bobcats are at top-ranked Glenvar this Friday before ending the regular season at James River in what could be a game to decide home field in the first round of the playoffs.
“We need to stay disciplined,” said Jennings. “This isn’t any time to fold up the tent.”
