The Lord Botetourt football team is atop the Virginia High School League Region 3D rankings after a 21-13 win over William Byrd in Daleville last Friday. The Cavaliers can help their cause this Friday when they play undefeated Class 5 William Fleming in Roanoke.
With last Friday’s win the Cavaliers went from second to first in the region rankings with a 6-1 record and a 23.7 rating. William Byrd dropped from first to third at 5-2 and 22.1. Abingdon moved up to second at 6-1 and 22.2. The top eight make the playoffs and four through eight this week are Magna Vista, Christiansburg, Carroll County, Northside and Bassett.
Botetourt is at William Fleming this Friday with a chance to pick up a boat load of points. Since Fleming is Class 5 they’re good for extra points, and LB would get “rider points” for every game Fleming wins.
With that said, Friday’s game won’t be easy. Fleming is 7-0 and the top-ranked team in Region 5C. The Cavaliers squeaked out a 14-13 win over the Colonels last season in Daleville, and this year’s Fleming team is probably better. Fleming is led by tailback Malachi Coleman, a Syracuse University commit.
“They have a big, athletic line and a tailback who’s fast and a hard runner,” said LB coach Jamie Harless. “They play hard and their talent level is up.”
Photos by Brian Hoffman
Botetourt is coming off a big win over William Byrd, a team the Cavs lost to twice last year. This one went down to the wire, with Quinten Jones intercepting a pass in the end zone with just 28 seconds remaining to seal the game.
The Cavaliers drew first blood in this one when Jones picked off a pass for the first of his three interceptions, leading to a seven-yard TD run by Tristan Overbay just two minutes and eight seconds into the game.
Byrd answered with two second quarter scores but the extra point try hit the post on the first one. That allowed LB to take a 14-13 halftime time lead when Garrett Lonker found Seith Reiter for an 11-yard touchdown pass with just 33 seconds remaining before halftime.
The second half was a defensive battle. LB increased the lead to eight points when Overbay bulled his way over from the one in the third period, and the Cavalier defense dug in.
“Other than a couple mental breakdowns our defense played really well,” said Harless.
The Terriers converted two fourth down plays on their final drive but Jones’ interception in the end zone ended the threat and the Cavaliers had a big win.
Overbay finished with 131 yards rushing on 33 attempts while Jones had 74 yards on 15 tries. Jones had three interceptions and Eric Irons also picked off a pass.
With the win the Cavaliers clinched their 13th straight winning season. They also avenged two losses to Byrd from last season.
“We’ve made a tremendous amount of growth,” said Harless. “We lost 41-14 in the last game last year and won by eight Friday. We flipped the difference by 35 points.”
Rice takes it to the house!
Lord Botetourt graduate Hunter Rice, a senior at VMI, has rushed for 493 yards and four touchdowns for the Keydets this season, including one against The Citadel in the “Military Classic of the South” in Lexington last Saturday. Here, Hunter scores a first half touchdown, flips the ball to the official and gets a bump from a teammate. Unfortunately the visitors came from behind to take a 13-10 win and claim the Silver Shako trophy that goes to the winner of this annual rivalry.
