The James River football team led Radford at the half but the Bobcats bounced back in the second half to remain undefeated with a 31-21 win in Springwood.
Early in the game it was all Knights. River drew first blood when Ashton Orange picked off a pass and took it 74 yards for a touchdown just four minutes into the game. Radford answered with a 30-yard TD pass and it was tied at 7-7 after one quarter.
The Knights took a two-touchdown lead in the second period. Sam Wilson scored on a 20-yard run but the extra point attempt failed. Then quarterback Merit Hammons fought his way into the end zone from the two and Wilson ran in a two-point conversion, giving River a 21-7 lead with 5:55 until the half.
That was all the scoring the Knights could manage. The Bobcats scored on the ensuing possession to make it 21-14 and added a 27-yard field goal with just a second remaining in the half to cut the lead to 21-17 at intermission.
Radford shut out River in the second half while scoring twice, including a 36-yard run after a fumble recovery in the third period. That gave the visitors the lead for the first time in the game and they added a four-yard TD with just 1:07 remaining to seal the win.
“We played hard all night but we had too many turnovers,” said River coach Jack Baker. “We moved the ball well in the second half but fumbles hurt us. Other than laying the ball on the field we played really well.”
River lost three fumbles in the game. The Knights also had four takeaways as Bentley Painter, Wilson, Hammons and Orange all had interceptions on defense.
River outrushed the Bobcats, 209 to 68. Wilson had 69 yards on just five carries while Orange had 66 yards rushing and Hammons had 64.
Radford had more passing yards, 232 to 29, and had three TD passes to offset the interceptions. Wilson led River with 11 tackles and Orange had 10.
Now 3-2, the Knights will play their second Three Rivers District game in a row this Friday when they head to the Dog Pound to play Martinsville. The Bulldogs are 2-2 and coming off a 17-13 loss at Glenvar where they were leading until late in the game. Martinsville is much improved after going 1-9 last year, including a 35-34 loss to James River in Springwood.
“They have two or three real special ability types who can score from anywhere on the field,” said Baker. “They have some size and they’re similar to Radford. It will be another big challenge for us.”
