Monday Night Football came to Floyd County this week as last Friday’s game between the host Buffaloes and James River was postponed by three days due to a wet field. The field was better Monday but the play was sloppy nonetheless as Floyd took a 41-0 win.
This game wasn’t as lopsided as the score might indicate. Floyd scored with about a minute left in the first half to take a 13-0 lead at intermission despite losing three fumbles and being called for 50 yards in penalties.
“They literally tried to give us that game,” said River coach Tim Jennings. “They tried to give it to us in the first half and in the second half we just didn’t want it.”
Floyd broke the game open with 21 third quarter points and the Knights were shut out for the second week in a row. The Buffaloes roamed for 402 yards of total offense while River had just 53 yards on 55 plays.
“It comes back to youth, although I try not to use that as an excuse,” said Jennings. “Only one of the guys who carried the football Monday had a varsity carry before this year.”
While the River offense struggled the defense played pretty well despite giving up 41 points. Brian Moran, Adam Bridges and Tanner Dillow all forced fumbles while Aaron Bridges, Dillow and Colin Cook had recoveries. Cook had a 37-yard fumble return before the last possible Buffalo brought him down. Bridges had seven tackles, Addison McCaleb had six and Cook and Adam Bridges had five tackles each.
With the loss, River dropped to 1-3 on the season with a trip to Narrows this week. The Green Wave is 3-0 and ranked second in Region 1C.
“They’re big and they have a good quarterback,” said Jennings. “They want to run the ball.”
This week’s game will be at Ragsdale Field in Narrows at 1 p.m. Saturday.
