Photos by Leigh Downey
The 2023 State Class 2 champion Radford Bobcats are coming to Springwood this Friday for a big Three Rivers District football game. It’s “Hall of Fame Night” for the Knights, who would like to make some memories of their own with a big win.
While Radford won the state championship last year the Bobcats are just 3-3 after last week’s 37-12 loss to Glenvar. They lost some talented players to graduation, including all-state quarterback Landin Clark.
“They’re not the same Radford as last year but they’re still athletic,” said River coach Tim Jennings. “They still have a decent quarterback and they’re well-coached.”
The Knights are coming off a heart-breaking loss at Carroll County last Friday. The host Cavaliers scored with just under 10 seconds remaining to break a 25-25 tie and grab a 32-25 win.
River led for most of the game and were up 19-13 at the half. Twice in the second half they stopped Cavalier two-point conversion tries to keep the game tied, only to lose in the closing seconds.
The Knights had a chance to put the game away in the fourth quarter. They held a 25-19 lead and had the ball. However, an intentional grounding penalty was called on a fourth down sack, setting up the Cavaliers with good field position to tie the game. Jennings disputed the call to no avail, claiming that quarterback Kody Park’s arm was hit as he threw. That would have negated both the sack and the penalty.
River was playing without tailback Gavin Binns, who missed the game with illness. Quarterback Pierce Woodyard left the game with an injury but the Knights were still in position to win.
“We had two or three guys out sick, it sort of reminded me of Covid,” said Jennings. “But I thought we played well on both sides of the ball, especially in the first half. We had some success on offense and I felt like it was a huge step in the right direction.”
Without Binns in the backfield, Brayden Forbes led the rushing with 46 yards on two jet sweeps. Woodyard was three for six passing for 76 yards and a TD pass to Josiah Merchant. Park relieved behind center and completed five of 10 for 81 yards, including a touchdown pass to Ryder Ward. River had 157 total yards passing.
On defense Jayden Alston had a 32-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown and he also had 11 tackles. Efraim Echavarria led the team with a dozen tackles.
With the loss the Knights dropped to 1-5 on the season. After Friday’s game with Radford they’re off the following week, returning with games against Glenvar and Alleghany, who are both undefeated to this point.
