Photos by Leigh Downey
James River football coach Jack Baker picked up a win in his first game coaching his alma mater last Friday. The Knights opened the season with a 49-12 win over Auburn in Riner.
Baker, who played for James River as a high school student, returned as head coach last winter. The first opponent, Auburn, hadn’t played a game since 2023 after forfeiting their season last year. However, the Knights were happy to take the win and get on the bus back to Springwood.
“It’s always good to win that first one,” said Baker. “Hopefully this will give us a little momentum.”
The Knights got off to a quick start. Freshman Merit Hammons scored his first high school touchdown less than five minutes into the game on a two-yard run and Knox Taylor kicked the extra point. Then, just a minute and a half later, Gavin Binns returned an Eagle fumble 26 yards for a score and it was 14-0 just after the mid-point of the first period.
Auburn got one back with 10 seconds left in the first quarter on a 31-yard run, cutting the lead to 14-6 as the extra point attempt failed. However, the Knights put it away with three scores in the second quarter on a nine-yard run by Hammons, a four-yard run by Binns and a 27-yard TD run by Sam Wilson. Taylor was perfect on the conversions and River had a commanding 35-6 lead at the half.
Binns scored again on a four-yard run in the third quarter and that set the clock running continuously with a 42-6 lead, something the Knights haven’t been used to on their end. Auburn scored on a pass play late in the period, but River put some icing on the cake when Maddox Woodyard scored with 3:11 remaining in the game.
“I thought our kids played hard,” said Baker “They’ve worked hard all summer and they got paid for their effort.”
Binns had a big game with 164 yards rushing on 18 carries and two scores. Hammons didn’t look like a rookie, running for 65 yards and two TDs. Baker kept it simple for him, as Merit threw just four passes, completing two for 38 yards. Woodyard had 47 yards rushing, Wilson had 29 and Ben Whitt ran three times for 26 yards. Ryder Ward and Wyatt Dewhirst had one reception each.
On defense, Eli Baldwin and Briar Sink led the team with 10 tackles each, both with six solos and four assists. Jack Beheler had six tackles, Ward had five and Woodyard, Josiah Merchant and Keegan Price had four each. Baldwin also had a forced fumble, a hurry and a pass breakup. Beheler and Ashton Orange had a sack and a half each. The River defense had 10 tackles for losses totaling 30 yards.
“I was pleased with our defense,” said Baker. “We only gave up one solid drive and one big play.”
Taylor, a junior, was perfect on seven extra points and kicked off eight times for an average of 55.5 yards per kickoff. Knox had three touchbacks.
River will try to keep the ball rolling this week with their second straight road trip to open the season, this time to Blacksburg. The Bruins have struggled in recent years but they appear to be making a comeback. They broke a 29-game losing streak when they beat Floyd in 2023 and last year they were 4-6, their best season since 2019. They opened last week with a 40-8 win over Giles in Pearisburg.
“They run a 50 on defense and they’re similar to us on offense,” said Baker. “We’ll have our hands full.”
The River JV team will have a home game Thursday against the Bruins at 6 p.m.
