“It was good to get out there in any weather after 16 months,” said River coach Tim Jennings. “With the weather we attempted just eight passes, but we’re a run first team anyway.”
River jumped to an early lead with 14 first quarter points. Freshman quarterback Zeal Hammons scored his first varsity TD on a three-yard run, then passed to Conner Church for a 32-yard score for his first varsity TD pass. Sam Bell converted on both extra point kicks.
That’s how it stood at the half, and River put it away with two more third quarter scores. Hammons ran for a six- yard TD and Tanner Dillow blocked an Alleghany punt, which Jake Benson picked up and ran 11 yards for the final score. At that point all that was left was finishing off the shutout.
“At the end of the third quarter I pointed to the scoreboard and said, ‘See that zero on the board? I want to see that in 12 minutes,” said Jennings. “Getting a shutout is so hard to do. Our kids really stepped up.”
Hammons led the River offense in rushing with 79 yards on 13 carries on a treacherous field. The freshman looked right at home in his first varsity game, having won the starting assignment just days prior.
“He never seems rattled,” said Jennings. “He didn’t screw up a play all night. He’s a special kid. He watches film and breaks it down and always has that even keel. He’s not real vocal, but that will come.”
Hammons’ only pass completion was the touchdown to Church, as the conditions made it very difficult to pass. Alleghany completed just four passes for a total of 49 yards.
Church was River’s next best runner with 67 yards on 12 carries. Colin Cook ran five times for 15 yards. The River defense held Alleghany to 43 yards rushing on 33 attempts and just 92 yards overall for the game. River had 201 yards of total offense.
Defensively, Logan Campbell led the Knights with 10 total tackles, including six solos. Dillow, George Toliver and Aaron Bridges had seven tackles each and Nathan Ferris had six. Toliver had three tackles for losses, two pass breakups and a forced fumble on a big night for the defense. The Knights held the Mountaineers to just six first downs for the game, and two were by penalty.
This Friday the weather figures to be a little nicer with Radford coming to town. The Bobcats were scheduled to play on Tuesday against Giles, so they have just three days between games to prepare for the Knights.
“They’ll be good,” said Jennings. “They’re very athletic and they return almost everyone.”
