Lord Botetourt tailback Hunter Rice answered all questions about his health last week with a healthy dose of Cavalier football. Rice ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns in LB’s 35-16 win over Western Albemarle in Crozet last Friday.

A week prior, folks were wondering if Botetourt’s bell cow might be gone for an extended period of time. He left the game in the second quarter of a loss to Blacksburg and did not return. He was diagnosed with a knee bruise, but that couldn’t keep him off the field a week later in Crozet.

“He’s fine,” said LB coach Jamie  Harless. “He played a good game and he ran hard.”

That’s good news for the Cavaliers, who were missing first string quarterback Preston Martin for the second straight week. Martin is recovering from a hamstring injury and is hoping to return this week when the Cavaliers host Rockbridge County on Thursday night.

In the meantime, James-Ryan Salvi has stepped in behind center and played well. He opened the scoring last Friday with a 68-yard touchdown pass to reliable Jake Dewease and the Cavaliers were off to the races. LB jumped to a 21-0 lead as Rice scored from five yards out to end the first quarter scoring, then took one in from 12 yards out to open the second period.

However, the Warriors would not roll over and die. They bounced back to cut the margin to 21-7 at the half, then scored the first TD of the second half to make it 21-14 and it was anyone’s game.

At this point, it was Dewease to the rescue. His second TD catch of the game, this time on a 67-yard hookup from Salvi, gave LB some breathing room and a late score by Rice on a 31-yard run put the icing on the cake. Hunter ran for a two-point conversion to conclude a big night.

“I was proud of our kids, they had to overcome some adversity,” said Harless. “We were already dealing with some key injuries and then Brett Meacham went down with a broken leg, so we had to move some people around.”

Botetourt finished with 251 yards rushing, led by Rice’s 155. Ethan Clower had 68 yards on 14 carries while Evan Eller had 27 yards on four attempts.

Salvi was six for nine passing for 198 yards with Dewease catching the two long TD passes for a total of 135 yards. Eller had one catch for 35 yards, Meacham had two for 13 and Hunter Fielder had one reception for 15 yards.

The win lifted LB to 2-1 on the season and they’ll be back home this week. The game, against Rockbridge, has been moved to Thursday with the impending bad weather expected to hit Friday.

THIS WEEK’S GAME

The Cavaliers are back home this week to host Rockbridge County on what was originally scheduled to be Hall of Fame Night. However, the Homecoming Game has been moved to Thursday at 6 p.m. with Hurricane Florence making its way toward the East Coast and the Hall of Fame festivities have been moved to October 19 when the Cavaliers host Northside.

Rockbridge is off to a 2-1 start like LB. The Wildcats’ two wins have been against Pioneer District teams, a 47-0 win over Parry McCluer and a 42-0 win over Alleghany, both at home. They lost to Robert E. Lee High in Staunton, 40-35.

“They do the same thing they did last year, throw the ball 75 or 80 percent of the time,” said LB coach Jamie Harless. “They’re a good looking team. They’re organized and well-coached.”

The former Blue Ridge District opponent now calls the Valley District home. The Wildcats are in their third season under coach Mark Poston and coming off a 6-5 season that saw them make the playoffs last year, losing in the first round. Rockbridge returns a half-dozen starters on both sides of the ball but they’ll miss Ben Rhodenizer, last year’s quarterback who has since graduated. He threw for over 3,000 yards in their wide open offense.

LB won this matchup, 41-28, in Lexington last year and the Cavaliers are hoping to get quarterback Preston Martin back from a hamstring injury. Whoever throws to receiver Jake Dewease is a lucky guy, as he’s off to a terrific start with 11 catches for 314 yards and five touchdowns in the first three weeks.

This should be an interesting game, but the Cavaliers have played the tougher opponents thus far and that could be the difference.