The James River football team got off to a good start last Friday, but ended the season in disappointment. River dropped a 32-12 game to Carroll County in Hillsville to end the season with a 3-7 record.
The Knights got off to a great start against the Cavaliers. Jesse Carter returned a Carroll County fumble 25 yards for a touchdown and the Knights led 6-0. Then Michael Hays blocked a punt late in the first quarter, and that led to a five-yard TD pass from Coulter Hodges to Michael Hays early in the second to give the Knights a 12-0 lead.
From there, it was all down hill. Carroll, who had won just once prior to Friday night, scored 20 unanswered points to take a 20-12 halftime lead. Then the host team outscored the Knights 12-0 after halftime to win going away.
“I was impressed with how Carroll played,” said River coach Jake Phillips. “For a 1-8 team, with numbers about like us, they were a lot more focused and a lot more energized than we were. Usually when you get a defensive score and a blocked punt that leads to a touchdown, you win.”
River struggled on offense. The Knights had the ball on the Carroll side of the 50 seven times without scoring. The only time they punched one in was on a short field following the blocked kick.
“We played awful,” said Phillips. “We had six dropped passes, including two in the end zone and two others that would have gone for touchdowns. We had numerous penalties and we couldn’t establish the line of scrimmage. It was a very poor effort all around.”
Carroll outgained the Knights, 336-292. Hodges had 80 yards rushing on 18 carries and was 11 for 33 passing for 150 yards. RJ Bryant had 27 yards rushing on four carries, River Clonch had 21 on six and Luke Peay had 14 yards on five attempts.
Michael Taylor led the receivers with 70 yards on five catches. Clonch caught three passes for 40, Hays had two for 34 and Kevin Austin had one catch for six yards.
On defense, Peay led the team with 14 total tackles. Daniel Holter and Hunter Wilson had nine each and Levi Walker had eight assists.
The loss ended River’s season at 3-7, including six losses in the last seven games. The only win was an overtime win over Radford on October 20.
“I think we had a lot of guys who were already mentally checked out,” said Phillips. “They were satisfied to win that Radford game and that was enough.”
Phillips hopes to be able to turn things around next year, but he’s going to need more players to do so. James River had 41 total players from ninth to 12th grade.
“That’s not enough,” he said. “We were out-numbered and out-sized in just about every game, and the key to the off-season will be to get more kids out for football and, more importantly, getting them to buy into our program.”
