Month: September 2017

Bobcats celebrate homecoming with a win

Homecoming King Eric Burdette and Queen Bailee Cox

Radford…Finally! That’s what a lot of the Radford coaches and fans were heard saying as they won their first game of the season 24-7 over Alleghany . Making it even sweeter, it was Bobcat homecoming. Bailee Cox was named the Queen and Eric Burdette was named the King of the homecoming court. Burdette started chemotherapy this week after being diagnosed with cancer just over two weeks ago halting his football season.
Freshman P J Prioleau scored touchdowns on runs of 24 and 35 yards. He also threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Josh Alley off a fake punt that put the game on ice with 3:32 left in the game. In addition he rushed for 103 yards on 13 carries.
Alleghany (1-3) got their only points of the game on a 66-yard pass interception by Antonius Gayflorsee with just 32 seconds left in the first quarter. Nathaniel Rusmisel had seven rushes for 61 yards and Zach Humphries had 48 yards on five carries.
Radford got on the scoreboard first as freshman Conner Lytton hit a 20-yard field goal with 5:51 showing in the first quarter.
Radford would drive to to the 45 of Alleghany and then Gayflorsee intercepted Radford’s Trace Shepherd pass and raced down the Radford sideline for a 66-yard touchdown and the point after put the Mountaineers up 7-3.
The Bobcats (1-4), with 4:30 before intermission, pitched the ball out to Prioleau around the right end and he turned up field and scampered 24 yards for the touchdown. Lytton’s kick put the Cats up 10-7 going into halftime.
Radford would receive the second half kick-off and drive down to the Alleghany 35 . Prioleau would take a pitch out and race 35 yards for six. Lytton’s point after made it 17-7 Radford at the 9:40 mark of the third period. They would control Alleghany defensively for second half and Radford would get their last score as Prioleau took a snap and started to his right and then pulled up and hit a wide open Josh Alley on a 40-yard touchdown pass to put the finishing touch on a homecoming win.
“I’m happy for the kids on this win,” said a happy and relieved head coach Matthew Saunders. “I felt like this was our first game with the changes we made this week in practice. We went back to some things, and we have a lot of work to do to put in more of the offense this coming week.“
When asked about having the ball down at the one yard line, second down and lost five yards then ended up kicking a field goal, Coach Saunders replied, “That’s one of the things we have to work on. We were going to use the belly series, but Alleghany had their goal line in and we didn’t do well. That’s my fault and we have work to do. Defensively we played extremely well again tonight.”
Radford had 325 yards of offense as they scored the most points in a game for the season. A number of changes occurred this past week in practice and it paid off as they got their first win.
They will now go on the road as they travel to Pearisburg to take on Giles next Friday. Kick off is scheduled for 7:00 pm .

Radford 3 7 7 7 – 24
Alleghany 7 0 0 0 – 7

First Downs – Radford -14, Alleghany – 11

Rushing – Radford – 195 yds., Alleghany- 156

Passing – Radford – 130 yds., Alleghany – 59

Penalties – Radford – 6 -42 yds., Alleghany – 1-15 yds.

Bobcats JV remains undefeated

Radford…The Radford junior varsity Bobcats defeated the visiting James River Knights 14-6 behind two rushing touchdowns from quarterback Zane Rupe. He also intercepted two passes from his safety position.

Radford (4-0) scored first as Rupe scored on a six-yard run off tackle, and Jerzee Johnson ran the muddle huddle snap in for a two-point conversion making it 8-0 with just 12 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

The Knights scored on the last play of the third quarter as quarterback Kevin Theimer plowed his way into the end zone on a two-yard run. Their two-point conversion run was stuffed by the Radford defense as the game entered the fourth quarter with Radford up 8-6.

Rupe would drive the Bobcats down the field and roll into the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown. The point after was wide left with just 1:42 remaining to put the game away.

Rupe rushed for 58 yards on 12 carries and he completed 3 of 5 passes for 36 yards. Jerzee Johnson had 4 rushes for 37; Kamaree Tanner had 36 yards on 3 carries. Jarel Baylor caught two passes for 24 yards and Tanner had one reception for 12.

James Rivers’ Theimer completed 4 of 6 passes for 54 yards and rushed seven times for minus 8 yards. Chase Perkey had 81 yards on 13 rushes. Kris Waldron had 31 yards on 8 carries in the first half but got hurt and didn’t return for the second half. Perkey also caught three passes for 49.

Radford head coach Greg Ridpath said, “We had a lightning delay before the game started, and it seemed to make us lethargic. We had a hard time getting into a rhythm.” He then added, “We had too many turnovers and too many mental breakdowns.” The Bobcats finished with 185 yards to James River’s 164. Bobcats had 10 first downs to James River’s nine. Radford had four turnovers and the Knights had three.

NRV Tigers 17 U Baseball Schedule for September 23 -24

The NRV Tigers 17 U Baseball team will be playing this weekend in and around Richmond, Va. They are playing in the Max Exposure Showcase and their schedule is as follows:

Saturday Sept. 23 – 2:00 pm – vs PDB Cardinals Elite @ Va. Sports Complex – Field # 7

Saturday Sept. 23 – 6:00 pm – vs Akadema Empire 17U @ Va. Sports Complex – Field # 5

Sunday Sept. 24 – 8:00 am – vs RBA 360 @ Va. Sports Complex – Field # 7

Sunday Sept. 24 – 12 noon – vs Rawlings A’s Prospect – @ Hermitage High School

They following schools will be there to check out the baseball players – Radford University , VMI , George Washington , George Mason, James Madison, William & Mary, Virginia Commonwealth ( VCU) , Randolph-Macon, Averett, Towson, Norfolk St. and King . Other university’s are suppose to be there this weekend but haven’t confirmed as of this time!

Radford will host the Mountaineers of Alleghany

Radford… If games ended after three quarters or after the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, Radford would be all but undefeated instead of winless on the season.
Homecoming is this Friday for the Bobcats as they take on the Mountaineers of Alleghany. The Mountains will come into Bobcat Stadium with a 1-2 record. They beat Covington 24-20 and lost to Rockbridge Co. 48-12. Last Friday they lost to Cave Spring 34-14. Their head coach is Gary Burdette who is in his fifth season and has a record of 16-29.
Players to watch for Alleghany are quarterback Zach Humphries, wide receivers Cade Nicely, Lamar Samuel and Christian Allen. Justin Hall is a 6-3, 300 sophomore lineman. Other lineman to watch are senior Brian McKinnell 5-10, 205, junior Zach Tucker 6-2, 235 and senior Donald Kirby 5-90, 260.
Radford head coach Matthew Saunders said, ”On offense Alleghany likes to spread and threw the football. They will show trips at wide receiver and doubles as well. The film I’ve seen is they throw more than run.” Coach then added, “Defensively they lineup in a 5-2-4. They will blitz, and the secondary has played both zone and man to man.They are very big upfront and their linebackers are good.”
Radford (0-4) has been in every game they have played. They have lost basically in the fourth quarter of each contest. They lost to Galax and Gretna in the last three minutes. They lost to Fort Chiswell on the last play of the game. In the George Wythe game they were driving for a tying score with under two minutes to go and threw an interception. Radford’s biggest enemy has been themselves. Turnovers and more turnovers have been the main concern for the young team. They are so close to winning but have found a way to lose.
Offensively Radford will go with Donavan Rucker at center. The tackles will be Nathan Cox and Ben Cox. The guards are Nick Clark and Jacob Alley. Trace Shepherd will get the nod at quarterback with Justice Marshall and Elijah Duncan the running backs. The slots and receivers are P J Prioleau, Chris Carter and Dale Stanley. Jaylin Taylor, Kam Edwards, Roman Bonet, Mel Harvey and JW Bethea will all see action as well.
Defensively the Bobcats will go with Bonet, Ben Cox, Ethan Hoffman and Josh Alley on the line. Marshall, Stanley, Duncan will be the linebackers. The secondary will consist of Shepherd, Carter, Prioleau and Taylor.
Radford is averaging 15.8 points per game while giving up 21 per game. Alleghany is scoring 16.6 a game on offense and surrendering 34 a game.
Kick-off is slated for 7:00 pm for this homecoming game at Bobcat Stadium.

 

Another fourth quarter loss for the Bobcats

Radford…Well, it happened again! Radford lost their fourth straight game late in the fourth quarter–this time at home to Gretna 15-8.
The Bobcats (0-4) scored first as Justice Marshall scooped up a blocked punt and ran it in from 26 yards out, and PJ Prioleau ran in the two-point conversion to go up 8-0 with 5:15 left in the opening quarter.
Gretna would get on the scoreboard on their next possession as Dason Hicks would catch a 71-yard pass from Tabron Mabins and Jaylen Miller’s two-point conversion run would send the game into intermission with an 8 all tie.
The game would stay that way until Mabins would run in from nine yards out and then kick the extra point to put the Hawks of Gretna up 15-8 with three minutes left in the game.
Radford has lost all their games in the last four minutes of the game. Once again turnovers were the big thing in the loss. Bobcats head coach Matthew Saunders said, ”We had trouble all night moving the football. Gretna is quick and fast and we didn’t value the football again tonight.” He then added, ”We played hard, and we just have to get back to work Monday. We were dominated upfront.”
Radford had only 46 yards of offense for the game and just five first downs. Elijah Duncan was five of 13 passing with an interception for 31 yards. The leading rusher was Prioleau with just 14 yards on 8 rushes. The Bobcats had 26 carries for only 15 yards.
Gretna (4-0) finished with 262 yards of offense. Mabins completed 6 of 12 passes for one touchdown and 144 yards. Jordan Ranger carried the pigskin 15 times for 51 yards to lead the Hawks.
Radford will be back in action this Friday as they host the Alleghany Mountaineers. It will be homecoming at Bobcat Stadium and kick-off is scheduled for 7 :00 pm.

Gretna – 8 0 0 7 – 15
Radford – 8 0 0 0 – 8

First Downs – Gretna 12, Radford 5

Penalties – Gretna 7-55 , Radford 7-65

Buffaloes stampede Pioneers

Anthony Morris on his touchdown run–the first to score against Floyd this season.

(Photography courtesy Tina Quesenberry)

Floyd…With both teams coming into the contest undefeated, one team was going to come out with a loss. Unfortunately for the Fort Chiswell Pioneers, it was them. Two big plays by Floyd County Buffaloes proved to be the difference as they defeated the Pioneers 21-14 in the Buffaloes homecoming game.

Playing for a perfect evening for high school football, Fort Chiswell moved up and down the field, especially in the first half as they totaled 189 yards to Floyd’s 63 but would lead only 6-0 going into intermission. That score occurred on the first play of the second quarter as Anthony Morris caught a 67-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brody Crockett.

Denver Brown with the ball. Also pictured is Sean Morgan.

With the second half kickoff, Floyd County’s Kaleb Turner fielded the kickoff at the 10, made a move to his left and raced down the Fort Chiswell sideline untouched for a 90-yard kick off return. Gonzalo Lopez split the uprights and Floyd had their first lead of the game, 7-6.

The Pioneers would recapture the lead on their next possession as Tyler Jakubiak would bull his way in from one yard out. Aaron Crawford would catch a pass from Crockett for the two-point conversion to put the Pioneers up 14-7.

The Buffaloes (4-0) would strike back as Jarrett Agee took a handoff and busted up the middle on a nine-yard touchdown run. Lopez’s point after would tie the score at 14 with 5:20 remaining in the game. The Pioneers (3-1) then on second down would throw a pass that was intercepted by the Buffaloes’ Trevan Via. He would return it to the Fort Chiswell 23-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Ian Bary rolled to his left, turned up field and raced 20 yards for the go-ahead score. Lopez point after made it 21-14 with 3 minutes remaining.

Tanner Bailey on the move.

The Pioneers would start the drive at their own 35, but on fourth down, the ball fell incomplete and Floyd had won their homecoming game. “I told the team coming into tonight’s game that the team making the fewest mistakes will win,” said a dejected head coach Todd Tiller of the Fort Chiswell Pioneers. “We played hard, but we just made a couple of costly mistakes. Floyd is a good defensive ball club. They’re well coached.” Coach then added, “We moved the ball offensively, especially in the first half, and we should’ve had more than just six points on the scoreboard. It seemed like we just drivethe ball but stall out.”

The Pioneers will have a bye-week before they return home September 29 against Auburn.

FC – 0 6 0 8 – 14

Floyd – 0 0 7 14 – 21

FC – Rushing – Jakubiak 7 – 20, Bailey 20 – 103, Brown 7 -46, Morgan 6 – 27

Floyd – Rushing – Yates 19 – 38, Bary 12 – 90, Agee 10 – 31, Webb 1 – 4, Landreth 1 – 1

FC – Passing – Crockett 1 – 5 – 0 – 1 – 74

Bailey – 1 – 5 – 1 – 0 – 31

Floyd – Passing – Bary – 4 – 12 – 1 – 0 – 53

FC – First downs – 10, Floyd – 13

FC – Receptions – Crawford 1 – 31, Morris 1 – 67, Bailey 1 – 7

Floyd – Receptions – Gallimore 4 – 53

Keeping Radford Bobcat athletes healthy

Lot of people have seen him. Most all of the athletes know him. His name is Andrew Waff. He is the athletic trainer for the Radford Bobcats athletic teams. Andrew is a certified athletic trainer. He graduated from Radford University with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Exercise, Sport and Health Education. He then went to Virginia Tech for graduate school and he received Masters of Science Education degree. Andrew then got his first job with the Montgomery County Public School system as he became the athletic trainer for Auburn and was there for three years. He then got the job at Radford City Public Schools and has been there for what is now his sixth year. He covers all of the Radford varsity, junior varsity and middle school teams. When asked about his job description he replied,” I try to help prevent injuries and when they do get them, I evaluate and help rehab those injuries. ” He also works with other healthcare personnel such as doctors and physical therapists. He communicates with not only the student athletes but with the parents, coaches and school administrators.

Andrew went to school at Liberty High School in Bedford and played football for them. His head coach at that time was one Mike Scharnus. Who played at Va. Tech and coached at one time at Pulaski Co. under Joel Hicks. Andrew said, ” I played from the eighth grade through my senior year . I’m a proud Liberty Minuteman.”

Mr. Waff is also a preceptor for Radford University. He gets students from them to help with the athletes. These people are getting on hands training to become an athletic trainer later on in their life in a high school setting. Andrew and his wife Rachel -who also works for the Radford City Public Schools- have three boys and all live in Radford. The boys are Anderson, Abram and Asher. So the next time you watching the Bobcats playing and the gentleman that’s checking on the athlete’s well being , his name is Andrew Waff and he has the athlete’s best interest at heart.

NRV Tigers win USSSA Tournament

Salem…The fall baseball schedule for the NRV 17U Tigers got off to a great start this past weekend as they won the USSSA Tournament that was held at Patrick Henry High School and at Kiwanis Filed in Salem. On Saturday the Tigers beat the Patrick Henry Cardinals 16-4. Connor Lewis got the mound win as he went 3.0 innings striking out two and surrendering four runs. The second game on Saturday saw the Tigers fall behind early 5-0. They made it close but came out on the short end of a 5-4 decision to the Carroll Co. Cavaliers . Trey Hodson took the loss as he went 4.0 innings giving up five runs but only two of them were earned. The Tigers committed a couple of huge errors that they couldn’t overcome.
Sunday the Tigers played at Kiwanis Field as they got an outstanding pitching effort from PK Kepler. He tossed a complete game, 7.0 innings, strucking out 14 as they beat the Virginia Tigers 2-0 in real pitching duel. Kepler helped himself as he knocked in one run and also scored one. The win meant the Tigers advanced to the championship against Carroll Co. They would get a measure of revenge as they defeated Carroll Co. 16-6. Pulaski Co. pitcher Hunter Shrewsbury picked up the win as he went three innings. He gave up four runs and struck out two in the win. Wyatt Hage and Caleb Wetzel finished the game on the mound for the victorious Tigers. Kepler went four for four at the plate as he scored three runs and had three RBIs. Seven different players had RBIs and nine had at least one run scored.
Head coach Todd Davis remarked, ”We hit the ball real well in the championship game. We got great effort from PK (Kepler) in the first game today to help get us here. We wanted to play Carroll again after Saturday’s game with them.”
For the weekend the Tigers got contributions from all of their players. Kepler led the way as he went 6 for 10 hitting, scored eight runs and five RBIs. Caleb Franklin was 4 for 6 with five RBIs. Austin Atkins went 3 for 9 with four runs and 3 RBIs. Pulaski Co. Cougar players Hunter Shrewsbury and Bailey Ayers were a combined 5 for 16 with six runs scored and knocked in five.
The Tigers will be back in action September 22-24 in Richmond, Va. It is a max exposure weekend for the traveling Tigers.