Month: August 2018

Maroon Tide dominates second half for win

The Galax Maroon Tide used a balanced attack as they rolled up over 500 yards of offense to defeat the Radford Bobcats 41-21. Galax got 219 rushing yards, and two touchdowns from Blake Brown. Quarterback Gage Cooke threw three touchdown passes for 212 yards as he completed seven of 14 passes.

The game was a see-saw battle in the first half as Galax scored first on a Caxton Vaught 33-yard field goal. Radford would answer as Trace Shepherd would catch a 27-yard touchdown pass from Zane Rupe for a 7-3 lead.

Galax would strike back as Cooke hit Landon Dickson on a 70 yarder for six and the point after put the Maroon Tide up 10-7 on the first play of the second quarter. Radford would come right back and go up 14-10 on a PJ Prioleau 12 yard run off tackle with 10:10 remaining in the first half.

Galax ( 1-1) on their first play from scrimmage on their next possession Cooke hit Matt Lundy on an 81-yard slant pass to go back in front 17-14. The second half saw the Maroon Tide scored twice on Brown runs of 11 and 14 yards. They would then scored again on their third possession of the third quarter as Vaught hit a 23-yard field goal to go up 34-14. They would score with 4:09 left in the game as Cooke hit Kolby Barnes with a 30-yard strike for six more and it was 41-14.

Radford would drive and score as Justice Marshall went around right end for a 10-yard touchdown. ” They made better adjustments than we did in the second half, ” said Radford head coach Matthew Saunders. ” They are a very good football team and it may be Coach Mark Dixon’s best team. The Vaught kid for them does a lot of different things and they are very balanced. You can’t just try to stop their run cause they can pass the football.”

Galax had 258 yards passing and 289 rushing for 547 total yards. Radford finished with 301 total yards.

 

Galax 3 14 17 7 -41

Radford 7 7 0 7 -21

Galax – rushing- Brown – 23-219 , Vaught 7-61 , Pickett 6-3, Thompson 1-2, Poole 2-2, Cooke 1-2

Radford – rushing – Prioleau 18-55 , Rupe – 9- 0 , Shepherd – 2-6 , Tanner 1-2, Marshall 6-63

Galax – passing – Cooke – 7 of 14 – 1 int.- 3 tds- 212 yds, Pickett 1of 3 – 0 ints.-0 tds- 46 yds

Radford – passing – Rupe- 11 of 24 – 0 ints.- 1 td- 175 yds. , Prioleau 0 for 1 – 0 ints.- 0 tds. – 0 yds.

First Downs – Galax – 21 , Radford – 18

Penalties – Galax – 8 – 65 yds., Radford – 5- 35 yds.

RSN Football Picks for Fri. Aug. 31

Last Week 8-2, Overall 8-2 – .800

  1. Pulaski Co. @ Wm. Fleming – Pulaski Co.- won
  2. Salem @ Franklin Co. – Salem- won
  3. Covington @ Glenvar – Glenvar- won
  4. Galax @ Radford – Galax – won
  5. Fort Chiswell @ Geo. Wythe – Fort Chiswell- lost
  6. Narrows @ Bland Co. – Narrows- won
  7. Carroll Co. @ Grayson Co. – Grayson Co.- won
  8. Union @ Richlands – Union-won
  9. J I Burton @ Chilhowie – Chilhowie- won
  10. Graham @ Tazewell – Graham-won

Pioneers take down the Indians

(Photography courtesy Tina Quesenberry)

Max Meadows…Under new head coach Josh Wingate, the Fort Chiswell Pioneers rushed for 322 yards with Denver Brown scoring five touchdowns in a game that trounced the Indians of Rural Retreat 45-21.

#10 Aaron Crawford taking down the Indian wide receiver

Brown had 21 rushes for 204 yards. He also scooped up a fumble and raced 33 yards for another score. Senior Aaron Crawford picked up an Indian fumble and raced 66 yards to pay dirt. Senior quarterback Brody Crockett had the other Pioneer score on a five yard run up the middle.

Rural Retreat got all three of their touchdowns from wide receiver Lucas Brewer. He scored on an 18-yard reception from Isaac O’Neil, a 31-yard pass from O’Neil and also scored on a 51-yard run. Brewer caught three passes for 74 yards and rushed the ball five times for 65 more yards.

#6 QB Brody Crockett during play action

Fort Chiswell scored with 9:09 left in the opening quarter on a Brown 21-yard run, but their two-point conversion pass was no good. Crawford then picked up a loose pigskin and raced 66-yards for six, and again the two-point run was stopped. They would then get a 33-yard run from Brown, and Jacob Turpin’s point after kick made it 19-0 with still three minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

The Indians would finally score as Brewer caught a pass from O’Neil for six. O’Neil’s kick made it 26-7 at the intermission.

The second half saw Fort Chiswell score again on a Brown 33-yard fumble recovery and run, but the kick was wide left.

#1 Denver Brown busting through the Indians for a touchdown- Photos Courtesy of Tina Quesenberry

Rural Retreat would then get a Brewer touchdown catch from O’Neil with 8:01 to go in the third quarter. After they held the Pioneers to three plays and out, they would drive the ball and on second down, Brewer would take the handoff around left end and cut back on his way for a 51-yard jaunt. O’Neil’s kick cut the Pioneer lead to 38-21.

Fort Chiswell would get their last score from Brown as he ran over a couple defenders for a six-yard touchdown. The score had capped a seven play, 60-yard drive to put the came away. “I’m relieved and happy,” said Pioneer head coach Josh Wingate, his first as a head coach. “We got a lot of things to work on and straighten out, though. I thought we lost some of our intensity there in the third quarter and let them get back, somewhat back into the game.”

The Pioneer defense surrendered 244 total yards. They gave up 138 of those in the third quarter. Offensively Fort Chiswell had 363 yards of offense. They had 322 rushing yards for the game.

Fort Chiswell and Rural Retreat both have new head coaches that were trying to win their first game. The Pioneers will travel to Wytheville next Friday to take on their other county rival, the Maroons of George Wythe.

 

 

 

Fort Chiswell 19 7 12 7 – 45

Rural Retreat 0 7 14 0 – 21

 

 

Rushing – FC – Brown 21- 204 yds., Crockett 12 – 77 yds.

 

– RR – Brewer 5 -65 yds, O’Neil 12 – 58 yds.

 

 

Passing – FC – Crockett 4 -8 – 2 ints.- 0 Tds. – 41 yds.

 

– RR – O’Neil 3-11 – 3 ints.- 2 Tds. – 74 yds.

RSN – Football Picks- Fri. Aug. 24

RSN will be picking 10 games each week of the high school season. Yes, will be keeping count ! ( 8-2)

  1. Fort Chiswell over Rural Retreat
  2. Radford over Geo. Wythe
  3. Richlands over Gate City
  4. Narrows over Auburn
  5. Chilhowie over Marion
  6. Blacksburg over Giles
  7. Eastern Montgomery over Holston— missed
  8. Glenvar over Galax
  9. Virginia High over Tazewell
  10. Pulaski Co. over Northside —missed

Fort Chiswell season looks good for the new coach

Max Meadows…Coming off two years of making the playoffs and with 13 seniors this year, things looked real good for this upcoming season.

Less than a week before practice was to officially begin, head coach Todd Tiller announced he was leaving for Ridgeview High School to be an assistant. It was a going home situation for him. For the Pioneers the timing was tough. They had to have a new head coach and the Fort Chiswell High School administration picked assistant Josh Wingate to fill that role. Coach Wingate has been with the program for six years. This will be his first time as the head coach. When asked about the upcoming year, Coach Wingate remarked, “We going to do what we have been doing the last couple successful seasons here.”

The last time the Pioneers made a coaching change so close to the start of the season it didn’t go well, at all. It was in fact a horrible 0-10 mark. Since then the Pioneers have went 16-8 and this squad is very experienced. The 13 seniors are leading five juniors, nine sophomores and nine freshmen.

Coach Wingate is starting his seventh season and he will be his own offensive coordinator. His staff has experience with James Whitlock and “Doc” Meredith. Whitlock is in his 19th overall season. He will coach the offensive and defensive lines. Meredith is starting his second year with the Pioneers and 28th overall year. He will be the Pioneers defensive coordinator. He will work with defensive ends, line and linebackers. Josh Shrader is beginning his third year at Fort Chiswell and fifth overall. He is coaching up the running backs and defensive backs. Chucky Brown is in his sixth year and will help with defensive and offensive lines. Cory Mabry has been added to the staff since the coaching change. Mabry is a former Pioneer football player and will help with the wide receivers. Other coaches that will help with the varsity, junior varsity and /or middle school are Danny Dunford – his fifth year as middle school head coach.

Chris Hanks his fourth year, Ricky Poole his third season and Steve Lowe in his second year.

Coach Wingate was asked about each team that is on his schedule and he gave a very brief answer to each team. “Rural Retreat is like us in that they will have a new head coach in Jamey Hughes. He’s been there for years and they will be physical.”

“George Wythe will be tough as usual and Coach Harner’s teams play hard. (Radford) will be very athletic, well coached and they will show you lot of creative sets. (Floyd Co.) has some real good players back and they are well coached.”

“(Auburn) has some good players back, have a quarterback that runs real well.” With regard to Galax, “Coach Dixon has a heck of a program going. They return lot of kids, physical and will be extremely tough to beat. (Tazewell) were very young last year and most of those players are back. Played us very tough last year.” As for Grayson Co., “I owe a lot to Coach McPherson. He helped me get started in football. So Grayson will be well coached and it’s always a battle when we play them. (Graham) are very athletic. Their quarterback, Cameron Allen, has committed to Purdue. He is as good as anyone we will face this year. They lost some real good players but they are fast and physical.” Bland Co., “Coach Hart has been there for number of years and does a great job. He has some good players back and will be very competitive.”

The Pioneers will be somewhat multiple on offense as they will go pistol and under center, and spread formations. Coach Wingate said, ”I’d like for us to be like the last two years in that we are 60-40 run-to-pass.“ He then remarked, “Defensively we will stay with our 3-5- 3 look. We will send linebackers at times and change things up a little too, like the last two seasons.”

When asked about how practice has been since he was named the new coach, he replied, ”It’s still been a whirlwind for me. Lot to do and in a short period of time. I have liked the energy the kids have brought to practice each day. They have worked very hard. I have coached these seniors since their middle school days.” He then added, ”Depth is a issue for us as well as other teams that are our size or smaller. I like and feel good about the start, so far though.”

If Fort Chiswell was to start or name a starting lineup on offensive and defense, it would look like this. Offensively, Luke Arnold a sophomore at center. The guards will be Ethan Woods and Jon Gregory. Tackles are Billy Shrewsberry and Jonah “Loopie” Turpin, both seniors. Brody Crockett, senior, would be the starting quarterback. The backs are senior Tyler Jakubiak at “H” and junior Denver Brown at running back. Tight end is senior Aaron Crawford, with Zach Johnson a junior and senior Logan Newman the wide outs. Other to see time on offense will be Hayden Hakws, Jonathon Poole, and Garrett Chrisley.

Defensively the Pioneers will lineup with Billy Shrewsberry, “Loopie” Turpin and fellow senior Garrett Chrisley on the line. Outside linebackers will be Aaron Crawford and Denver Brown. The inside linebackers are senior Ethan Woods, sophomore Jonathon Poole and senior Hayden Hawks. Zack Johnson, Logan Newman the cornerbacks and Tyler Jakubiak at safety. Jon Gregory, Josh Brown a sophomore, sophomore Isaac Dunford, freshman Tyler Crigger and freshman Ezra Varney will see some time on defense, too.

Coach Wingate said, “I like to say again that I appreciate to be given this chance. Coach Tiller did a fine job here and happy for him in his new job. It’s been a big change but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Fort Chiswell will have some very talented seniors and if injuries don’t occur, this team could be really good. The question is will the late coaching change come into play. This team has the makings of another playoff run.

 

 

Radford Bobcats bring experience to the field

Radford…Coming off a 2-8 season, the Bobcats are looking to be more focused, more determined and hopefully to stay healthy. Last season they had injuries and more injuries. It had the coaching staff using a lot of young and unproven players. It was a season that is best forgotten but one to remember for motivation.

Most of those young players are now a year older and have been tested under fire. Last season if it could go wrong, it did! Some could say the team was snake bitten. They led seven times going into the final quarter and lost. They lost seven games by a total of 37 points. Twice they lost in the last minute. Turnovers, penalties, injuries, unproven and inexperienced players all contributed to the 2-8 record.

Radford will be under the direction of head coach Matthew Saunders. It will be his 12th season at the helm of Radford. He has a record of 71-58 and his overall mark is 80-69.

His staff will consist of Pierson Prioleau, Josh Woods, Josh Smith, Roger Hollins, Cameron Sellers, Sergio Render and Grayson Howard. Prioleau is in his eighth year and will be in charge of the defensive backs and running backs, as well as co-defensive coordinator. Woods is in his seventh year and will coach up the linebackers and quarterback, as well as being co-defensive coordinator. Smith is starting his fourth season and coaches the wide receivers and defensive backs. Hollins is in his sixth year and coaches the defensive line and slots. Sellers is in his third year, He helps with the offensive and defensive lines and will be the junior varsity head coach. Render is a volunteer assistant and will help with the defensive line. Howard is also in his first year and will coach the linebackers, wide receivers and be junior varsity assistant.

When asked, Coach Saunders what will his offense be like this year he remarked, ”We’re changing a few things up. We will do some inside zone / spread offense. We will do multiple sets, options.” He was then asked about the Bobcat defense and he said, ”We will run a 4-3-4 and 4-4-3 look. We hope to be multiple on defense.”

Radford lost some good seniors and also have lost a couple players that moved to different states. They do return seven starters on offense and six on defense. Some of the other starters saw some action and will get lots more this year. They also return a sophomore placekicker in Conner Lytton. Lytton has attended kicking contest in Texas for a couple years and has done remarkably well. Coach Saunders remarked, ”Conner can kick it from 45-48 yards. He will be a weapon for us and he’s getting better and better and is only a sophomore.”

The Radford roster consists of 10 seniors, nine juniors, and 16 sophomores. Coach was then asked whom he thinks will be the starters on offense and he replied, “If the season started right now, sophomore Zane Rupe would be the quarterback. Sophomore PJ Prioleau running back, and the slots would be two seniors in Trace Shepherd and Jaylin Taylor. Justice Marshall and J W Bethea at wide receivers. The offensive line will consist of Andrew Olverson, Nic Clark, Ben Cox, Dillon Whitt and Ricky Burton.“ That line has some size in that Olverson is 285 lbs, Cox and Burton both 255 and Whitt is 225. Alex Kanipe, Jeremy Chadwick and Jacob Nester also will be getting playing time.

On defense look for Radford to go with Alex Kanipe, Jacob Alley, Ben Cox and Spencer Perdue on the line. The linebackers will be Nic Clark, Dillon Whitt, Jaylin Taylor and Justice Marshall. The secondary will have Jeremy Chadwick, Trace Shepherd and PJ Prioleau. Zane Rupe, Ricky Burton and Jacob Nester will all get into the action on defense. Lytton will do the placekicking and Payton Hollis will do the punting. PJ Prioleau will be the kick returner.

Coach Saunders then gave a brief synopsis of the Radford opponents, starting with George Wythe. “They lost some good players, very athletic and Coach Harner has done a good job. They (Galax) are obviously well coached. Lot of good players back. They will be a force in Class 1. They’re going to be very tough.” With regard to Fort Chiswell, he said, “I don’t know for sure. They just named a new coach. I know they have a lot of players back and were very physical last year. (Gretna) are extremely athletic. Solid and most of their players are back. Coach Crouch does a great job for them teaching defense.” Coach then was asked about the district teams that are on his schedule and he replied, “Alleghany, a Class 3 team that has athletes and have some decent size. Giles, Coach Williams does an excellent job there. They will be physical and have some good players returning. Floyd Co.’s Coach Beale does a great job and they had a real good junior varsity squad last year. They’re going to be good.”

“(James River) has a very good quarterback and some fine receivers. They will show multiple sets.” As for Carroll Co., “I’m sure Jack Turner will turn things around there. He does an excellent job and they will be very physical and he has a system that they will learn to run. (Glenvar) is loaded. They will be the team to beat in the Three Rivers District. They have a strong running back, and their quarterback is back. Will be very tough.”

Radford has 35 players on the varsity and most of them got to see action last year. Coach Saunders remarked, ”I’ve liked what I’ve seen in practice so far. Of course we got some kinks to work out. Grayson Co. and the Battle of the Bridge with Pulaski Co. will teach us a lot about ourselves. I like what we have done and are doing. We have got to stay healthy and hopefully our luck will be much better this year.“

If Radford stays healthy and that big gorilla that was on their backs last year jumps off, they should be improved. One year older and some better luck they could and should win more than two games. A 5-5 mark is not out of the question or even a 6-4 with some good luck. It all depends on staying healthy and if that ball will just bounce their way. They can compete and most importantly, they need to win that fourth quarter to finish the games.

Pioneers down John Battle

Fort Chiswell exploded for two touchdowns in the first quarter and three more in the second as they defeated John Battle 34-13. Tyler Jakubiak scored twice as he rushed for 137 yards on 17 carries. Isaac Dunford also scored twice as he finished with 128 yards on 12 rushes. Denver Brown scored once as he had 60 yards and carried the ball 10 times. Ezra Varney had six rushes for 84 yards and Jonathan Poole 21 yards on three rushes. Aaron Crawford caught a pass for 20 yards. Defensively Logan Newman had an interception and a fumble recovery. Billy Shrewsberry also had a fumble recovery and Tyler Crigger had an interception for the Pioneers as they controlled the game from start to finish.

Fort Chiswell will now prepare for their home and season opener next week against Rural Retreat. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm, Friday August 24.

Cougars second half beats Bobcats

Staff Photos – Radford- Captains-52-Ben Cox, 6-Trace Shepherd, and 22 Jaylin Taylor

The difference between a 4A school and a 2A school was the telling story as Pulaski Co. Cougars wore down the Radford Bobcats for a 27-12 benefit win in front of a big crowd.

The Cougars Jakari Finley rushed for 125 yards on 19 carries to lead the ground game. E J Horton caught six passes for 66 yards and a touchdown from QB James Jackson. Gage Mannon chipped in with 60 yards rushing on 12 rushes.

Bobcat QB Zane Rupe(12) looking to option to PJ Prioleau (7)

Radford was led by P J Prioleau as he carried the ball 11 times for 85 yards and scored on a 41-yard run that looked like it was stopped for a loss before two unbelievable spin moves by him. Radford scored first in the game as defensive lineman Jacob Alley sacked Cougar QB Chris Shay in the end zone for a safety in the first quarter.

Pulaski Co. would answer as they would drive the ball down to the Radford 36 yard line and on fourth down Noah O’Dell out jumped a Bobcat defended for six and Ryan Castle pat made it 7-2 with 11:45 left in the first half.

Bobcats “D” line!

Radford would strike back on their next drive as Prioleau took the handoff around left end and it was all bottled up but he made two spins moves and somehow broke loose down the Pulaski Co. sideline for a 41-yard touchdown and Conner Lytton’s point after put the Bobcats up 9-7 with 11:12 before intermission.

Pulaski Co. would drive the ball and with 1:42 left in the first half Castle attempted a 23-yard field goal but the kick hit the left upright.

Radford would then drive to the Cougar 34 and Lytton would try a 51-yard field goal that fell just short to end the first half.

The second then saw Radford drive and Lytton would hit a 31-yard field goal to take a 12-7 lead with 8:43 to go in the third quarter.

Bobcat lineman Ben Cox rushing Cougar Off. line

Pulaski Co. would then drive the ball 70 yards and scored on a 13-yard pass to Horton from Jackson but their two-point run was no good but they had taken the lead 13-12, with 3;25 left in the quarter. They would then dominate the fourth quarter scoring on a Luke Russell 14-yard run and a Xavier Cobb 2 yard pass from Drew Dalton.

Pulaski Co. finished with 430 yards of offense, with 239 of those coming after intermission. ” We played better the second half said Cougar head coach Stephen James. We best play better next week against Northside. I thought Radford played extremely well tonight.” The Cougars had 24 first downs and had seven penalties for 63 yards.

Radford had 234 yards of offense, with 15 first downs. They were whistled six times for 56 yards. ” I’m very proud of how we played tonight. We did what we needed to do and we evaluated a lot of our players. We got no one hurt and that’s important, said Radford head coach Matthew Saunders. He then added,” I thought we got some really good performances from our offensive and defensive lines. We got to take a look at our halftime and make some changes.”

Pulaski Co. will travel next week to Northside to open the season and Radford will travel to Wytheville to take on George Wythe. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:00 pm. next Friday, August 24.

 

High School Football results

Thurs. Aug. 16

Graham 49 Gate City 0 – benefit game

Richlands 34 Grundy 0 – benefit game

Union 24 Va. High 20 – benefit game

Fri. Aug. 17

Fort Chiswell 34 John Battle 13

Pulaski Co. 27 Radford 12

Christiansburg 36 Carroll Co. 0

Galax 39 Floyd Co. 19

Bluefield 51 Giles 13

Marion 27 Rural Retreat 13

Tazewell 34 Eastern Montgomery 16

Ridgeview 31 Chilhowie 20

Salem 28 Magna Vista 7

J I Burton 24 Geo Wythe 21 – ( Geo Wythe 14 Burton 12 – 1st half, Burton 12 Geo. Wythe 7- 2nd half)

Lee High 40 Thomas Walker 0

Eastside 38 Honaker 20