Heritage gets 27-0 win over on the road at Amherst County, move to 2-0

Amherst County HS, Amherst , VA –
Amherst Coach Bob Christmas is always out to win any game he coaches in, but when you face a good team like Heritage, regardless of outcome, you want to see competitiveness and desire. Friday night that was evident in both teams. Even before the game started, both clubs had some words, albeit from a distance, for each other. There was no lack on intensity in this one.
On a chilly night, Heritage started fast but Amherst settled in and this game was a tight 7-0 Heritage lead after the first quarter. Amherst challenged in the second quarter but the Pioneer defense stood it’s ground and turned the home team away on fourth down. Heritage added another score with a couple minutes left in the half, so it was only 14-0 at the break. Heritage Coach Brad Bradley respects what Coach Christmas has done and is doing, “Give credit to Amherst. Bob Christmas has done a great job. They are getting better and better.” Those in attendance could hear both sidelines coaching loudly, and it was great to see their players respond. Coach Christmas thought his team gave great effort. “We are a different football team then we were last year. I think we have turned the corner and we are going to be okay. “ When they turned the lights off at the stadium, Heritage left with a hard earned 27-0 win to move to 2-0. Amherst is now 1-1.

First Quarter –
Heritage took the opening kickoff and do what they always seem to do… drive the ball and score.

Featuring RB 21 Rajan Booker-Felder, The Sophomore toted the ball on four of the six play drive, finishing it off with a 3 yard TD run. Booker-Felder’s style is one of darting into a hole, bouncing back out and outside. He pulls the defenders in and then beats them outside of tackle. His first two carries, he picked up eleven and fourteen yards before Amherst made an adjustment.

QB 14 Kameron Burns is another playmaker who is going to keep opposing coaches up at night. The Junior is a much better runner this year, and his passing is going to give Heritage the diversity it will need throughout the season. It looked like Heritage might run away with this one on their next drive after forcing Amherst to a ‘three and out.”

The Pioneers drove the ball from near midfield to the Lancer six before the Amherst defense dug in and got the ball back on a fourth down stop. Coach Christmas was happy with his defense’ for the most part, “Two big stops (goal line stands) last week against Rustburg, two picks tonight and a couple big stops. We are going to be alright. We have to keep working.
The big pick up was a 21 yard run by Burns down to the six. The quarter ended with Heritage up 7-0.

Second Quarter –
Heritage added another touchdown in the second but that was all there was. Amherst ate up a big chunk of the quarter on a 12-play, 38-yard drive before it stalled at the Pioneer twenty four. Amherst picked up three big third downs on the drive, and only a fumble denied them a chance on fourth down. A big play that really got the home team and crowd excited was by RB 24 Donte Martin who hurdled over two defenders closing in on a tackle. The play was big because it was a third and six. The acrobatic leap kept the drive alive and netted the Senior 12-yards as he amazingly kept his feet and kept moving on.

Once Heritage got the ball back, they quickly went to work to add some cushion to their lead. QB 14 Burns did the honors with 2:32 left until half on a run up the middle. The Pioneers need only six plays to get into the end zone again. RB 21 Booker-Felder had two big runs of 34 and 11 yards to eat up ground. QB 14 Burns added a seventeen yard dart the play prior to his touchdown. Coach Bradley’s Pioneers had designs on getting a stop before the break and possibly adding to their lead. The worked the Lancers into a fourth down, but the crafty Christmas pulled off a fake punt for eight yards to just reach the marker. That kept the margin at 14-0, Heritage, at the half. Coach Bradley would have liked to have got another crack at scoring before the half, “We are not happy with the way we played, especially in the first half on defense, but we didn’t give up any points.”

Third Quarter –
Amherst County received the ball first in the second half and you had the feeling something had to give. DL 10 Terrell Washington got a big sack for a five yard loss on second down. That put the Lancers behind the sticks. RB 24 Martin picked up seven on third down, but Amherst was forced to punt.
Give the Amherst County defense some credit too. The home team gave up some yardage but forced a rushed throw from QB 14 Burns to WR 23 Darius Brown. The ball fell incomplete and Amherst took over at their own twenty-seven. Both teams traded interceptions on the next two possessions. Heritage’s DB 14 Burns was picked off in the endzone on a nice read and run by DB 2 Truck Roberson.

But Lancer QB 11 C.J Rose gave it back on a first down throw that was nabbed by DB 12 Kaleb Crawford in a wild catch. Crawford tipped the ball about ten yards downfield on the hash, fell backwards and then actually caught the ball between his knees.

Fourth Quarter –
Heritage made the Lancers pay for that gift this time. The Pioneers took ten plays with a steady dose of RB 21 Booker-Felder , RB Jermoine Morris and QB 14 Burns.

Morris adds another element to the Coach Bradley’s run game. He’s a physical runner that isn’t shy about initiating the contact. Coach Bradley beamed about his Senior, “(Morris) played well, gave us a 1-2 punch at running back. He moved in from Georgia last year and this is his second season. I was really happy with him (tonight).”

QB 14 Burns tallied his second rushing score of the night from three yards out to put a stamp on the drive. With point after by K 32 Karson Adcock, Heritage’s lead was now 21-0 at the 10:32 mark.
Amherst gave the ball right back on a botched kickoff that was recovered by RB/LB 25 Morris. The Senior made several big plays on the night. Some guys seem to have a nose for the ball and it’s safe to say Morris fills the bill on that account.
But there was no quit in the Lancers, QB 14 Burns tried to turn the Amherst miscue into points right away, but his toss the corner of the end zone was well diagnosed by DB 3 Lawrence Brown and the Junior made the pick.

Burns is important to Heritage’s success this year, “(Burns) played well, made a couple mistakes in the first half. The pick he had in the end zone, I think he wishes he had back. He’s matured a lot. I am excited. I thought he ran the ball well tonight.”

Heritage would add one more touchdown on a 2-yard run by RB 21 Booker-Felder with 3:59 left in the contest to make the score 27-0. The extra point was no good. Amherst Coach Christmas was not displeased with his teams effort on the night, “We stopped ourselves and they are a very good football team, and you can’t make mistakes like that. I was not displeased… ( I didn’t lke the results)… but not with how they played. Their togetherness and effort was there. ”
Coach Bradley was already thinking about the next challenge, “We are going to enjoy this one until we walk off the field and get ready for Rustburg.”

Heritage will travel next Friday to take on Rustburg. Amherst will also be on the road to battle Brookville. On another front the Lynchburg area is keeping their eye on the Covid pandemic as it sidelined a couple area teams from playing this Friday, as a precaution. Both Jefferson Forest and EC Glass postponed their games this week.
                                                            – Cap’n Crunch

Offense: Rushing– Heritage– Booker-Felder 15-119, 2TDs, Burns 13-77, 2TDs, Crawford 3-21, Morris 3-21  Amherst Co– Martin 12-46, Rose 16-44, Megginson 4-15, Ellis 4-14, Roberson 2-13, Sweeney 3-9, Cashwell 3-6, Hoden 1-5, Idore 2-1  Passing– Heritage– Burns 5-13, 26, 2 INTs Amherst Co– Rose 2-8, 22 INT  Receiving– Heritage– Crawford 4-18, Brown 1-8 Amherst Co– Brown 2-22 Punting– Heritage– 0 punts  Amherst Co Rodes 2-34

Scoring:

• H: Booker-Felder 3 yd TD run; Adcock PAT good
• H: Burns 3-yrd TD run; Adcock PAT good
• H: Burns 3-yrd TD run; Adcock PAT good
• H: Booker-Felder 2 yd TD run; PAT no good

 

 

Fort Chiswell shows up big in 41-19 win over Auburn

 

Christiansburg HS, Christiansburg, VA – Fort Chiswell made the trip up I-81 to take on the Auburn Eagles on a chilly, windy, and sunny Saturday afternoon. But they didn’t travel to Riner, where Auburn high school resides. The Pioneers made a left to Christiansburg instead of the left they would have need to make east towards Riner. C-burgs artificial turf has become a popular spot for local teams to play to avoid tearing up their own grass fields in the spring growing season. Once everyone made it to the venue, Fort Chiswell went on the attack. The Pioneers ousted Auburn 41-19 when the smoke cleared.The shortened spring season has affected different teams in different ways this year. Not having time to get offense and defenses in, scrimmages didn’t happen, schedules change daily it seems, and injuries unfortunately happen. Auburn is not exception to that rule. Coach Akers remarked about the shortened season after the game, “It’s hurt us from an injury standpoint. We are not going to use that as an excuse. (We’re) Not pad ready. Got to find a way to keep our kids healthy. In this compact season we have to find a way of keeping things moving forward.” Auburn may have lost the game on Saturday but they never quit on the prospect of winning to the end. That’s a mark of a well coached team.

The Eagles were led by RB 11 John Keith with 98 yards on six carries and a score. Seventy four of that came on one big run in the fourth quarter for a touchdown. RB 32 Ronnie Worth also had a good day with 60 yards on five carries and a score. The big call out of the day though was Fort Chiswell’s balanced offensive attack.

The Pioneers had four different ballcarriers score touchdowns with their QB 4 Dylan Bailey accounting for two scores on the ground, while picking up 87 yards on eight carries before leaving with an ankle injury.

First Quarter –
Fort Chiswell got the scoring started quick in this one. They took the opening kickoff and needed only five plays for QB 4 Bailey to take it in from nineteen yards out. The big play on the drive was a 33-yard pass into the wind on third and four down to the Eagle nineteen.

That set up the score two plays later. K 3 Jacob Kiger hit the point after and Fort Chiswell led 7-0 with three minutes gone in the game.
Auburn had a chance on defense a series later to tie it up but it just wasn’t in the cards. DB/RB 5 Rusty Marshall broke on a short pass in the right flank and had it in his hands but couldn’t hang on to it. There was nothing but green between him and the endzone. That could have changed some things early. The first quarter ended 7-0 Pioneers.

Second Quarter –
The Eagles answered the Pioneers with their best sustained drive of the day. Starting at their own thirty four, the drive ended with QB 6 Payson Kelley bulling his way in from the one for six points. RB 11 John Keith, who led Auburn’s rushing attack on the day with 98 yards, had two big runs of thirteen and eight yards to help the Eagles get into position. The point after hit the right cross bar and bounded away no good. Fort Chiswell still had the lead 7-6.

Auburn’s defense didn’t play too badly early on. Coach Akers was complimentary of his defensive unit, “They did a good job. Coordinator did a good job. A couple missed tackles here and there and we’ve got to continue to execute.” The Eagle defense got some stops but Fort Chiswell has some many guys that can hurt you, it’s hard to track them all.

The next two Pioneer drives put the visitors up 21-6. Directly following Auburns score, QB/DB/KR 4 Bailey bounced the kickoff return up the middle then outside and 81-yards later he was in the endzone. Fort Chiswell added to their lead with only :54 left after that on another big play. RB/QB/DB 7 Isaac Dunford broke off a run 66 yards for another score.

Third Quarter –
Things got worse for the Eagles in the second half. On Auburn’s opening second half drive, QB 6 Kelley fumbled the ball back to the Pioneers at their own thirty one. Two plays later, QB 4 Bailey broke off a 37 yard run to paydirt. K 3 Kiger’s point after made it 28-7 Fort Chiswell.

Akers thought the more physical team won the contest, “They’re a good football team, well coached, and physical. That was kind of the premise of the game. They were more physical than we were.”

Fourth Quarter –
The Pioneers would add two more scores before Auburn broke into the scoring column again. Junior RB 10 Ezra Varney took it up the middle from 24 yards out followed by a 1 yard TD run by RB 2 Jude Reigelsperger with 2:35 left in the game.

Auburn wouldn’t quit though, and scored twice in the last two and a half minutes of the game to make the score closer. Eagle RBs 11 John Keith and 32 Ronnie Worth broke off big scoring runs. Keiths went for 74 yards while Worth’s was a 42 yard scamper. Coach Akers was proud of his team’s fight on the day, “I am always proud of our players resiliency. That’s something we preach in our program. They kept playing and I think that’s good. We have some things to get cleaned up.

Auburn (1-1) will travel next Saturday to take on Grayson County at noon on Saturday.
                                                                                   – Cap’n Crunch

Offense: Rushing– Fort Chiswell – Bailey 8-87, 2TDs, Dunford 6-72, TD, Varney 11-54, TD, Reigelsperger 6-47, TD, Stoots 3-10, Kennedy 3-(-5)  Auburn– Keith 6-98, TD, Worth 5-60, TD, Kelley 18-29, TD, Marshall 10-25, Young 5-17, Thompson 1-10   Passing– Fort Chiswell – Bailey 1-7, 33   Auburn- Kelley 0/2, INT  Receiving– Fort Chiswell – Poole 1-33  Auburn – 0 Punting– Fort Chiswell – Bailey 4-16.5  Auburn – Kelley 4-28

Scoring:

• FC: Bailey 19-yard TD run: Kiger PAT
• A: Kelley 1-yard TD Run: PAT no good
• FC: Bailey 81-yard kickoff return for a TD: Kiger PAT
• FC: Dunford 66-yard TD run: Kiger PAT
• FC: Bailey 37-yard TD run: Kiger PAT
• FC: Varney 24-yard TD run: Kiger PAT
• FC: Reigelsperger 1-yard TD run; PAT no good
• A: Keith 74-yard TD run: PAT no good
• A: Worth 42-yard TD run; Tickle PAT

 

 

 

Franklin County wins back and forth affair 41-26 on Luckett’s big night

William Byrd H.S., Vinton Va. The Franklin County Eagles traveled to Robert A. Patterson Stadium in Vinton to take on the William Byrd Terriers on a cold Friday night in a Blue Ridge District matchup at the Terriers home field. Both teams came in with a victory under their belt after winning their season opener. The first half was a see-saw affair where big plays allowed the Eagles to keep pace with a William Byrd rushing attack spearheaded by RB 1 Elamin Shareef (27 rushes, 142 yards) and QB 7 Dylan Hatfield (20 rushes, 114 yards) that at times looked unstoppable. Franklin Co. made adjustments at the half that slowed the Terriers’ ground game and in turn put on a display of their own with their passing attack featuring the combination of QB 6 Eli Foutz to WR 5 Josh Luckett that accounted for 3 passing TDs on the night. Eagles’ Coach JR Edwards commented after the game that “I think we learned how to play four quarters tonight” and he was pleased that his team responded to Byrd’s physical 1st half play and was able to make plays of their own to pull away for the 41-26 victory.

First Quarter –
FC found themselves in a hole early after fumbling the opening kickoff and then Byrd’s Elamin Shareef ran for a 15-yard TD on the first play from scrimmage. The extra point failed and the Terriers had a 6-0 lead 17 seconds into the game. The Eagles’ answered on their next possession with a 9 minute, 15-play drive that covered 68 yards when RB 10 Jayron Smith scored from 4 yards out. K 21 Chandler Holley’s PAT was good and the Eagles were up 7-6 at the end of the first.

Second Quarter –
Two plays into the 2nd quarter, William Byrd capped a 59 yard drive when RB 1 Shareef picked up his second TD with a 3 yard run.

K/WR 5 Hunter Harris connected on the PAT and Byrd took the lead 13-7. The teams traded punts on their next possessions, but WR 5 Luckett returned the Byrd punt 55 yards for a TD, his first of 4 on the night, when he caught what appeared to be a ball headed out of bounds in full stride and sprinted to the end zone and the Eagles regained the lead 14-13.

The Terriers ground game was relentless and they moved 66 yards on 9 straight rushing plays and went back on top with QB 7 Hatfield’s 10 yard TD scamper, 20-14. Both teams fumbled on their next possessions and the Eagles recovered the Terrier fumble on the Byrd 38 yard line with 30 seconds in the half. After connecting with WR 5 Luckett on an 8 yard pass, QB 6 Foutz called his number again and completed a 30 yard TD strike to WR 5 Luckett to give FC a 21-20 lead at the break.

Third Quarter –
William Byrd received the 2nd half kickoff and had to punt after picking up one first down. The snap sailed high and Franklin County recovered at the Byrd fourteen yard line. After a penalty, and a two yard loss, QB 6 Foutz found WR 5 Luckett for a 21 yard TD reception and K 21 Holley’s PAT made it 28-20.

Following another Byrd punt, QB 6 Foutz connected again with WR 5 Luckett on a 52 yard catch and run TD and the Eagles took at 34-20 lead into the 4th quarter after the PAT was blocked.

Fourth Quarter –
Franklin County’s RB 10 Smith scored his second touchdown on a 29 yard run at the 5:17 mark of the 4th quarter and the Eagles stretched their lead to 41-20. There was no quit in the Terriers though, and QB 7 Hatfield connected with WR 9 Ethan Tinsley twice for gains of 10 and 11 yards and also with WR 35 Issac Fix for two receptions for 24 yards before scoring his second rushing TD from 4 yards out with 2:51 remaining. The final score was 41-26 Franklin County.

Franklin County (2-0) will entertain Staunton River (0-1) on Friday. William Byrd (1-1) travels to Daleville to take on Lord Botetourt (2-0).
                                                                                  – The Machine

Offense: 
Rushing– Franklin Co – Smith 13-64, 2 TD, Fum, Foutz 2-3, Belcher 4-13, Stafford 3-6, William Byrd– Shareef 27-142, 2 TD, Fum, Hatfield 20-114, 2 TD  
Passing– Franklin Co – Foutz 11/19, 218, 3 TD  William Byrd– Hatfield 5/13, 83, 2 INT  
Receiving– Franklin Co – Luckett 6-156, 3 TD, Bowling 1-1, Grindstaff 1-13, Wright 1-9, Holland 1-3, Smith 1-36, Wiliam Byrd– Williams 1-38, Tinsley 2-21, Fix 2-24 
Punting– Franklin Co– Luckett 2-40.5  William Byrd – Hatfield 3-28.6

Scoring:

• WB: Shareef 15-yard TD run:  PAT No good
• FC: J Smith 4-yard TD run: Holley PAT
• WB: Shareef 3-yard TD run: Harris PAT
• FC: Luckett 55-yard punt return for TD: Holley PAT
• WB: Hatfield 10-yard TD run: Harris PAT
• FC: Foutz to Luckett 30-yard TD catch: Holley PAT
• FC: Foutz to Luckett 21-yard TD catch: Holley PAT
• FC: Foutz to Luckett 52-yard TD catch: PAT Blocked
• FC: J Smith 29-yard TD run: Holley PAT
• WB: Hatfield 4-yard TD run: Harris PAT