Northside blanks William Byrd 27-0 at Hickam Field
Jim Hickam Field ,Roanoke VA -The Northside Vikings and William Byrd Terriers faced off in a Blue Ridge District match-up on Friday. It was Senior night for the Vikings and those seniors showed up in a big way as Northside routed the Terriers 27-0 with ease. On an evening where the rain came and went, Coach Scott Fischer’s Vikings were ready for the challenge. 
Byrd had flashes of great play, at times running the ball at will and forcing two turnovers but the inability to finish off several drives with points hurt this young Terriers team. Northside found success on offense through the air and on the ground scoring on touchdown passes of 77 and 18 yards as well as runs of 36 and 3 yards. QB 10 Sidney Webb and WR 14 Cameron Abshire showed in this game that they are one of the best QB/WR duos in the Roanoke Valley connecting on six passes for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns.
First Quarter – After William Byrd booted the opening kickoff out of bounds Northside was able to start the game with great field position. The Vikings swiftly moved down the field on their opening possession with RB 2 Jerel Rhodes laboring most of the work with runs of 8, 7, 14 yards before punching it in from 3 yards out. The extra point was no good and the Vikings lead 6-0 at the 9:02 mark.
Northside RB 2 Jerel Rhodes breaks a tackle
William Byrd was able to begin their first possession on their forty-yard line. Byrd began the game moving the ball on the ground well. RB 2 Peyton Fuchs ran the ball several times and Byrd was able to move into Northside territory while taking 7 minutes off the clock but eventually turned the ball over on downs at the Northside twenty-yard-line. 
Northside took over and mother nature made an appearance as the rain began to come down heavily.
The rain seemed to affect both teams down as Northside went 3 and out to end the first quarter giving Byrd the ball back for their second possession of the night.
Second Quarter – After the quarter break, Byrd went back to work. However, the Terriers were only able to gain thirteen yards before once again turning it over on downs. The Vikings took over at their thirty-one-yard line. The rain began to lighten, and the Northside offense came back to form, driving to the Byrd eighteen-yard line. On the next play, Sidney Webb was able to find Cameron Abshire for an 18-yard passing touchdown. Abshire showed off his strength on the reception, dragging two Byrd defenders with him into the endzone. The extra point was good, and the Vikings pushed their lead to 13 with 4:25 left in the half.
Vike WR 14 Cameron Abshire in the back of the end zone
On the following kickoff, LB 53 Dustin Richards received the kickoff and found an outside lane. Richards was met around Byrd’s forty-yard line, Richards proceeded to lower his shoulder and plow through a Viking before falling at the Byrd. Byrd was not able to capitalize on the field position and three plays later punted back to the Vikings with 2:34 in the half.
Sophomore WR/DB 7 Brayden Andrews
After a great punt from LB 53 Dustin Richards, Northside took over on their seven-yard line. The Northside offense continued to dominate moving the ball 93 yards and scoring on a 36-yard touchdown jet sweep run from WR 6, Tierre McGinnis. The extra point was good, and Northside led 20-0 with 1:31 remaining in the half
Byrd RB 2 Peyton Fuchs
The last possession of the half saw the Terriers drive all the way to the Northside three-yard line but fall short on the scoreboard as the clock expired sending the game to intermission.
Viking WR 14 Cameron Abshire on the move
Second Half – Byrd received the second-half kickoff but quickly turned the ball over to the Vikings. Two players later QB 10 Sidney Webb would find WR 14 Cameron Abshire for a 77-yard touchdown pass. Northside led 27-0 with 10:24 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Later in the third quarter, William Byrd would force two turnovers but were not able to capitalize on these turnovers.
As the game transitioned to the fourth quarter Coach Scott Fischer had the opportunity to pull several of his seniors out of the game in which they all received loud cheers from their home supporters in what would be their final regular-season game on Jim Hickam field.
The Terriers continued to show a lot of fight with a couple of drives going into Northside territory but were not able to find the end zone on Friday night. In the final possession of the game Byrd would drive to the Viking eight-yard line but on 4th and goal could not score and Northside would kneel out the remainder of the game. In the end, it was the Vikings winning 27-0 over the Terriers. – Josiah Elmore
A good crowd took in the William Byrd-Northside game
Offense:
Rushing – William Byrd – P. Fuchs 23/93, L. Shoemaker 4/8 J. Shepard 2/-1
Northside – J. Rhodes 14/76 TD S. Webb 5/29 T. McGinnis 3/47 TD
Passing – William Byrd – Shoemaker 13/25 92, INT
Northside – Webb 10/13 227 2 TD, INT
Receiving – William Byrd – P. Fuchs 6/64 D. Dulak 3/12 D. Anderson 2/5, E. Hairston 1/11, C. Minnix 1/7
Scoring:
1st Quarter
• Northside: J. Rhodes 3-yard rushing TD; PAT no good 9:02
2nd Quarter
• Northside: S. Webb 18-yard passing TD to C. Abshire; PAT good 4:25
• Northside: T. McGinnis 36-yard rushing TD; PAT good 1:31
3rd Quarter
• Northside: S. Webb 77-yard passing TD to C. Abshire; PAT good 10:24