Titans win shootout at Bogle Field in a close 39-36 margin over Terriers
Bogle Field, Roanoke, VA – Looking at last week’s games you might have thought tonight would be an open and shut case. The Terriers were coming off of a commanding 42-6 win over Liberty-Bedford. The Titans on the other hand suffered a blanking at the hands of Cave Spring.
Open and shut, it was not. Byrd picked up 21-yards on WR 7 Brayden Andrews kick return and QB 4 Israel Hairston secured a quick first down on a 23-yard run. The Titan defense bent but didn’t break, forcing a punt. Hidden Valley failed to move it on their first drive and punted out of their own end zone.
The balance of the game was a horse of a different color. QB 18 Brayden Moore got hot throwing the football. He finished with 230 yards and 4 TDs. WR/RB 20 Joey Strong was the differnce as well. The Senior had 241 all purpose yards. On defense he had an INT, caused a fumble and notched 7 tackles.
While Byrd QB 4 Izzy Hairston got the scoring started, and dropped a dime on a 59-yard touchdown pass to freshman WR 85 Alex Dunn in the 3rd quarter. RB 35 DeShannon Reed came up big for Byrd as well, chipping in 106 rushing yards and two scores.
Titan Head Coach Scott Weaver was impressed with his team’s improvement in week two, “We just wanted our kids to respond to some adversity. This week we had some kids step up and I’m just really proud of our team tonight.”
In tune with Byrd’s comparatively successful first drive; the Terriers struck first after starting their second drive from the Titans 30 yard-line. Reed got his squad to 13-yards out and Hairston did the rest, slipping into the end zone practically untouched.
Hidden Valley wasted no time striking back. Moore sniped TE 42 Daniel Robinson behind Byrd’s defense. The Junior was off to the races, narrowly out sprinting a Terrier safety for the 66-yard TD reception.
Byrd’s next drive was long, 12 plays long to be exact. But penalty flags and a timely third down sack from DE 10 Jadon LaTempa set the Terriers back 25-yards from a 1st down forcing a punt to begin the second quarter. Hidden Valley and Moore again wasted no time. “Number 18” hit WR 3 Jackson Getz for a 40-yard scoring reception.
Byrd didn’t let the home team off easy. 52 LB Caleb Thompson burst through the Titan line to block 7 K Brody Layman’s PAT, capping Hidden Valley’s lead at 13-7. Layman impacted the game in other ways, drilling three kicks into the end zone for touchbacks, one of which happened after Getz’s TD. Starting from the 20 yard line, Byrd advanced well into Titan territory by way of Reed sprints and Hairston play action passes to WR 11 Cooper Minnix and WR 13 Dillon Anderson. They were stopped short at the 27 yard line, settling for a long field goal attempt from “Number 15” Bricen Lancaster that fell short by a handful of yards.
No points resulted from each of the team’s following drives, but Titan kicker Brody Layman got a couple chances to show-off his reaction time. The first came from a punt off a bad snap. Layman gathered the ball in stride and got the drop kick away just as the Terrier defense collapsed on him. Next punt, he wasn’t quite quick enough. The snap was as off target as the last, but this time Byrd’s 31 Jahdai English was on the scene. The Sophomore muscled through the HV line, scooped up the loose ball and strolled into the end zone as the Terrier fans roared. Lancaster punched in the extra point, putting Byrd up by one with two minutes left in the half.
But the half wasn’t over yet. As the clock ticked down, Strong heaved a deep pass down the home sidelines into the hands of WR 2 Japhon English who took it to the house for a 71-yard reception with triple zeroes on the clock. To make up for the blocked extra point earlier, Moore hit Strong in the end zone for two putting the Titans up 21-14 to start the third.
Hidden Valley got the ball first and they started strong, literally. The scoring drive began with a Strong kickoff return, was accentuated by a Strong 40-yard sprint and ended with a 26-yard Moore TD pass to Getz. William Byrd’s Thompson and the Terrier special team clobbered the PAT again, halting the score at 27-14.
After a Byrd turnover and later a pivotal sack by 44 LB Dustin Richards to stop the Titan’s progress, Byrd had possession. Hairston dropped back and launched a rocket of a pass to Dunn who’s arms were just long enough to reel it in. 59 yards later, the Terriers clocked another six points on the board. Lancaster punched in the extra point slimming the Titan lead to six.
Every time Byrd got close, Hidden Valley extended their lead. This time it was all “Number 18”. Moore picked up a first down on the run, then popped Pardon for a 32 yard reception followed by “Number 2” Japhon English’s second TD catch. Byrd handedly stopped the Titan two point conversion, but couldn’t make it happen on offense. They lost possession after an incomplete Hairston pass directed at Minnix, that almost certainly would’ve been a score if completed. Fortunately, Byrd’s defense was locked in. Moore’s first throw of the drive was intercepted by 6 SS Lane Shoemaker who trucked forward for six return yards to end the third.
Shoemaker set up the Terrier offense for a score and they cashed in. With 9:49 left in the game, Reed burst through a sea of navy and white for a one-yd TD. Lancaster drilled the extra point putting Byrd a mere five points away from victory. The Titans clapped back. After stopping the Terrier squib kick attempt, Strong powered through Byrd’s defense picking up 61-yards over four plays before completing an eleven-yard pass to Getz for his third TD of the night. The Titans were up by 11 and WB began the most crucial drive of the game. But it was cut short. Hairston targeted Minnix, but the football tipped off his fingers and fell directly into the hands of none other than Strong.
The Terrier defense won the following drive, forcing a Titan punt. Byrd’s offense fired on all cylinders resulting in Reed’s second TD of the quarter. Hairston layered the two-point conversion to Anderson, but it was too late. With 0:36 on the clock, Hidden Valley’s “Number 8” Paul Sealy “sealed” the deal for the Titans by recovering Byrd’s last squib kick attempt. The clock ran out, 39-36 Hidden Valley.
Next week the Terriers take on Christiansburg at home and Hidden Valley travels across town to duke it out against Northside.
– Graham Whitaker
Offense:
Rushing – Hidden Valley – Joey Strong 8/100, Jadon LaTempa 7/20, Max Pardon 1/10, Japhon English 1/7, Brayden Moore 9/4 William Byrd – DeShannon Reed 20/106, 2TD, Israel Hairston 11/72, TD, Brayden Andrews 1/4
Passing – Hidden Valley– Brayden Moore 9/15, 230, 4TD, INT Strong 2/2, 83, 2TD William Byrd– Israel Hairston10/20, 203, 4TD, INT
Receiving – Hidden Valley– Jackson Getz 3-77, 3TDs, Japhon English 2-96, 2TDs, Daniel Robinson 2-71, TD, Joey Strong 1-33, Max Pardon 1-32, Jadon LaTempa 2-3
William Byrd – Alex Dunn 3-99, TD, Cooper Minnix 4-66, Dominic Dulak 1-16, Jacob Dickerson 1-11, Dillon Anderson 1-11
Punting – Hidden Valley– Brody Layman 2/33 yd avg William Byrd – Dustin Richards 3/43 yd avg
Kicking – Hidden Valley– Layman 1/3 PAT William Byrd– Lancaster 4/4 PAT
Scoring:
First Quarter –
• William Byrd: Hairston 13-yd run; Lancaster PAT (6:05)
• Hidden Valley: Robinson 66-yd pass from Moore (4:49)
Second Quarter –
• Hidden Valley: Getz 40-yd pass from Moore; PAT blocked (11:06)
• William Byrd: English 28-yd return of fumbled punt; Lancaster PAT (2:06)
• Hidden Valley: English 71-yd pass from Strong; Moore pass to Strong 2 ptr (0:00)
Third Quarter –
• Hidden Valley: Getz 26-yd pass from Moore; PAT blocked (9:15)
• William Byrd: Dunn 59-yd pass from Hairston; PAT (4:15)
• Hidden Valley: English 25-yd from Moore; 2 pt try failed (3:17)
Fourth Quarter –
• William Byrd: Reed 1-yd run; Lancaster PAT (9:49)
• Hidden Valley: Getz 11-yd pass from Strong; 2 pt try failed (3:45)
• William Byrd: Reed 5-yd run; Anderson pass from Hairston 2ptr (0:38)
