It would be hard to argue that Lord Botetourt head football coach Jamie Harless is feeling right at home at Dwight Bogle Stadium.
The former Cave Spring defensive coordinator, who took over as the head man for the Cavaliers this season, returned to Bogle for the second time in as many weeks, this time to face many of his former players at Cave Spring.
Only one week prior, Botetourt had used a grueling rushing attack to defeat Hidden Valley 22-14. This time around, it was surprises through the air that helped knock off Cave Spring 22-17.
The Cavaliers had entered the contest only throwing the ball a combined seven times for two completions in their first three games.
Things changed when Cave Spring jumped out to 14-0 lead in the first quarter after the Cavaliers fumbled the ball away on their first play. Knight quarterback Connor Baker scored on a one-yard keeper and running back James Jackson followed with an 18-yard run that had Botetourt in a quick hole.
But late in the first quarter, wide-open Cavalier receiver Bobby Staples slipped past the Cave Spring secondary to bring in a 22-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Conner Bronson that cut the deficit to 14-6. Bronson connected on a 12-yard toss to Dylan Gusler and 2-point conversion throw to Thomas Kennedy with fourteen seconds left in the second quarter that sent the teams to the locker room knotted at 14.
Cave Spring’s defense came alive in the third and Daniel Seymour connected on a 25-yard field goal to put the Knights ahead 17-14. But, the Cavalier air show struck again.
With a fourth-and-three on their own 30-yard line, backup quarterback Alex Hampton scrambled before lobbing a wobbly, dieing quail that was brought in by Gusler for a first down.
Moments later, with Cave Spring secondary stalwart Jack Woody forced to the sideline with an injury, Hampton hit a wide open Austin Oyler in stride for the winning 44-yard bomb with just under five minutes left.
Cave Spring was unable to mount a serious threat the rest of the way.
“It’s weird,” Harless noted after the game, on beating a team in which he had coached most of the players last year.
“Cave Spring was prepared,” he added. “You take what you get. Tonight, we drew it up in the dirt on the sideline.”
“In the second half, our defense stopped their running game,” Cave Spring head coach Tim Fulton said. “But, our seconday broke down twice, and that was the difference.”
BILL TURNER game story/photo
