Friday night’s high school opener between William Byrd and Cave Spring turned on a blink of the eye.
In the end, Byrd flipped the game back in their favor, running away with the convincing 31-10 win in the season opener for both teams.
On the second play from scrimmage after receiving the opening kickoff, Terrier running back Larry Basham coughed up the ball before Cave Spring defender Aaron Tate emerged from the scrum to go 32-yards to the right pylon for a quick 7-0 Knights lead.
When Cave Spring held on Byrd’s next possession, the Knights looked to be in good shape again when a Terrier pooch punt went straight up in the air, and was fielded by the Cave Spring defense.
But, the Knights were stripped of the ball, giving the Terriers new life and opening the door for Basham’s first-of-four touchdowns on the night that tied things at 7 with 6:35 left in the first quarter.
Byrd took its first lead 51 seconds later after Rahmir Stovall picked off a Knight pass and Basham took it to the house from 9-yards out on the next play for a 14-7 Terrier lead. Byrd never looked back the remainder of the night.
After the Terriers took a 24-10 lead to the halftime break, the Byrd defense pitched a shutout the rest of way.
The Terriers held Cave Spring to five first downs in the game, while Basham rambled for 293 yards on the ground, nearly five times the total Cave Spring rushing production.
The highlight for the Knights came from freshman back-up quarterback Jabob Knight, who threw for 92 yards late in the game. Senior Tyler Rice led the Cave Spring rushing effort with 29 hard-fought yards.
Bill Turner
