Cave Spring came into Monday night’s River Ridge football battle with visiting Christiansburg looking to cut out the lights on the Demons for their first win of the season.
The Knights were able to hold off the Demons for the 28-15 win, despite the lights going out on both teams along the way.
In a game postponed from Friday night due to last weekend’s heavy rains and flooding, things got even stranger with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter when all of the field lights at Bogle Stadium went dark like a Wednesday night on Broadway.
“Weird night, weird week, even a weird fall,” Christiansburg head coach Tim Cromer noted at midfield afterward. “The rains causing the postponement alter your preparation and the lights going out were strange. But, both teams have to perform.”
Cave Spring head coach Tim Fulton agreed.
“We couldn’t practice on Friday and were shut down Saturday,” Fulton said. “I told the team this afternoon that the team that handled it better would win. I was proud of the way we responded. But, when the lights went out, I said ‘you gotta be kidding me.’ “
The fourth quarter darkness lasted for nearly 45 minutes before order was restored and the game resumed. Neither team found the scoreboard the rest of the way.
“It feels great getting that first win,” Fulton added. “We’re still learning. Tonight we matched up well.”
Cave Spring bolted out to a 14-0 lead on a first quarter 49-yard touchdown pass from Knight quarterback Jacob Knight to Matt Gliniecki, followed by a 49-yard fumble return for a score by Cave Spring linebacker John Akers.
Christiansburg responded late in the second quarter when Mitchell Walters plowed into the end zone from one yard out that sent the teams to the locker room with the Knights up 14-7.
Cave Spring took the second half kickoff and methodically drove 69 yards, culminated by senior Cody Amos’ 1-yard touchdown run that had the Knights ahead 21-7 with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
The Blue Demons again answered, using a sustained drive capped off by quarterback Xavier Kane’s 7-yard keeper into the right side of the end zone. Christiansburg then added a two-point conversion on a direct snap trick play that closed their deficit to 21-15.
The Knights’ next possession ended up with an adventure in the red zone. Cave Spring faced fourth-and-one inside the Blue Demon 10-yard line, when Fulton sent in the field goal team, called time out, then reinserted the offense. The Knight front surged to pick up the first down by two feet. Three plays later, Cave Spring again faced fourth-and-one before running back Tyler Rice scored to put Cave Spring up 28-15 after Christian Howes’ fourth straight conversion of the night.
“I called the timeout, and talked to our guys,” Fulton said of passing on the field goal. “I said ‘forget it, we’re going for it.’ We needed to come together up front.”
That’s when the lights went out in Bogle.
“We hurt ourself early in the game with turnovers,” Cromer pointed out. “That was the difference in the game. Cave Spring ran the ball well after the half, and it was smash mouth football.”
“We needed to control the clock,” Fulton noted. “It worked out tonight.”
Rice led the Cave Spring attack with 113 rushing yards. Christiansburg threw for 240 yards, with half coming from 13 receptions by C.J. Napper.
Bill Turner
