Score early and consistently score.
That was the first half modus operandi for the Lord Botetourt Cavaliers Saturday afternoon in the Group 3A state football semifinal at Cavalier Stadium in Daleville.
Rolling out to a 28-3 halftime lead, Botetourt held tough over the last 24 minutes to pull out the 28-17 win over the Hopewell Blue Devils, sending the Cavs to their first state final in school history next Saturday at Liberty University.
Awaiting the Cavaliers will be defending 3A champions Magna Vista, a 28-23 winner over Phoebus Saturday afternoon in Hampton.
Under sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-50s, Lord Botetourt looked ready to put a thumping on the visiting Devils with a first half performance that was clicking on all cylinders.
After Hopewell fell on Botetourt’s onside kick to open the game, the Blue Devils looked set to get on the scoreboard first when they quickly drove into the red zone on their opening drive.
On first down at the Cavalier 15, Hopewell quarterback Cameren Hill looked to pass into the left flat. Hill’s lob sailed high and straight into the hands of Cavalier defender Garrison Mayo, who raced untouched 80 yards down the right sideline to put Botetourt up 7-0 after Grant Clemons’ PAT with 10-14 left in the first quarter.
On their next possession, Hopewell drove to the Botetourt 1-yard line where an illegal procedure penalty stopped the drive, leading to a 21-yard field goal by Blue Devil kicker Tristan Irvin that cut the Cavs lead to 7-3.
Botetourt responded with an 8-play drive that was culminated with a fourth down, 25-yard scoring run by Noah Fletcher that put the Cavaliers up 14-3 with 3:45 left in the opening quarter. Fletcher rushed for 139 yards in the game.
Mayo scored from the offensive side for Botetourt’s third touchdown with 3:50 left in the second quarter when he got behind the Blue Devil secondary and brought in a bomb in stride from Cavalier quarterback Ryan Fralin, going 45 yards for the score that had Botetourt up 21-3.
After Fralin picked off a Hopewell pass, Bradley Lythgoe summersaulted past the left pylon for a 16-yard touchdown catch from Fralin with 16 seconds left in the first half, sending the Cavs to the break up 28-3 in front of a delirious standing-room-only crowd that was sensing a blowout.
The second half proved to be an adventure for Lord Botetourt.
The Cavaliers received the second half kickoff and fumbled the ball away on their first play from scrimmage, leading to a Ronnie Monroe 8-yard touchdown catch from Hill with 10:23 left in the third quarter to make it 28-10.
Later in the third quarter, Botetourt came up short twice on fourth down runs, and avoided potential disaster when a mishandled punt snap miraculously ended up with a long pass completion for a first down.
Hopewell closed to 28-17 on Anthony Crawford’s 36-yard touchdown scamper with 7:31 left in the game, and Botetourt came up short on another fourth down run with 5:48 remaining. But, the Cavalier defense rose to the occasion by stopping the Blue Devils on four straight running plays before the Botetourt offense ran out the clock to secure the win.
Lord Botetourt head coach Jamie Harless was philosophical about the win.
“The final score is all that matters,” Harless noted. “We beat an exceptional team in Hopewell. You’re not going to shut out a team like that. They beat 6A Thomas Dale, who is playing today in a 6A state semifinal. They obviously made some adjustments in the second half.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Harless said of advancing to the state final. “How many people would like to be playing at Liberty next Saturday? A state championship is not a goal, it’s a dream. To get to that point, you have to have some luck and a lot of things have to fall your way. We’ll be ready.”
Bill Turner
