Delays, Downpours Dominate Week-6 High School Football

Hidden Valley wide receiver, and Naval Academy recruit, Ryan Mitchell, brought in two touchdown passes Friday night as the Titans outlasted Blacksburg 45-44.
Hidden Valley wide receiver, and Naval Academy recruit, Ryan Mitchell, brought in two touchdown passes Friday night as the Titans outlasted Blacksburg 45-44.

Rain, rain go away.

That was the cry last Friday afternoon as torrential downpours played havoc with our “Big-11” high school football schedule.

Three teams found the perfect way to stay dry despite rain that totaled 7 inches in some places. North Cross, Glenvar and William Fleming were all enjoying the perfect timing of a bye week.

The other eight took different routes to take on Mother Nature. Lord Botetourt moved its home game to Saturday, while Roanoke Catholic and Northside delayed road trips to grass swamps in Craig County and Alleghany, respectfully, to Monday.

Five teams, three on rain-friendly artificial turf, and two others who decided to play in the mud, stayed the course with Friday night lights.

Here’s the final results after everything has now dried out.

Patrick Henry-17  Pulaski County-7

Patrick Henry wrung out a signature win on the artificial turf of Merrill Gainer Field as the Patriots handed Pulaski County its first loss of the season. PH used an early field goal to take a 3-0 lead to the halftime break, then beat the rain twice through the air in the second half on touchdown passes of 54 yards to Dawson Robinson in the third quarter and 63 yards to Isley Hopson in the fourth to improve to 5-1 on the season. Notably, PH did not suffer a turnover in the pressing conditions.

Salem-58  Carroll County-0

It poured all day at Salem Stadium, but even after the clouds parted before kickoff, the Spartans kept pouring it on in their own way. Salem led 37-0 after one quarter thanks to five touchdowns and a safety, and was up 51-0 at the break against the clearly overmatched Cavaliers. The Spartans themselves helped dry the artificial turf at Salem Stadium, racing to 6 touchdowns on the ground and a pair through the aerlel game. De’Angelo Ramsey led the Spartan offensive downpour with three touchdown runs.

Hidden Valley-45  Blacksburg-44

Despite the heavy rain, Hidden Valley found the artificial turf at Dwight Bogle Stadium to their liking as the Titans rallied to beat the visiting Blacksburg Bruins. Hidden Valley got the game winner on Cason Bennett’s 3-yard touchdown run with just under 20 seconds left in the game.The Titans spotted Blacksburg an early 14-0 lead, then fought back to close to within 35-24 at the break. Four of the six Titan touchdowns came on passes from quarterback Jonah Fitzgerald, including a pair to Navy recruit Ryan Mitchell from 25 and 42 yards that punctuated a successful homecoming night for the Titasns.

Wiillam Byrd-26  Staunton River-6

In what could easily been dubbed The Mud Bowl at Bob Patterson Stadium, William Byrd handed the Staunton River Golden Eagles their first loss of the season. The Terriers broke away from a 6-6 halftime deadlock to score a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter and game-clincher in the fourth. The Byrd workhorse on the sloppy fiend in Vinton was running back Larry Basham, who scored on TD runs of 28, 35 and 45 yards. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over three times on fumbles as Byrd improved to 4-1.

Cave Spring-28  Christiansburg-20

Cave Spring found the swamp-like conditions on the grass turf at Christiansburg to their liking as the Knights rebounded from a 14-7 halftime deficit to pull out the win over the Blue Demons. Cave Spring took advantage of three lost Christiansburg fumbles and Knight running back Zach Bowling ran for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Cave Spring picked up its second win of the season.

Lord Botetourt- 49       Rockbridge County-14

Lord Botetourt broke a 14-14 deadlock with a late first-half touchdown and the Cavalier defense took over after the break as Botetourt remained undefeated against 0-6 Rockbridge County. The Cavs scored 28 unanswered second half points to pull away for the win. The Botetourt rushing game was led by three touchdown runs of 12, 40 and 4 yards by Ty Maust, along with a pair of rushing scores from Garrison Mayo on scampers of 7 and 58 yards. Botetourt looks to improve to 7-0 this Friday night when they entertain Alleghany, a team they blanked last year 49-0.

Northside-62  Alleghany-21

It poured in Low Moor last Friday, moving this game to Monday night. Northside provided a drencher of their own when things got going. The Vikings scored 35 first quarter points and led 55-21 at halftime as Northside picked up their second win of the season in the Blue Ridge District matchup. Highlights for the Vikings were four touchdown passes from QB Jabari Blake to Devon Russell and three touchdown runs by Sami Abed.

Roanoke Catholic-50  Craig County-0

The Celtics won their fifth straight game in New Castle in another matchup moved to Monday night. Catholic ran out to a 36-0 halftime lead and never looked back in the shutout win against the winless Rockets. The Celtics used a balanced scoring attack with five scores on the ground, 2 in the air and another on an interception return. Mykah English ran for 199 yards and two scores while Jamel Tyree added two rushing touchdowns on 110 rushing yardage.

Bill Turner

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