Week-10 Gives Glimpse Of “Big-11” Playoff Hopefuls

Salem receiver Joseph Quinn will be key as the Spartans look for their ninth straight win this Friday night against Pulaski County._0040-573x800We’ve battled through ten weeks of the high school football regular season and now only have one week to go. So far, there’s been weeks with sizzling heat and weeks where heavy downpours have blurred the view of the opposite sideline. But, by this time next week the playoff picture will be perfectly clear for all of our “Big-11” squads.

Heading into week-11, eight of our eleven are looking good, while another is on the bubble  to have a chance to slip in the playoff hunt. Last Friday night, Lord Botetourt’s first loss of the year left North Cross as the only remaining undefeated “Big-11”.

Here’s a look at the results of last Friday’s slate of games. Northside had a bye week.

William Byrd-54  Lord Botetourt-35

It was the Larry Basham show that derailed Lord Botetourt, handing the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. Byrd put itself in great shape to take the Blue Ridge District title as Basham scored seven touchdowns on runs of 1, 10, 52, 52, 71, 4 and 31 yards. Quarterback Grayson Bond kept Botetourt in the game with three touchdown keepers of 6, 2 and 1 yards, but Byrd,whose only loss this year was in overtime at Salem, had too much Basham in the long run.

Patrick Henry-25  Blacksburg-14

Patrick Henry spotted Blacksburg a 14-2 halftime lead, then scored 23 unanswered second half points as the Patriots improved to 7-2. PH looks to be in great shape to host a first-round 5A playoff game after it closes the season on the road at 1-8 Carroll County this Friday night.

North Cross-53  Covenant-14

North Cross running back Isaac Harris scored five touchdowns on runs of 15, 8, 2, 22 and 12 yards as the Raiders improved to 9-0. North Cross QB Miles Lowman added three touchdowns on two scoring passes of 57 and 39 yards to go long with a 6-yard scoring keeper that had the Raiders up 33-8 at the halftime break.

Roanoke Catholic-54  Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot-7

Catholic closed out its regular season with their eighth straight win as the Celtics now await their first-round opponent in the VIS Division III playoffs. Jemel Tyree paced Roanoke Catholic with five touchdowns, three on runs of 3, 22 and 18 yards to go along with a scoring reception of 43 yards and kickoff runback of 83 yards. The Celtics led 46-7 at the break.

William Fleming-24  Alleghany-0

Fleming picked up its third win of the season as the Colonel defense pitched the shutout in Low Moor. Derick Hines scored on runs of 21 and 15 yards to go along with a touchdown pass that spearheaded a 17-point second quarter for Fleming. The Colonels are out of the playoffs heading into their regular season finale against Northside.

Salem-40  Cave Spring-7

Salem pulled away from a 24-7 halftime lead with 16 unanswered third quarter points as the Spartans won for the eighth straight time. Salem now closes the season with a trip to Pulaski County while Cave Spring faces a must-win situation Friday night when they take on Hidden Valley for the Paint Can Trophy.

Glenvar-48   Radford-7

Glenvar raced out to a 41-0 halftime lead and coasted to the easy win over the Bobcats in West Salem. Highlander quarterback Jacob Mullins ran for touchdowns of 24 and 78 yards while throwing for three more to pace Glenvar. Jack Leonard added two rushing touchdowns and female placekicker Kelci Horner was 6-of-7 on point -afters for Glenvar.

Glenvar is in great shape to host a first-round playoff game.

Pulaski County-42   Hidden Valley-24

Pulaski County jumped out to a 35-10 halftime lead and it was more than enough as the Cougars stopped theTitans on a rare Saturday night lights at Dwight Bogle Stadium. Naval Academy recruit Ryan Mitchell pulled in a 12-yard touchdown pass that briefly put the Titans up 7-6 in the opening quarter, but it was all Cougars thereafter. Titan quarterback Jonah Fitzgerald scored on a pair of 16-yard keepers. Hidden Valley takes on Southwest County rival Cave Spring in their season finale this Friday night.

Bill Turner

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