The overflow crowd at Richland’s Ernie Hicks Stadium witnessed a classic battle last Friday night as the undefeated Blue Tornado of Richlands pulled out a 36-23 win in the Region IV Division 3 final. And, for the Richlands squad and its faithful, it was a game still up in the air until a gutsy call late in the fourth quarter securred the Blue Tornado victory.
On a night when temperatures hovered around the freezing mark in far Southwest Virginia, the play on Richland’s artificial turf was sizzling from the opening drive.
Cave Spring took the opening kickoff and methodically drove the length of the field before Knight’s go-to man Sam Wright barreled over the line from 3 yards out. Evan Johnson added the point after for the 7-0 lead, and Richlands found itself in unfamiliar waters as it trailed for one of the few times this season.
The Blue Tornado responded with the next two scores to regain the lead 14-7 before the Cave Spring defense, taking advantage of a Josh Woodrum punt inside the Richlands 5-yard line, forced Blue Tornado QB Cody Lockhart into an intentional grounding error out of the Richlands end zone, giving the Knights the 2-point safety. The teams headed to the locker room with Richlands up 14-9.
The game took a quick turn on Cave Spring’s first play of the third quarter when Wright took a handoff up the middle for a 73-yard TD run that put Cave Spring up 16-14 and stunned the Ernie Hicks crowd. Richlands regained the momentum with two drives that resulted in touchdowns, and a pair of two-point conversions after each, to take a 30-16 lead. Moments later, Knights QB Josh Woodrum hooked up with Virginia Tech-bound Michael Cole for a 61-yard scoring strike that cut the Richlands’ lead to 30-23.
But, Blue Tornado coach Greg Mance went into the trick play bag on fourth down at the Cave Spring 36 yard line on the next possession. Running back Bradley Strong took a handoff for what appeared to be a signature Richlands end-sweep. Instead, Strong stopped and fired a 36-yard strike to a wide open Tanner Smith in the right end zone for the dagger that would end the Cave Spring playoff run.
Cave Spring outgained Richlands 202-199 on the ground with Wright leading the Knights with 145 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. Woodrum threw for 197 yards with 13 completions in 29 attempts. Richlands got 150 rushing yards from standout Devon Johnson.
