Two things came at a premium during the first half at Lord Botetourt Stadium last Friday night – rushing yardage and seats.
Lord Botetourt running back Chris Thompson took care of the former after the halftime festivities; the latter was never resolved.
In a game billed as the biggest game in Botetourt football history, the Cavaliers fought off a pair of fourth quarter comebacks by Northside to pull out the thrilling 21-14 overtime win over the Vikings. Both squads had entered the game with unblemished records.
Anyone who had the forethought to rent-out lawn chairs would have been cash-happy on a perfect evening for Friday night lights. The bleachers began filling up two hours before kickoff, and as fans continued to file into the stadium, it quickly became standing-room-only with spectators lining the field’s perimeter as many as eight-rows deep.
When Botetourt scored on the first possession of overtime and Northside quarterback Dominic Dunnaville’s pass sailed high on fourth down on the Vikings subsequent OT possession, Cavalier students, fans and parents stormed the field in mass euphoria. Botetourt had answered the call.
“There’s nothing I can say,” Cavalier head coach Jamie Harless managed to get out as the playing field became a sea of red.
“We talked about this game all week,” Harless added after gathering himself. “These guys worked hard and showed a lot of character tonight. There were some great athletes on both sides out here. I think there’s more down the road for Botetourt football. It’d be easy for me to say this is just another win, but this win is a program-changer for us.”
The tone was set from the opening kickoff when 140-pound Botetourt senior kickoff returner Nathan McClellan fielded the squibber along the Cavalier sideline and was plastered by a helmet-to-helmet tackle that drew a 15-yard penalty and sent a clearly dazed McClellan to the sideline for the remainder of the game. That led to a hard-hitting defensive battle throughout the opening half that sent the teams to the locker room tied at zero.
Botetourt finally secured the game’s first score with 5:24 left in the third quarter after a 74-yard drive, keyed by the running of Thompson, hit pay dirt when the senior running back barreled in from 5 yards out.
Northside, which had little running success against the Cavalier defense all night, tied things up midway through the fourth quarter after a drive that started at their own 17 was culminated by a 42-yard scoring strike from Dunnaville to freshman Tra’ Jackson.
Things stayed knotted for all of nine seconds. Northside’s squib kickoff parted the Cavalier return team until junior Bobby Staples scooped up the ball at the 25, cut left breaking a pair of tackles, and rambled 75 yards down the sideline to give Botetourt the 14-7 advantage after the PAT. “The biggest play for me, ever,” Staples said afterward. “We turned it up and stayed mentally tough at the end.”
The Vikings embarked on the tying touchdown as Dunnaville drove Northside 77 yards, ending with Ben Plunkett’s 5-yard tightrop catch on the goal line with 1:25 left.
Botetourt had the opening possession of overtime and faced third-and-six before Cavalier quarterback Nick Webb scrambled to the one-foot line to make the fourth down decision for Harless a no-brainer. Thompson got the tip of the ball over the goal line on fourth down and the Cavalier defense closed the deal.
“We knew we needed to keep putting points on the board,” Webb noted. “When we scored in overtime we knew our defense would make the stop.”
Thompson finished with 111 yards on the ground, with Botetourt out gaining the Vikings 209-74 in the rushing department. Dunnaville threw for 213 yards for the Vikings with Jackson reeling in 103 of those yards on six catches.
-Bill Turner