Thursday night’s matchup between Hidden Valley and the visiting (yet home team) Blacksburg Bruins played out like a heavyweight boxing match.
Hidden Valley had the Bruins on the ropes in the early going, looking for the knockout punch. Blacksburg kept coming off the mat to keep things close for three quarters.
Finally, the Bruins got in the decisive jab with 21 unanswered fourth quarter points to pull out the 51-37 victory at rain-soaked Bogle Stadium.
In a contest moved from Blacksburg to Bogle, and moved ahead one night from the originally scheduled Friday night game because of expected heavy rain, it was the Blacksburg offense, not Mother Nature, that proved to be the deciding factor.
Blacksburg used the passing arm of quarterback Isaac Johnston for five touchdown passes and a pair of two-point conversions to overcome four Hidden Valley leads before pulling away in the late stages of the game.
Hidden Valley looked to be on the fast track for their first win of the season when the Titans reeled off the game’s first 16 points on running back Cason Bennett’s touchdown runs of 1 and 5 yards, sandwiched around a Michael Driscoll 40-yard field goal.
Blacksburg, which had repeatedly shot itself in the foot in the first quarter, finally got untracked midway through the second when Johnston hit Tiquest Terry on a 25-yard scoring strike, and followed on the next Bruin possession with a 60-yard bomb to Trey Shelor that tied the game at 16 after 2-point conversions followed each score.
The Titans righted their ship with a scoring drive in the final two minutes of the second quarter, culminated by quarterback Jonah Fitzgerald’s 12-yard TD keeper with 6.2 seconds left that sent the teams to the break with Hidden Valley up 23-16.
The teams traded four scores in the third quarter, sending the Titans to the final 12 minutes with a 37-30 advantage.
But, it was all Blacksburg in the final frame. The Bruins scored on two straight touchdown passes to take their first lead of the game with just under 10 minutes remaining, and Blacksburg got some breathing room when Coleton Beck raced 21 yards with 3:47 left to give the Bruins the final 14-point margin.
Bennett finished with three touchdowns for Hidden Valley, rushing for a game-high 157 yards. Ryan Mitchell caught 10 passes for 145 yards for the Titans.
Hidden Valley will look for its first win of the season next Friday when the Titans entertain Carroll County on homecoming night at Bogle Stadium.
Bill Turner
