Torrential downpours Thursday postponed a number of local high school football games Friday night in the Roanoke Valley.
Games on the artificial turf at both Patrick Henry and William Fleming were moved to Monday. But, it was a perfect autumn night on the carpet at Dwight Bogle Stadium in Southwest Roanoke County where the Hidden Valley Titans weathered the storm.
Coming back from an early 10-0 deficit against the Christiansburg Blue Demons, Hidden Valley outscored the visitors 21-3 the rest of the way to pull out the 21-13 River Ridge District win.
It was a methodical turnaround in a game that featured a significant number of untimely penalties by both teams, but Titan quarterback Grayson Carroll’s 19-for-29 (246 yards) passing performance was the difference, along with a Hidden Valley defense that stopped the Blue Demons in the red zone twice in the fourth quarter, including slamming the door on a fourth down from the 2-yard line to open the final frame and following suit from the 14 with under two minutes left.
Christiansburg wasted no time getting on the scoreboard first. The Demons took the opening kickoff and went down the field before settling for a 34-yard field goal by left-footed kicker Jordan Harman in a sequence that took less than two minutes.
The game turned into a battle of field position until Christiansburg scored on the second play of the second quarter when Demon quarterback Jake Clemons faked a run from the Titan 6-yard line and found receiver Rally Williams wide open in the back of the end zone for a 10-0 Demon lead after Harman’s PAT.
Hidden Valley answered after the ensuing kickoff, going 75 yards capped off by a Carroll to Kelly Mitchell 6-yard touchdown toss that cut the Titan deficit to 10-7 with senior Stephen Fitzgerald’;s conversion.
The Titans got the ball back with 2:15 left in the half after a Blue Demon punt, and 17 seconds later Carroll connected on a 59-yard scoring pass to sophomore Jacob Pardon that sent the teams to the break with Hidden Valley up 14-10.
Christiansburg closed to within 14-13 on its first offensive series of the third quarter when Harman split the uprights from 31 yards out, but the Titans increased their lead to 21-13 when Mitchell made a leaping catch of a 6-yard pass from Carroll with 3:10 left in the third that proved to be the final scoring of the night.
Clemons was the workhorse on the ground for Christiansburg, picking up 140 yards. The Blue Demon defense held Hidden Valley to just 22 rushing yards.
Bill Turner
