Tornado blows past G-Men
Graham (0) vs. Richlands (38)
Written: Sep 09, 2011
By MIKE DAVIS
for the Daily Telegraph
RICHLANDS, Va. — The Blue Tornado overcame a dozen penalty flags on the night at Ernie Hicks Stadium/Ematz Field to win their third game of the season over a young Graham football team.
Richlands opened both barrels in the second quarter for a 17-point attack on their way to a 38-0 shutout in the first non-district meeting between the two rivals.
“We got the win, but we had way too may penalties,” Richlands head coach Greg Mance said. “I was disappointed in our penalties, but we’ll go back and find them on tape and make corrections.
“Take your hat off to Graham, they battled hard.”
The G-Men defense rose to the occasion on the opening drive and stopped Richlands on a drive that had started on the Tornado 33-yard line and stalled at the Graham 35 as the visitors took over on downs.
The G-Men began to move the ball and took the ball to the mid-field stripe before coughing the ball up and the Tornado recovered.
Richlands took three plays to traverse 50 yards when Reece Strong capped the trip with a 37-yard touchdown to D.J. Flack. Strong added the point after to take the Tornado lead to 7-0.
Richlands scored their first points of the second quarter with 10:41 left in the half when Strong booted a 36-yard field goal capping a 6-play drive.
The G-Men couldn’t find the answer to the Tornado defense which held the Graham offense to just five yards before punting the ball at three and out.
The Blues started on their own 48-yard line and flags backed the line of scrimmage back to their own 26 before flags took the line of scrimmage the other way to the Tornado 48-yard line four plays later. However, a fumble gave the G-Men the ball near midfield.
Graham couldn’t penetrate the Tornado defense once again and turned the ball back over on downs.
This time the Blues made good on their opportunity and scored on a four play, 48-yard drive that took just two minutes. Strong fired an 8-yard strike to Todd McGlothlin with 2:09 left in the half. The extra point put the Blues up, 17-0.
Graham couldn’t get their offense in gear on the ensuing drive and was forced to punt with 1:47 left in the second quarter. An aggressive pass rush by Richlands Josh Compton forced a run by the G-Men and the Tornado defense made the stop at the Graham 27-yard line.
The officials kept dropping their yellow laundry all over the field until the Blues became the beneficiary of a pass interference penalty and got the ball at the Graham 11-yard line. Devon Johnson took the handoff through traffic and rumbled 11 yards for the final points of the half. Strong kicked his third extra point of the night to give the Blues a 24-0 half-time lead.
Following halftime adjustments, the Tornado scored twice in the second half beginning with Strong finding Todd McGlothlin on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Then, Colten Staton broke a 33-yard scamper for a touchdown and Strong kicked his fifth extra point after of the night. The G-Men kept the ball for the entire fourth quarter running 17 plays before time expired.
I like our football team down the road,” Mance said. “But right now we’re a wounded ship taking on water. We’re just not very sharp right now.”
Richlands finished the game with 314 yards with Strong leading the passing game with 106 yards completing 9-of-14 attempts for three touchdowns.
Devon Johnson rushed 11 times for 111 yards and a touchdown. Staten added 68 yards on seven attempts and a touchdown. The Blues finished the night with 15 first downs and were penalized for 95 yards on 12 flags.
Lamont Edwards led Graham in tackles with four and Cody Hatfield had three. Sam Lawson paced the Blues with five tackles.
The G-Men had 101 yards on the night with six first downs and six penalties for 75 yards.
Michael Thompson led Graham on the ground with nine attempts for 44 yards.
Richlands plays host to Pulaski County next week and the G-Men are open, with their name contest slated for Sept. 23 against Marion at Mitchell Stadium.
At Ernie Hicks Stadium
Graham...........0 0 0 0 — 0
Richlands.......7 17 14 0 — 38
Scoring
First quarter
R – Flack 37-yard pass from Strong (Strong kick)
Second quarter
R – Strong 36-yard FG
R – Todd McGlothlin 8-yard pass from Strong (Strong kick)
R – Devon Johnson 11-yard run (Strong kick)
Third quarter
R— Todd McGlothlin 16-yard pass from Strong (Strong kick)
R – Colten Staton 33-yard run (Strong kick)
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