Richlands falls big to Botetourt
Written: Sep 21, 2013
By MIKE DAVIS
for the Daily Telegraph
DALEVILLE, Va.— Football is supposed to be a game of inches.
Lord Botetourt smashed that theory Friday night and accounted for 600 yards total offense against Richlands in a non-district clash.
Their statistics accounted to almost three-and-half tenths of a mile and the final result gave the Cavaliers their fourth win of the season in as many tries and three by lopsided shutouts.
Lord Botetourt (4-0) outscored the Blue Tornado, 56-0, including 29 points in the first quarter and 21 in the second to take Richlands (2-2) out of the equation early.
“They definitely took us to the woodshed,” Richlands head coach Greg Mance said. “The better team won, they were superior than us up front, they were more physical, faster and it showed. We couldn’t tackle them in space and on defense, we couldn’t block them.”
“You have to congratulate Lord Botetourt and (head coach) Jamie Harless, they could’ve hung 80 to 100 points on us and I appreciate the hospitality and all you can say is they took us to the woodshed.”
Lord Botetourt won the toss and opted to get the ball. Taking the ball at their own 20-yard line, it looked as if the Cavaliers couldn’t get out of their own way. Four penalties on the opening drive against Lord Botetourt took them back 20 yards and one of the infractions took a touchdown off the board.
Nevertheless, the Cavaliers stayed with the program and put a touchdown on the board at the 6:56 mark and never looked back. Chris Thompson scored the only touchdown Lord Botetourt would need on a 5-yard burst capping an 80-yard, 11-play drive that took five minutes off the clock. Thompson broke two tackles on the conversion attempts and waltzed around the left end to put the Cavaliers ahead, 8-0.
“We didn’t do a good job playing football in our game last week,” Harless said. “This week wasn’t about playing Richlands or being out here and playing everybody on Friday night, it was about working on getting better on the things we needed to do.”
Richlands couldn’t get past the Lord Botetourt offensive wall on the ensuing kickoff and had to punt the ball away after a three-and-out.
Bobby Staples took the Tornado punt at his own 35-yard line and weaved his way 55 yards to put Lord Botetourt in the red zone, however, an illegal block in the back negated the effort and the Cavaliers set up shop at their own 27. It was a mere formality for the referee to spot the ball and whistle it in play because Thompson added another touchdown on the next play.
This time for a 73-yard romp around the left end and down the sideline. He added the conversion to put the Cavs’s up, 16-0.
Richlands opened shop for business at their own 27-yard line following the kickoff, however, their possession was short lived after Austin Oyler intercepted a Richlands pass giving the home team the ball at the Richlands 31-yard line.
Everyone in the stadium knew what play was coming, however, no one could stop it and Thompson scored his third touchdown of the game on a 31-yard run, then, added another score with 1:20 left in the first quarter with a 2-yard touchdown. Clemmons added his first of four extra points.
The Cavaliers gained momentum like a Sherman tank rolling down hill and they scored 21 points in the second quarter pushing and shoving the Tornado up and down the field on both sides of the ball.
Nick Webb scored on a 78-yard jaunt and Bradley Lythgoe scored a pair of touchdowns on runs of 44 and 10 yards before the half-time break taking the Cavaliers to a 50-0 lead through intermission.
A running clock shortened the second half and the Cavaliers scored one touchdown in the fourth quarter when Noah Fletcher scored on a 53-yard touchdown.
Lord Botetourt rushed for 540 yards on the night led by Thompson who ran for 296 yards on 19 carries with four touchdowns on the night taking his season total to 11. Webb passed for 60 yards completing all three passing attempts.
“Thompson is an excellent running back,” Harless said. “But, I’ll tell you, as good as a running back as he is, he’s a better kid.”
Richlands had just 58 yards rushing with 14 additional passing on the night with just four first downs on the evening.
The Blues return home next week for their homecoming festivities against Virginia High and the Cavaliers have an open date.
Richlands...............................0 0 0 0 — 0
Lord Botetourt....................29 21 0 6 — 56
First quarter
LB – Thompson 5-yard run (Thompson run)
LB – Thompson 73-yard run (Thompson run)
LB – Thompson 31-yard run (run failed)
LB – Thompson 2-yard run (Grant Clemmons kick)
Second quarter
LB – Nick Webb 78-yard run (Clemmons kick)
LB – Bradley Lythgoe 44-yard run (Clemmons kick)
LB – Lythgoe 10-yard run (Clemmons kick)
Fourth quarter
LB – Noah Fletcher 53-yard run (kick failed)
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