Party crashers: Blues blank G-Men
Graham (0) vs. Richlands (40)
Written: Sep 13, 2014
By MIKE DAVIS
for the Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — The Blue Tornado and the G-Men came into Friday night’s contest looking to end a winless streak that haunted both football clubs in the first two games of the season.
After a first half of grinding the trenches, Richlands broke a close game open in the second half and put together four quarters of execution to get their first win of the season, 40-0, and put Graham searching for the formula to a win over their own.
“We’ve been through some rough injuries and we have some kids playing both ways and we’ve lacked mental toughness,” Richlands head coach Greg Mance said. “I’m very proud of our football team against Graham, they have a really good offense and to hold them to zero points is a good effort for our defense.
“Offensively, we played good in spurts but we dropped the ball and missed some protection. We can go back and clean that up. We tickled to death to be able to get 40 points on the board.”
Richlands first score of the night came with 1:56 to go in the first quarter. Neither team had been able to move the ball through the period.
Graham had intercepted a Tornado pass to stop a drive inside their own 20-yard line and looked to build on that momentum.
However, three downs and a short punt gave the Blues excellent field position and the short drive was capped with River Michaels scoring from the 5-yard line. The extra point was no good leaving the Tornado with a 6-0 lead.
The G-Men threatened at the start of the second quarter and drove the ball from midfield to the Tornado 8-yard line. Then, a sack on quarterback Roman Workman accounted for a negative-10 yards when Richlands Zeke Vance trapped him in the backfield.
An incomplete pass on third down and a fumbled snap on a field goal attempt gave Richlands the ball at their own 12-yard line.
After trading possessions, the Blue Tornado became the beneficiary of another short Graham punt and took over at the G-Men 36-yard line.
The Tornado set up shop and went to work. Michaels found Landon Lowe open for an inside slant that went for 15 yards. Chace Collins then squirted through Graham tackles for six to bring up second-and-4.
Vance lined up on the right side and made a quick slant inside open long enough for Michaels to thread the needle for a completion.
The misdirection soon turned north and south when Vance picked his way through the Graham secondary and the empty grasp of defenders turned into points for the Tornado. The catch and run went for 15 yards and another Richlands touchdown. Alex Bandy added the point after pushing the Blues ahead, 13-0 through the break.
Richlands came out in the third with the lead and lined up to get the kickoff to start the second half. Vance took a short kickoff up the left side through traffic to the Tornado 49-yard line.
Halftime adjustments played onto Richlands hands and five plays later, they proved successful with another executed drive with Griffin McCauley taking a pitch around the right end for 32 yards and a touchdown. Michaels’ pass fell incomplete on the conversion attempt, however, the Blues were on their way with a 19-0 lead.
The Tornado defense set up their next score with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter. The G-Men had started a drive on their own 20-yard line before Richlands’ Tyler Cordle intercepted a pass and ran it back to Graham’s 19-yard line.
It took Richlands three plays to convert the turnover into points when Michaels found Lowe for another 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:29 on the clock. The extra points gave the Blues a 26-0 lead.
Graham went three and out on their next drive and had to punt from their own 15-yard line.
That kick proved to be disastrous for Graham after Vance let the ball bounce around for a moment, then he grabbed it up and raced cross field to the right sideline, picked up blockers and picked his way for a 60-yard punt return.
The final touchdown for Richlands came with 8:27 left in the game when John-Luke Asbury hit Cordle for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
Michaels completed 9-of-17 passes for 112 yards and an interception and two touchdowns while rushing for 85 yards on 18 carries. McCauley carried the ball 10 times for 43 yards.
Lowe caught three passes for the Blues for 35 yards and Cade Mullins caught two passes for 43 yards.
Dylan Cook was the workhorse for the G-Men, carrying the ball 15 times for 110 yards. Roman Workman completed 5-of-18 passes with an interception.
Richlands plays host to Lord Botetourt next week and the G-Men take on the Grundy Golden Wave.
“We want to get this one behind us and move on to the Grundy Golden Wave,” Graham head coach Mike Williams said. “I’m not sure what it was but we got sloppy handling kicks, false starts, we were misaligned on offense and exchanges and totally out of character for us.”
At Mitchell Stadium
Richlands.........................6 7 20 7 – 40
Graham............................0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
R – Michaels 5-yard run (kick failed)
Second quarter
R – Lowe 15-yard pass from Michaels (Bandy kick)
Third quarter
R – McCauley 32-yard run (conversion failed)
R – Lowe 15-yard pass from Michaels (Bandy kick)
R – Vance 50-yard punt return (Bandy kick)
Fourth quarter
R – Cordle 10-yard pass from Asbury (Bandy kick)
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