Richlands looks to halt Wright, Cave Spring

By BRIAN WOODSON

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

RICHLANDS, Va. — Cave Spring has already beaten the top-ranked Group AA team in Virginia. Now the Knights want to knock off the top-seeded team in Region IV.

Richlands wants to prove that (Sam) Wright is all wrong on this night.

It won’t be easy. All Wright has done this season for Cave Spring is run for 2,357 yards and 33 touchdowns. He’s averaging 30 carries and 214.3 yards per game. The senior had 297 yards and four touchdowns in their last game.

Richlands head coach Greg Mance knows him well.

“I think last year he had a 60 or 70 yard touchdown run against us, and he had over 100 yards rushing,” Richlands head coach Greg Mance said. “Just a solid, solid football player.

“He is very elusive and very quick and he’s got a knack for squeezing through a hole that is about a foot in diameter and he squeezes through it and out he comes. You rarely see anyone tackle him one-on-one, just a tremendous running back.”

There is little doubt what Richlands (11-0) must do tonight when Cave Spring (8-3) visits Ernie Hicks Stadium for the Region IV, Division 3 championship game. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.

“I think we just have to come out here and play how we’re capable of,” Richlands senior Josh Compton said. “We have got to play Richlands football, be physical...

“We have to play mistake-free football, we have got to avoid the penalties and turnovers and the big plays. We know they are going to gain some yards, but we just can’t give up the big plays. We have got to be physical with them on defense and really pound them.”

That is what Richlands did last week in a 58-7 thumping of Tunstall in the regional semifinals. While Wright nearly reached 300 yards in a 41-9 victory over Martinsville, Devon Johnson led Richlands with 197 yards and three scores on the ground, while Reece Strong threw for 227 yards and four more touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the defense held Tunstall to under 100 yards.

No wonder Mance was quite pleased with his team.

“I thought it was the best game we have played, it was the most physical we have been all year long,” Mance said. “We kept preaching you have got to attack the football and you have got to put the helmet on them.

“We played old school Richlands football, we were very, very physical with Tunstall and we are going to have to do that here Friday night. We are going to have to play a great game on defense.”

Richlands has done that all season. The Blues have allowed just 12.1 points a contest, while recording three shutouts. They’ve been led by linebacker Devon Johnson, the inside presence of Hunter Brown and Jeremy McGlothlin and a much improved secondary that will be tested, not only by Wright, but by the quarterback duo of Reece Kingery and Tony Simmons.

Kingery has thrown for 752 yards and six touchdowns, but has also been picked off 11 times.

While Cave Spring does have three losses, only Northside — which will play Brookville in the Region III finals tonight —actually controlled the Knights. The lost big leads against Hidden Valley and Salem.

“They have had two big leads in the second half they have blown or they would be 10-1 with the only loss to Northside,” Mance said. “They have got a little bit of everything, they are strong, quick, they have a 2,300 yard rusher at tailback, Sam Wright is really, really good.”

Cave Spring did beat then No. 1 Christiansburg 26-21 without three starters. The offense is potent — having scored at least 34 points in seven games — while the defense is led by the talented linebacker duo of Ryan Gerhardt and Tyler Francis.

Jordan Bryant leads the Knights in tackles with 85 stops, while Matt Reiter has 24 tackles for loss and eight sacks.

“They beat the number one team in the state, Christiansburg, with three starters out so that tells you what kind of football team they have got,” Mance said. “They are back now full strength, they are tremendous athletes, they are tall and can fly ... Just a very, very talented football team.”

Meanwhile, Richlands has scored 45.9 points a contest, led by Johnson with 1,699 yards and 24 touchdowns, and Reece Strong, who has thrown for 1,812 yards and 24 scores for the Blues.

There is little doubt what Cave Spring wants to do. It is Richlands’ job to prevent them from doing it by doing it themselves behind Johnson’s legs and his huge offensive line led by 300-pounders Josh Hess and Donnie Dye.

“We cannot allow them to control the time of possession and keep their offense on the field,” Mance said. “It wears the defense out, we have quite a few (players) going both ways so it is going to be a big challenge.

“It is going to come down to rather or not we can keep them from running the football and trying to make them do what they don’t want to do.”

These teams will meet for a third straight year with a regional title at stake. The Tim Fulton-coached Knights won 35-21 in 2009, ending the Blues’ run of five straight region crowns. Richlands gained a measure of revenge last season with a 36-23 win over Cave Spring.

The winner of this game will host either Brookville or Northside — both of whom are 11-0 — in the state semifinals next weekend.

Mance knows what the Blue Tornado must do. Now they have to do it on the field.

“The key to the game will be big plays and turnovers, you have got two really good football teams playing here on Friday night and they have already beat the number one team in the state,” Mance said. “They don’t turn the ball over, they execute, they don’t make penalties, they are very sound on special teams, that is a formula for success.

“They are very well coached and they are first class. They play their hearts out, they don’t make mistakes, they don’t beat themselves. They are hard nosed, they are physical, it is going to be a big challenge for us to win Friday.”

Fortunately for Mance, the road to Lynchburg does run through Richlands. That’s fine with the Blue Tornado. There is no where they would rather be.

“Last year we had a great battle here at Ernie Hicks,” Mance said. “Thank God this one is here because our kids play much better here.

“They feed off the energy of our 12th man.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com