By BRIAN WOODSON

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

RICHLANDS, Va. — Two games into the season, the Richlands football team was 0-2 against what is one of the toughest schedules of any team on either side of the state line.

River Michaels and the Blue Tornado didn’t like it at all, especially losing a 28-7 fourth quarter lead before losing to Union, one week after falling at Gate City in the season opener.

“We realize what can happen and we don’t want to go down that road with the feelings that we had after those two heartbreaking losses,” Michaels said. “We just didn’t want that feeling no more and we came out here and starting working harder in practice and we are going to get better and better and we will be overcoming feelings that we have had from losing.

“We started realizing it feels better being on the other side of the ball. Hopefully we will just come out and get better and better and we will be getting after every team on Friday, just week by week.”

Richlands (3-2), which will host Bluefield on Friday, has opened eyes since then, capping off a three-game win streak with a surprising 45-7 rout of Virginia High in Bristol last Friday night.

“I think people didn’t think it was going to be that good a win, I think people thought it would be close considering coming off of last year,” said Michaels, whose Blues beat Virginia High twice last season, including once in a miraculous comeback in the postseason. “We did an outstanding job, Virginia High is a dangerous ball club, they have got more speed and they are just really quick.

“They came out with a different offense, but the defense executed really good and so did the offense. We just got in the end zone and were just clicking pretty good.”

Real good. The trigger man of the offense was Michaels, who completed 8-of-10 pass attempts for 165 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for two more scores, leading the Blues to a rout of the Bearcats.

“It was a good throwing game, the receivers caught the ball, but the line held up really good,” Michaels said. “That helped out just giving me more time to sit back and read and look through all the defense. The receivers helped me out and executed real well.”

That performance earned Michaels his second Pocahontas Coal Association/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Player of the Week award. He won the same award in 2013.

“It is a team award, the team won it for me, I just try to do my job,” said the 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior, who is also a back-up linebacker and end on defense. “It’s about the team. The team wins it for me so I love giving them credit for it. I will tell they win that trophy for me. Yes, it is a really good honor.”

No one has enjoyed Michaels’ play over the last three weeks more than Richlands head coach Greg Mance, whose Blue Tornado have allowed just 21 points in three games, including a 40-0 win over Graham, a 21-14 upset of Lord Botetourt, and last week’s rout of the Bearcats.

“He has played extremely well, he has made really good decisions, he has always brought toughness to the table,” Mance said. “He is a competitor, that is the great thing about River, he has got that competitive edge, man, he wants to win on Friday nights and he doesn’t care what the obstacle is, he is going to compete with all his ability and all his might.”

Richlands began the climb out of its 0-2 hole with a visit to Mitchell Stadium, and the Blues hammered Graham 40-0 three weeks ago.

“That was really important, Graham is also a good ball club,” Michaels said. “After (those two losses) we started executing a lot better, in the first two games we came out rusty, but we lost to two great ball clubs too.

“We have got a tough season this year. There is nobody on our schedule we can take them lightly, we are just going to come out and work harder and harder and week by week.”

It showed in a 21-14 win over Lord Botetourt, which had thrashed the Blues 56-0 last season.

“I think we shocked the town too because the talent they had on that team was crazy and they were a really, really good ball club,” Michaels said. “We just pulled it together that game and we wasn’t going to take nothing but a ‘W’.”

That was followed by a visit to Virginia High, and the Bearcats still, no doubt, remembered the heartbreaking loss in the playoffs last season.

Not a problem for the Blues.

“Everything was just going our way for us,” Michaels said. “We was clicking, we were feeling really comfortable with our passing game going into that game.”

It showed. Richlands took a 10-0 lead after one quarter, a margin that grew to 24-7 at the break, paced by scoring passes of 39 and 15 yards to Zeke Vance, a 1-yard sneak from Michaels and a 20-yard field goal by Alex Bandy.

“Zeke is really quick, he is one of the top wideouts I look for...,” Michaels said. “Zeke knows how to get open, he can get into the open spot and when he get the ball he knows how to work with the ball.”

It was more of the same after the break, with Richlands getting its running game on track with Griffin McCauley finishing with 116 yards.

“McCauley ran the ball really good, he really turned it on the second half,” Michaels said. “We were struggling there running the ball in the first half and then the line started opening up holes and we started executing on the run game better.”

Michaels scored on a 5-yard run and added a 37-yard scoring pass to Landon Lowe.

“He is a big old boy, he is a big hunk of meat running,” said Michaels, on the 6-3, 260-pound sophomore tight end. “He is hard to bring down, he is a good boy. He does what he is told and he just runs the ball really hard.”

That was it for Michaels, who watched from the sidelines when the Blues added one final score in the game.

Michaels is in his second season as quarterback, but first time having been prepared for the role. He was thrust into the role last year due to injury, but his talent and experience has certainly shown for the Blue Tornado.

“He just does a great job, he is a competitor and he is making great decisions,” Mance said. “He is getting the ball where it is supposed to go, he is spreading the ball out, he is not focusing in on one receiver, he is doing a better job of reading the defenses.

“His ability to run the ball and his ability to throw the ball has really opened up things for us offensively.”

It has also helped the Blues move on from an 0-2 start, which included a heartbreaking loss to Union for a second straight season.

“We were ready to flush our heads down the commode there if you watched us after we lost to Union,” Mance said. “You are up 28-7 and we take pride in how we play the fourth quarter and we just ran out of gas and then the kids started playing afraid to lose.

“We showed them on tape and came out and worked hard the next week. We beat a real good Graham team, they have got a lot of talent and they play so hard down there. Lord Botetourt has got a tremendous football team, our kids battled our hearts out, it is the best we have played all year, and then we go to Virginia High.”

That is when Michaels took over, playing a role in five of the Blues’ six touchdowns in the game.

“It don’t matter if I score or my team scores,” Michaels said. “As long as we get it in the end zone and win the game, that is all that matters.”

bwoodson@bdtonline.com

/ Twitter @bdtwoodson.

Player of Week Honorable Mention

Bland County (36-28 loss to Eastern Montgomery): Dylan Jackson, 128 yards, 2 td rush.

Bluefield (55-26 win over Greenbrier East): D.J. Stewart, 11-138, td rush; R.J Bourne, 8-11, 76 yards, 1 td, 2 int pass, 6-75, 2 td rush; Carlos Reed, 6-52 rush, 3-15 catch; Jordan Masterson, int return for td, 1-14 catch.

Giles (55-25 win over Graham): Brian Mann, 197 yards, 3 td rush; Brett Whitlow, 168 yards, 2 td rush.

Graham (55-25 loss to Giles): Ben Meade, 8-17, 187 yards, 3 td pass; DeQuan Booker, 3 td receptions.

Grundy (50-0 loss to Haysi): Ethan Duty, 22-50 rush; Jacob McNutt, 8-49 rush.

Haysi (50-0 win over Grundy): Jalen Sykes, 3 td pass, 1 td rush; Tristan Yates, 6-94, 1 td rush, 8 tackles.

Honaker (53-7 win over Twin Valley): Austin Smith, 113 yards, 2 td rush, 1 td kick return; Casey Dye, 97 yards, 2 td rush, 1 td pass; Ben Ratliff, 9 tackles.

Hurley (31-0 win over Craig County): Tray Oliver, 17-180, 2 td rush; Brady Justice, 13-102, 1 td rush; Craig Stacy, 8 tackles; Josh Mullins, 7 solo tackles, int.

James Monroe (31-21 loss to Wyoming East): Reed McNeer, 107, 2 td, int pass, 5-30 rush.

Montcalm (62-0 loss to Auburn): Dustin Williams, 42 yards pass.

Narrows (36-21 loss to Rural Retreat): Cole Blaker, 155 yards, 2 td pass; Jackson Blankenship, 79 yards, 1 td pass; Kyle Hall, 4 catches, 1 td receiving; Landon Neal, 2 receptions, 91 yards, 2 td receiving.

PikeView (55-14 loss to Shady Spring): Daniel Brown, 15-49 rush; Ty Hoston, 6-46 rush.

Princeton (47-21 loss to Spring Valley): Jay Palmer, 24-105, 2 td rush, 1 td pass.

Richlands (45-7 win over Virginia High): Griffin McCauley, 119-116 rushing; Zeke Vance, 2 td catches; Landon Lowe, 2 catches, 60 yards, 1 td receiving.

Tazewell (28-20 loss to George Wythe: Nick Blankenship, 25-124, td rush; Malik Davis, 152 yards, 1 td pass.

Wyoming East (31-21 win over James Monroe: Nik Walker, 34-219 , 1 td rush; Jonathon Culicerto, 135 yards, 2 td rush.

2014 Winners

Week 1: Corey Coppola, Bluefield

Week 2: Malik Davis, Tazewell

Week 3: Nick Blankenship, Tazewell

Week 4: Cody Howie, River View

Week 5: River Michaels, Richlands