Month: September 2015

Games Changes

Due to inclement weather for the Friday ( Oct.2)there is some game changes. First the Pulaski Co.Cougars will play Patrick Henry at Kenneth J.Dobson Stadium Thursday night Oct.1. Kickoff is at 7. Blacksburg’s game versus Hidden Valley has been moved to Hidden Valley( Bogle Field) at 7 pm Thurs.( Oct.1). The Carroll Co versus Salem game has been moved to Salem. Kickoff is still Friday at 7pm. Wm.Byrd at Staunton River has been moved to Thursday Oct. 1 at 7. Alleghany at Northside also will be Thursday, Oct.1 at 7. Probably more will change,so stay tuned….

Blacksburg Bruins looking for new baseball coach

The Blacksburg Bruins are hunting for a new baseball head coach, as they have informed former head coach Danny Shouse they are going in a different direction. Coach Shouse was helping with this springs schedule and was told his services were no longer needed. Blacksburg under Coach Shouse the last three years were 48-20. They won a district title , and won the Jefferson Forest tournament the last two seasons. They made the playoffs all three years with Coach Shouse at the helm. They also beat a 20-1 Western Albemarle team in the playoffs and have had an average of 16 wins versus just 6 losses for the three seasons.

Coach Shouse said,” I wish the kids all the best, They are a good group.” He was then ask about the dismissing and he replied.”I don’t know really. They want to go in a different direction , is all I know” . Shouse was then ask about his coaching future and he remarked,” I may be done. ” Coach Shouse has been an assistant at Pulaski Co and then was head coach of Eastern Montgomery for one season. He then was hired at Blacksburg and turned that program into a contender and a highly competitive team in his three years.

Hopefully he will want and get another opportunity to either, to be a head coach or be an assistant. He has lot of baseball knowledge ,to not to be on the “diamond” again,teaching.

Fort Chiswell hosts James River for homecoming

Max Meadows… The Pioneers coming off a 35-0 defeat, which was the second time in four games they’ve been shut out, will take the Knights Friday night.

James River (3-2) has won three in a row after starting the season 0-2. They defeated Radford this past Friday 34-22. They have wins over Floyd Co. and well as Chatham. Their two losses were to Lord Botetourt 24-14 and defending state champions, Glenvar, 20-9.

Fort Chiswell head coach Todd Tiller said, ” James River looks to be athletic and quick. They are under a new coach (Shawn Phillips) and play differently than they do last year. They play out of the pistol formation. Will use double wing and jet sweep. They also will throw the football. ” Coach then added,” Harman (Luke) and Schulz (Jack) both are interchangeable at quarterback and running back. The Wright kid (Sean) is a hard runner that picks up tough yards. They will use three or four different receivers to throw to. ”

Defensively the Knights only gave up one score to Radford in the second half last week. Coach Tiller remarked,” They will play a 50 scheme. Send linebackers at different times at different positions. They are diverse on defense as well as offensively.

The Pioneers (0-4) are averaging just 11.5 points a game, while they are giving up 43.8 points a game. Their big downfall has been they haven’t had the same offensive line to start a game. They have had very little ground game and have had to depend on throwing the football. Last Friday at Parry McCluer the Pioneers got four, five players back from injury. They may get two more back this Friday. That still leaves three or four on the injury list. Offense is putting pressure on their defense by not being able to control the ball and with the injuries, it’s the ingredients for no victories after four games. Last year the Pioneers beat the Knights 24-21 in Buchanan. Start of the game is slated for 7 pm at Fort Chiswell High School.

 

Pioneers shut out by Parry McCluer

Buena Vista… On a rainy night in Buena Vista, it seemed as if the rain was falling harder on the Fort Chiswell sideline. The Fighting Blues of Parry McCluer throttled the Pioneers 35-0.

Running backs K.J. Cook, Marcellus Dawson and quarterback Cameron Wheeler led the Blues. Cook, a junior, scored twice as did senior Qb Wheeler. Sophomore Dawson scored the other touchdown as the Blues improved to 4-1 and Fort Chiswell is now 0-4.

The first play of the game set the tone for the night as Cook took the handoff and went off tackle and down the sideline on a 60 yard jaunt to pay dirt and Mike Perdue kick made it 7-0 before people could sit down in the stands.

The Pioneers as been the problem this season so far have had trouble rushing the football. They would have the same trouble in this game as they rushed for less than 50 yards in the game.

Fort Chiswell head coach Todd Tiller remarked, ” We can’t run the football. We did move the ball tonight from the twenty to the twenty, mostly by passing. We would then shoot ourselves in the foot. We would either commit a turnover or a penalty.” Coach then remarked,” This was our third or fourth different offensive line tonight that we have used. I thought Moore (Warren) quarterback and Colby (Rider) played well for us.”

Quarterback Warren Moore was 24 of 41 passing for 215 yards and Colby Rider, playing his first game of the year do to a bad ankle injury had 11 receptions for 89 yards. Logan Hart also got into his first regular season action as well. Five players are still out do to various injuries.

Wheeler, Dawson and Cook accounted for over 350 yards of offense for Parry McCluer. It was a happy homecoming for them. Those three controlled the game and clock for the Fighting Blues.

Fort Chiswell must get back to work Monday at practice and keep working, improving and getting healthier. The season is almost half over and they haven’t had their full use of their starting lineup, yet.

The Pioneers will be back home this Friday, as they will host the Knights of James River. Game time is slated for 7 pm.

 

 

Radford upset by James River

Buchanan.. The James River Knights used a ball controlling second half to defeat the Bobcats 34-22 . It was The Knights homecoming in a game played in a light rain. The Knights ( 3-2) were led by running back Sean Wright who rushed the ball 22 times for 133 yards and scored a touchdown. Jack Schulz had 16 carries for 38, caught two passes for 48 additional yards. He scored four touchdowns ,with three rushing and one from a pass. Qb Luke Harman threw for one touchdown, as he completed six of 11 passes for 102 yards.

Radford ( 4-1) got three scores from Heth Grant as he had 19 rushes for 147 yards. He also caught five passes for 79 yards. Marcus Finley passed for 169 , completing 14 of 33 passes.

Bobcat head coach Matthew Saunders said,”We didn’t tackle or blocked well tonight and thats on me.I don’t know, may be we needed a game like this. We didn’t play with urgency. Seems we are waiting to make a play. We are athletic but we all are in this together. Some one has to step up and make plays.” We got outplayed and I need to coach better.”

Radford will get back in action come Friday ,when they host the Buffaloes of Floyd. Game time is scheduled for 7 pm.

 

Due to technical problems scoreboard is down

Scores from Friday Sept.25

Blacksburg 40 CarrollCo. 7, Patrick Henry 52 Christiansburg 14, Salem 77 Hidden Valley 14,

Pulaski Co. 25 Cave Spring 7, Staunton River 33 Wm.Fleming 14, Northside 8 Lord Botetourt 7

Alleghany 45 Rockbridge Co. 20 , Glenvar 40 Covington 0, Narrows 49 Craig Co. 12

James River 34 Radford 22, Bland Co. 41 Eastern Montgomery 12,Giles 42 Graham 14

Rural Retreat 44 Tazewell 14, Northwood 26 Chilhowie 13, Marion 24 Holston 0

Auburn 56 Bath Co. 6, PH- Glade Spring 45 John Battle 12, Grayson Co.vs Floyd Co.- ppd till Mon. Sept 28-6:30

 

 

Bobcats explode on the Rockets

Radford… Led by seniors Heth Grant and Marcus Finley the Radford Bobcats shut out the Craig Co. Rockets 54-0. Grant scored four touchdowns, two rushing and caught two passes for two touchdowns. Finley ran in from 48 yards for the Bobcats first touchdown in the game and he also threw a touchdown. The Bobcats used their second and third stringers the entire second half with running clock. Grant finished with 63 yards rushing on five carries. Finley had four rushes for 55. Mitch White had two carries for 23 yards and returned a punt 50 yards for a score. They scored 22 points in the openong quarter and was up 51-0 at intermission. Their only score of the second half was a Michael Hill 33 yard field goal with 3:20 left in the game.

Craig Co. who dressed just 18 players were held to 18 total yards in the game. They were held to minus 11 yards in the first half. Running back Luke Howard had 12 carries for 28 yards to lead the ( 1-3) Rockets.

Radford head coach Matthew Saunders said,” We executed real well the first half. I’ve been on the other side with low numbers ,as far as kids to play. I thought Craig Co. played hard. Its a tough situation.” Coach then added we are working hard on our defense. We had to many penalties tonight and we need more work on some things. It was good to have Finley( Marcus ) back. He makes a difference on the field and Heth ( Grant) is a very good football player.

Radford ( 4-0) will travel next Friday as they go to Buchanan to take on the James River Knights. Kickoff is planned for 7 pm.

 

Craig Co. 0 0 0 0-0

Radford 22 29 0 3-54

Radford’s second half dooms Pioneers

Max Meadows…Radford Bobcats, behind star running back Heth Grant who rushed for 317 yards and five touchdowns, defeated the Fort Chiswell Pioneers 52 -26. Grant had touchdown runs of 63, 62, 29, and a couple of 2-yard runs. He also caught two passes for 25 yards. QB DJ Baylor, subbing for injured started Marcus Finley, completed six of nine passes for 54 yards and one touchdown pass.Radford vs Fort Chiswell

The Pioneers were lead by QB Warren Moore who finished the game completing 24 passes on 37 attempts. He threw three touchdown passes for 213 yards. Tanner Bailey caught six of those passes for two touchdowns and 59 yards. Jared Stevens also scored on a touchdown pass. He totaled three passes for 57 yards. Lucas Edmonds had six receptions, as did Zack Grimm. Edmonds totaled 56 yards, and Grimm had 42 yards.

Radford was up at halftime 15 – 12. Their two scores came from Heth Grants two yard run and a Nathan Dobos 29 yard reception from DJ Baylor.

The Pioneers two scores came from Bailey catching a 20 -yard pass and Stevens and 18 yard pass, both from Moore. Fort Chiswell had more first downs and more total yards at the break than Radford. They had outplayed Radford.

Courtesy Tina Quesenberry
Courtesy Tina Quesenberry

Their second half saw Bailey catch a 12 yard pass with 9:30 showing in the 3rd quarter, and Edmonds catching a two-point conversion to put the Pioneers up 20 – 15. It would be their last lead of the game.

Radford’s Grant would then take over, as he would score two touchdowns and rush for 132 yards in the third quarter alone. Mitch White would recover a Pioneer fumble and return it 11 yards for a touchdown to put Radford up 38 – 20 with all that happening within just three minutes on the clock.

The Pioneers (0-3) scored their last touchdown of the game with just 58 seconds left in the third quarter as senior Davin Odum run in from eight yards out.

The fourth quarter saw Radford score twice, both of them by Grant. The first one he took snap from center, went off left tackle, broke three tackles, changed directions, and raced down the Radford sideline for a 62-yard jaunt to pay dirt. After a Bobcat interception by Dale Stanley, Grant would take the snap this time and run in from 29 yards out and Logan Jessie’s PAT finished the scoring for a 52 – 26 win. Radford head coach Matthew Saunders said, “Give credit to Fort Chiswell’s head coach, Todd Tiller, and his staff. They outplayed us first half, and they had a good game plan. We didn’t practice well this week, and that’s my fault. We have to get better. Our line has to block much better. In the second half, I thought we did.” Coach then added, “Heth (Grant) is a workhorse for us. He sure was tonight! We decided to ride him the second half. “

Pioneer head coach, Todd Tiller, said, “Radford is a great team and is well coached. We had trouble running the ball tonight against them. And Grant for them, we just couldn’t stop him the second half.” Coach then said, “I told our guys at halftime, ‘We will get a huge dose of Grant’, and we did. He’s a special back, and we couldn’t stop him. I thought Moore (Warren) at QB played excellent. I thought he threw and ran well for us tonight. I’m glad we have an open week coming up. Hopefully we’ll get half our ten hurt players back.”

Pioneers – Bobcats to tangle

Max Meadows… Both teams are coming off emotional games from last week. The Pioneers played their arch-rivals, George Wythe, and lead 14-0 in the opening quarter, but Fort lost 61-20. They lost four players to injuries, of which three went to hospital in an ambulance. They were already missing four players before the game started.

Radford won an emotional game against Galax 33-26 in overtime on Saturday after lightning postponed the game from Friday. The Bobcats were led by a couple of seniors, running back Heth Grant and quarterback Marcus Finley. Grant accounted for seven touchdowns, while Finley threw five touchdown passes and rushed for two more.

Fort Chiswell head coach Todd Tiller had to find players to finish out the George Wythe game after all the Injuries. Coach Tilller remarked, “We are without 10 players or so at the end of the George Wythe game. We will be without at least seven players this Friday. All of them are key players, and we may have to make a couple position changes for this game.”

Coach then said, “Radford will present lots of problems come Friday night. They will run the jet, bubble screen and option. They will and can throw the ball to some talented receivers. Finley and Grant are very good athletes. They have a lot of weapons and will throw the kitchen sink at you.” He then added, “Defensively Radford will use a 3-3 stack and bring pressure. They like to slant and bring linebackers from different positions. They are easily the quickest team we will face all year. A number of their players can take it all the way on you. We need to eliminate their big plays. Coach Tiller finished by saying, “They not only have speed on the offense, they have it on defense as well. They are well coached and probably are the best team we will face.”

The two teams have gone in opposite directions in their first two contests. The Bobcats are 2-0, while the Pioneers are 0-2. Offensively Radford is averaging 44 points a game, and the Pioneers are averaging just 10. Defensively the Cats are giving up 26.5 a game, while the Pioneers are giving up 44 a game.

These two teams played a thriller last year at Radford, with the Pioneers winning 41-40 in two overtimes.

Kick off is slated for 7pm at Fort Chiswell High School.