Auburn, the three-time defending state champions, upended the George Wythe Maroons in five sets 18-25, 27-25, 25-20, 23-25 and 16-14 to advance to the regional final. Radford girls won their match against Northwood in three sets, 25-19, 25-20 and 25-23 to face off against Auburn in the final. Auburn is now 26-0 on the season and Radford improved to 20-5, Both teams won their matches that were held at Virginia High School in Bristol,Va. Both squads are assured berths to play in the state tournament next week. This will be the fourth time this year the two squads will have met. The match will be played Saturday night at Eastern Montgomery High School at 7pm.
Month: November 2015
Bland Co. Bears to lose two players vs PH-Glade Spring
The Bland Co. Bears will be playing at Patrick Henry-Glade Spring High School Friday night and will not be at full strength. Two Bear football players will be suspended due to an alleged horse-playing incident that took place after practice Tuesday at the Bears’ field house. The Bears (7-3) and PH-Glade Spring (8-2) face off Friday night in the opening round of the VHSL playoffs.
Radford High School names new head baseball coach
The Radford Bobcats have named Greg Ridpath as their new baseball coach for the upcoming season. Coach Ridpath has been an assistant for the last six years for the Bobcats. Radford made it to the state final four last year under then head coach Darden Freeman. Freeman is now an assistant principal at Radford High School.
Coach Ridpath said, “We lost a lot of talented seniors last year, but I believe we have some good young kids coming back and up from the junior varsity. We will depend on some freshmen and sophomores.” He has has been the JV head man for three years. Coach has been first base and outfield coach the last three years under Freeman. Coach Ridpath willl have David “Murdock” Meredith on his staff as well as Bill Landes, who’s been around the Bobcat baseball program for over 20 years. Drew Cox will be an assistant for Ridpath. He more than likely will be in charge of the junior varsity. Coach Ridpath remarked, “We will be young, athletic and will play some small ball. I believe we will be competitive in Single A.”
Ridpath was an all-district outfielder in his days of playing for Radford under then head coach Buddy Shull.
Fort Chiswell baseball player signs to go to Concord
Max Meadows.. The Fort Chiswell Pioneers baseball player Bryson Booher has signed to play baseball at Concord (WV) University. Bryson’s parents Brett and Cindy, along with his sister Caroline were all in attendance for the joyful occasion. Bryson, who’s a pitcher for the Pioneers, will also be pitching for Concord.
When asked why Concord, Bryson commented, “It’s a rural, school kind of like here at Fort Chiswell; the coaches have been very easy to talk to. It’s a very pretty area.” Bryson was then asked, “Why sign now?” He said, “It takes a lot of pressure off for the upcoming season here at Fort Chiswell.” He was then asked about his parents and head coach Derrick Jackson at Fort Chiswell. “My parents have been my number one supporters. We probably traveled over 5,000 miles to play baseball. Coach Jackson is the best. He’s always been there for me, and he’s also a friend as well as my coach.” Bryson also plays under Jackson’s coaching during the basketball season.
Coach Jackson remarked, “Bryson is not only a great player but also a great worker. He works so hard in the off-season to become better. He has a great work ethic and he just gets better and better. He won, I think, 10 games this past year for us and finished up hitting .525 for the year. I’m very proud of him . We came within a game for the state playoffs with the help of him and other returnees. We hope we can continue the success this upcoming year.” Coach added by saying, “Bryson played for a travel team called the Richmond Braves and it’s tough baseball. A lot of the kids on that team will sign with universities to play baseball. Concord is a Division 2 University in baseball and has a very fine baseball tradition. They play a tough schedule.”
Second Row: Left to right: Jerrad Blevins, Derrick Jackson, Josh Wingate and Jeff Molinary (Athletic Director).
Concord is under the direction of head coach Kevin Garrett. One of his assistants, Devin Smith, the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, was the lead man for Bryson to Concord.
Photography courtesy of Tina Quesenberry
Radford to open state playoffs against Twin Valley
Radford… The Radford Bobcats will open their football state playoffs this Friday as they play host to Twin Valley. Radford will come into the game supporting a 7-3 mark. They are averaging 40 points per game, while allowing 20. Their three losses where all to group 2A schools, James River, Giles and defending State Champions Glenvar. Those three teams have a combined record of 27-3.
The Twin Valley Panthers will come to Radford with a 6-4 record. They are coached by Tommy Crigger and are from Pilgrims Knob in Buchanan County. They have defeated Montcalm, WV, South Floyd, Phelps and East Ridge, all of which are in Kentucky. They also have beaten Thomas walker and Rye Cove. Their losses are to Hurley, Honaker, Grundy and Northwood. They are averaging close to 35 points per game and allowing 26.
Twin Valley is led on offense by junior running back Austin Shortridge. He had rushed for over 1,500 yards. Their quarterback is sophomore Tayten Sykes, a sophomore. Their other big weapon is sophomore tight-end Cody Dales. Tyler Keen, Alex Vance and Dalton Stacy all will see action as wide receivers and running backs. Their offensive line is made up all juniors, Austin Harman, Chase Presley, Joseph Keen, Casey Cooper and Stephen Mullins.
The Panthers are led on defense by some of the same guys, Shortridge at linebacker and Dales at end. Stacy leads the secondary at cornerback, with Seth Webb at the other corner. Tyler Keen also helps the secondary with Presley, Joseph Keen and Cooper anchoring the line.
Radford head coach Matthew Saunders remarked, “Twin Valley likes to run the wing T and spread on offense. The Shortridge kid is a very big, powerful-looking running back. He kind of reminds me of Auburn running back Jeremy Nelson. Their quarterback Sykes is very athletic and can pass the football and will run.” Coach then said, “Defensively they will run a 4-4 scheme and will likely walk up their linebackers. They will blitz and come from different places with their four linebackers. Their secondary will play man to man more times than not.”
Radford will come into the contest in fairly good shape health wise. On offense they will go with Marcus Finley at Qb and Heth Grant at running back. Shawn Reed will get to start at center. The guards will be Brett Armentrout and Wes Parcell. The tackles are Nick Ridpath and Roman Bonet. The wide outs will be Dontae Billings, DJ Baylor, Nathan Dobos, with Mitch White and Michael Vick seeing time at slot. Hunter O’Brien, Nathan Cox, Parker Giffiths and Bradley Davis will get some time on the offensive line.
The Bobcats will go with Ridpath and Vick at ends. The tackles will be Davis and Markell Thompson. The linebackers will be Grant, Bonet, Parcell and Dale Stanley. The secondary will consist of Baylor, Billings and Finley. Mitch White, Reed, O’Brien and Griffiths will see some action on defense as well. The Bobcat punter is Finley and Logan Jessie handles the placekicking. Elijah Duncan is the snapper. Michael Hill could see time as the placekicker as well.
Kickoff is slated for 7 pm Friday night at Bobcat Stadium.
Pioneers lose heartbreaker
Photo courtesy Tina Quesenberry
Max Meadows… For eight seniors it was their last night for a chance to win a game. They fought and battled but came up one point short as they lost to the Bland Co. Bears 42-41 in a thriller.
Down 34-14 going into the final quarter, the Pioneers didn’t quit. They fought back and, in fact, took the lead with two minute to go 35-34.
Bland (7-3) retook the lead when Brian Arnold took the handoff and went off tackle on a eight-yard touchdown run, and Colton Slaughter ran in for a two-point conversion to put the Bears up 42-35. Once again Fort Chiswell (0-10) fought right back. Quarterback Warren Moore scored on a two-yard run, but a two-point pass fell incomplete with just 30 seconds left in the game.
Moore was 17 of 29 passing for 261 yards and threw three touchdowns. He also rushed for two scores as he carried the ball 18 times for 52 yards. Senior Davin Odum led the Pioneers with 92 yards rushing on 16 carries. Colby Rider had nine receptions for 159 yards and one score.
Isaiah Boyd led Bland with 101 yards on nine rushes. He also caught three passes for 72 yards and a score. Freshman quarterback Joseph Watters completed five passes for 144 yards and threw two touchdowns. Running back Colton Slaughter finned with 34 yards on seven carries but scored two touchdowns and had a two-point conversion.
The game was back and forth in the opening half with Fort Chiswell leading 14-7 after one, but the Bears led 21-14 at halftime. The Bears scored twice in the third to take a seemingly commanding 34-14 lead.
The Pioneers got touchdowns in the early part of the fourth quarter from Warren Moore. Then he connected on passes to Tanner Bailey and senior Lucas Edmonds to take the lead 35-34.
Head Coach Todd Tiller said, “I’m very proud of the way we fought and competed tonight. We could have quit put these kids kept battling. I’m very proud of these eight seniors. They have seen the ups and downs of football in their careers here at Fort Chiswell.” Coach then added, “Bland has a good club. The Watters kid is just a freshman, and he’s a very good athlete.”
Bland will go on into the playoffs next week, and the Pioneers season comes to an end. Their season has been very inconsistent and had more injuries than any team should have to endure. They played their 10 games with 10 different starting offensive line-ups. Of the 10 teams they faced, all 10, yes, all 10 are in the playoffs. Most of those teams will host a first round game. A very tough schedule along with all the injuries accounts for this rebuilding season under a first year head coach and their third in three seasons. It was also their third different coaching staff in three years. There has to be some consistency somewhere in the future.
Oak Hill wins home opener
The Oak Hill Warriors improved to 2-0 with a convincing 87-41 win over Wesley Christian( 6-1) of Kentucky . Earlier in the day the nations number 1 ranked plaper 6-10 harry Giles committed Duke. The Warriors put six players into double figures scoring. Mario Kegler had 21 points, Ty-Shon Alexander 14, Lindell Wigginton 12, Braxton Key 11,Matt Coleman 10 and Devontae Shuler 10.They hit 12 threes ,while attempting 26 from behind the arc. Oak Hill won their opener over Moravian Prep 88-43 .
Radford drubs Eastern Montgomery
The Radford Bobcats came out fired up and jumped on the Mustangs early and often as they drubbed EasternMontgomery 69-12. Marcus Finley help lead the Bobcats as he went 63 yards ona punt return for a score and he also galloped 66 for and threw a 29 yard pass to Nathan Dobos for a score as well. Nine different Radford players score a touchdown and they limited the Mustangs (0-10) to just 27 yards of offense in the entire first half.
Radford (7-3) had over 400 yards in the game .They had 278 of that rushing the football and passed for 60. They had 102 yards in punt returns and Mike Vick score on a 44 yard fumble recovery ,while Josh Alley picked off a Mustang pass that he returned 48 yards for a score. Finley, Dobos, Vick,Alley, D.J. Baylor, Dontae Billings, Elijah Duncan, Mitch White and Trae Shepherd all scored for them.
Eastern Montgomery was led by Trevor Deweese with a score as well as Joseph Freeman . Freeman was 4 of 10 passing for 52 yards. Deweese carried the ball 13 times for 57 yards.
Radford head coach Matthew Saunders said,” I thought fairly well focused and the kids played hard. We have some weapons and I think we used then pretty good tonight. We jumped on the fast and every one got to play.We have acouple players banged up a little and didn’t have to use them tonight . Hopefully they will be ready for next weeks playoff game.
Radford will host a payoff game next Friday against what looks like, unofficially Twin Valley. That will be official tomorrow( Saturday). Kickoff will be at 7 pm next week at Norman Lineberg Field .
Oak Hill Academy loses top player
The Oak Hill Academy Warriors have lost the nations top player 6’10” Harry Giles. Giles hurt his knee Tuesday night in the first couple minutes as they were opening their basketball season against Moravian Prep. Giles has been diagnosed with a torn acl in his knee and is lost for the season. Giles is down to Kansas,Kentucky,Duke and Wake Forest with an announcement, coming for his college choice Friday November 6 at noon ,to be held at Oak Hill Academy.
Pioneers have one last chance for a” W”
Max Meadows… The Fort Chiswell Pioneers will host the Bland Co. Bears this Friday and will try to get a win in their last game of the season.
The Bears will come into Fort Chiswell with a 6-3 record and are in the Group 1A playoffs that start next week. They are playing for their position in the playoffs and have lots to play for.
Fort Chiswell 0-9 should be loose, in that they are just trying to win a ballgame for first year head coach Todd Tiller.
Bland Co is coached by Harrison Hart. He’s in his 11th season and has a record of 42-69. They like to run the football and have a combo of speed and power in Isaiah Boyd and Dylan Jackson. Their starting quarterback, Alec Taylor, has been hurt, and he’s been replaced by freshman Jacob Watters. He’s 6’3″ and 165 lbs. The Bears have a big line that’s led by senior Dustin Pennington who’s 6’3″ and weighs 300. Sawyer Lambert, a 256 lb. senior, Alex Treadway, another senior coming in at 236 lbs., Zane Cunningham and Garrett Steffey round out their line. They come in at 215 and 240 lbs., respectfully. Coach Hart likes to run the wing T and won’t pass except when they need to.
Pioneers head coach Todd Tiller said, “Bland will run straight at you and will test your manhood. The wing T is what they like to do offensely and either you stop them or they will beat you.”
Coach then added, “Defensively the Bears will run a 5-2 scheme. They like to slant and man up. Their secondary will play man to man. They’re not fancy, but they are a good team and come right at you. We have got to block and tackle just like you are supposed to in football games.”
The Pioneers have been snake bit in that injuries have just completely destroyed team chemistry. Coach Tiller remarked, “This is our 10th game, and it will be our 10th different starting offensive lineup.”
Fort Chiswell will go with Jacob Coake at center, Andrew Stoots and Daniel Edwards at guards. The tackles will consist of Devin Bain and Logan Smith. Warren Moore will be the quarterback, Davin Odum the tailback and Logan Hart the “H” back. Colby Rider gets the start at tight end, with Lucas Edmonds and Noah Widelo. Others that will see action on that side of the ball are Jared Sharp, Zach Grimm, Mitch Armbrister, Jared Stephens and Hunter Parrott.
Defensively the Pioneers will go with Parrott and Rider at ends. Bain, Edwards, Hart and Stephens on the “D” line. Odum and Armbrister will be the linebackers. The secondary will consist of TJ James, Isaiah Ramsey and Lucas Edmonds. Widelo, Logan Smith and Stoots will get into the action as well. The punter will be Ramsey and Tyler Dunford will do the placekicking. It will be the last game for seniors, Lucas Edmonds, Davin Odum, Jared Stephens, Mitch Armbrister, Chance Fink, Daniel Edwards, Devin Shewey and Devin Bain.
Kickoff is slated for 7 pm. Friday night C.F.McKinney Stadium at Fort Chiswell High School.