(Photography courtesy Tina Quesenberry)

Floyd…With both teams coming into the contest undefeated, one team was going to come out with a loss. Unfortunately for the Fort Chiswell Pioneers, it was them. Two big plays by Floyd County Buffaloes proved to be the difference as they defeated the Pioneers 21-14 in the Buffaloes homecoming game.

Playing for a perfect evening for high school football, Fort Chiswell moved up and down the field, especially in the first half as they totaled 189 yards to Floyd’s 63 but would lead only 6-0 going into intermission. That score occurred on the first play of the second quarter as Anthony Morris caught a 67-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brody Crockett.

With the second half kickoff, Floyd County’s Kaleb Turner fielded the kickoff at the 10, made a move to his left and raced down the Fort Chiswell sideline untouched for a 90-yard kick off return. Gonzalo Lopez split the uprights and Floyd had their first lead of the game, 7-6.

The Pioneers would recapture the lead on their next possession as Tyler Jakubiak would bull his way in from one yard out. Aaron Crawford would catch a pass from Crockett for the two-point conversion to put the Pioneers up 14-7.

The Buffaloes (4-0) would strike back as Jarrett Agee took a handoff and busted up the middle on a nine-yard touchdown run. Lopez’s point after would tie the score at 14 with 5:20 remaining in the game. The Pioneers (3-1) then on second down would throw a pass that was intercepted by the Buffaloes’ Trevan Via. He would return it to the Fort Chiswell 23-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Ian Bary rolled to his left, turned up field and raced 20 yards for the go-ahead score. Lopez point after made it 21-14 with 3 minutes remaining.

The Pioneers would start the drive at their own 35, but on fourth down, the ball fell incomplete and Floyd had won their homecoming game. “I told the team coming into tonight’s game that the team making the fewest mistakes will win,” said a dejected head coach Todd Tiller of the Fort Chiswell Pioneers. “We played hard, but we just made a couple of costly mistakes. Floyd is a good defensive ball club. They’re well coached.” Coach then added, “We moved the ball offensively, especially in the first half, and we should’ve had more than just six points on the scoreboard. It seemed like we just drivethe ball but stall out.”

The Pioneers will have a bye-week before they return home September 29 against Auburn.

FC – 0 6 0 8 – 14

Floyd – 0 0 7 14 – 21

FC – Rushing – Jakubiak 7 – 20, Bailey 20 – 103, Brown 7 -46, Morgan 6 – 27

Floyd – Rushing – Yates 19 – 38, Bary 12 – 90, Agee 10 – 31, Webb 1 – 4, Landreth 1 – 1

FC – Passing – Crockett 1 – 5 – 0 – 1 – 74

Bailey – 1 – 5 – 1 – 0 – 31

Floyd – Passing – Bary – 4 – 12 – 1 – 0 – 53

FC – First downs – 10, Floyd – 13

FC – Receptions – Crawford 1 – 31, Morris 1 – 67, Bailey 1 – 7

Floyd – Receptions – Gallimore 4 – 53