The Galax Maroon Tide used a balanced attack as they rolled up over 500 yards of offense to defeat the Radford Bobcats 41-21. Galax got 219 rushing yards, and two touchdowns from Blake Brown. Quarterback Gage Cooke threw three touchdown passes for 212 yards as he completed seven of 14 passes.

The game was a see-saw battle in the first half as Galax scored first on a Caxton Vaught 33-yard field goal. Radford would answer as Trace Shepherd would catch a 27-yard touchdown pass from Zane Rupe for a 7-3 lead.

Galax would strike back as Cooke hit Landon Dickson on a 70 yarder for six and the point after put the Maroon Tide up 10-7 on the first play of the second quarter. Radford would come right back and go up 14-10 on a PJ Prioleau 12 yard run off tackle with 10:10 remaining in the first half.

Galax ( 1-1) on their first play from scrimmage on their next possession Cooke hit Matt Lundy on an 81-yard slant pass to go back in front 17-14. The second half saw the Maroon Tide scored twice on Brown runs of 11 and 14 yards. They would then scored again on their third possession of the third quarter as Vaught hit a 23-yard field goal to go up 34-14. They would score with 4:09 left in the game as Cooke hit Kolby Barnes with a 30-yard strike for six more and it was 41-14.

Radford would drive and score as Justice Marshall went around right end for a 10-yard touchdown. ” They made better adjustments than we did in the second half, ” said Radford head coach Matthew Saunders. ” They are a very good football team and it may be Coach Mark Dixon’s best team. The Vaught kid for them does a lot of different things and they are very balanced. You can’t just try to stop their run cause they can pass the football.”

Galax had 258 yards passing and 289 rushing for 547 total yards. Radford finished with 301 total yards.

Galax 3 14 17 7 -41

Radford 7 7 0 7 -21

Galax – rushing- Brown – 23-219 , Vaught 7-61 , Pickett 6-3, Thompson 1-2, Poole 2-2, Cooke 1-2

Radford – rushing – Prioleau 18-55 , Rupe – 9- 0 , Shepherd – 2-6 , Tanner 1-2, Marshall 6-63

Galax – passing – Cooke – 7 of 14 – 1 int.- 3 tds- 212 yds, Pickett 1of 3 – 0 ints.-0 tds- 46 yds

Radford – passing – Rupe- 11 of 24 – 0 ints.- 1 td- 175 yds. , Prioleau 0 for 1 – 0 ints.- 0 tds. – 0 yds.

First Downs – Galax – 21 , Radford – 18

Penalties – Galax – 8 – 65 yds., Radford – 5- 35 yds.