(Photography courtesy of Jim Wheeler)

Radford… Coming off of back-to-back 6-6 seasons, the Bobcats are more experienced and looking for a longer extended playoff run. Head Coach Matthew Saunders is starting his 9th year at Radford. He owns a 55-40 mark and is 64-51 overall as a head coach. He served two years at Castlewood High School, 2001-02. Saunders graduated from Radford High School and Radford University.

The Bobcat staff returns mainly intact except for one. Ken Keister has taken an administrative job and will be replaced by David ” Murdock” Meredith. Meredith comes to Radford from Grayson Co. where he served as line coach and defensive coordinator. He is in charge of the defensive line for the Bobcats. Coach Saunders has Pierson Prioleau as the defensive coordinator along with Josh Woods. Prioleau is in his fourth year and is a former VA Tech Hokie and New Orleans Saints defensive back; he works with the defensive backs. Woods, in his third year, works with the linebackers . Daniel Hill is in his fifth year and works with the outside linebackers while Roger Hollins is starting his third year and works with the offensive line. Greg Ridpath, who works with the quarterbacks, is starting his eighth year on the staff. Darden Freeman is in charge of the running backs and slot players. This is his seventh year with Coach Saunders. Rounding out the staff is Shannon Wohlford and Josh Smith. Wohlford in his second season and works with the slot and quarterbacks as well. Smith, in his second year, works with the wide receivers.
Radford will have 13 seniors, 10 juniors and nine sophomores on their roster. They have recorded 599 victories in the history of football and will be one of only a few schools in the state to have 600 wins with their next victory.

Coach Saunders said, “We will run some option, spread and rocket on offense, and defensively, we will look at going to a 35 scheme. Our secondary ,we play a lot of man-to-man and at times some zone, depending on who we are playing.”
Offensively the ‘Cats return Nick Ridpath , Wes Parcell , Marcus Finley, Heth Grant, Dontae Billings, D.J.Baylor, Parker Griffith and Nathan Dobos. Defensively the “city kitties,” as Coach Saunders likes to call them, returns six on that side of the ball.
Radford will likely start Shawn Reed at center. He’s a 5-6 205 junior. The guards are Brett Armentrout and Wes Parcell. Armentrout, a junior, is 5-10 210 and Parcell is a senior who is 5-10 185. Nick Ridpath and Parker Griffith are the tackles. Ridpath, a senior, is 6-4 245 and is being recruited by Richmond and William and Mary, just to name two. Griffiths is 5-10, 200 and a junior.
Marcus Finley, a 5-10, 155 senior, will start at quarterback. Senior Heth Grant, 5-10, 180, rushed for over 1,200 yards his junior year. He ,is the running back. D.J. Baylor and Dontae Billings are the slots . Baylor a junior, is 5-6, 145 and Billings is 5-3, 135 and is a senior. The wide outs are Nathan Dobos and Blacksburg transfer, Mike Vick. Dobos is 6-4, 160 senior and Vick, also a senior, is 6-2, 190.
Coach Saunders remarked, “We will also use Hunter O’Brien , Nathan Cox and Roman Bonet on the line. Kaleb Smith, Mitch White and Markell Thompson will see action at slot, wide out and at fullback.”
On defense they will start Ridpath, Thompson and Bradley Davis on the line. Davis is 6-3, 220 and a senior. Thompson, a junior, is 5-10 190.
The linebackers will be Grant, Parcell, White. Armentrout and Bonet. The secondary will consist of Finley, Billings and Baylor. White, a junior, is 5-5, 135. Bonet is a sophomore and is 5-10, 185.
Radford will play a very difficult schedule. Six of the teams made the playoffs last year, as well as the last two state champions, Glenvar and Giles. Coach Saunders was asked about the schedule and remarked, “George Wythe is always tough and physical. They will be athletic and talented. Galax is well-coached. Coach Dixon does a great job and returns a lot of players and will have great line play and a running back that will be very good as usual. ”
Coach then said, “Fort Chiswell will have a new coach and will play physical and strong. James River will have a new coach as well, and we will have to see what they will do on offense and defense. Craig Co. is a new team on our schedule, and they like to run the football.”
Coach then talked about his Three Rivers opponents, “Floyd is young and is well-coached. Winfred Beale does a great job for them. They will play hard. Eastern Montgomery will play real hard . They are not the biggest team size-wise but are athletic at the skilled positions. Auburn is going to be tough. Coach Jack Turner has done a great job there. They love to run the football and are very physical and big.”
Coach Saunders then talked about Giles and Glenvar. “Giles runs the single wing and lost some good players, but lot of good players are returning and are very well coached. Glenvar is the defending state champs and are extremely well-coached and return 17 players.”
Radford has made the playoffs the last two seasons finishing 6-6. As usual they can’t afford injuries. That’s the way it is in Group 1A football. They are returning a lot of starters on both sides of the ball. They also have a lot of players going both ways. Coach Saunders said, “We have a good group of young men. I’ve been pleased with unity and work ethic with this group.”
If the Bobcats go 6-6 again this year, they will be disappointed more than likely. The experience and athletic ability of this team is hard to match. If they avoid the injury bug and turnovers, they may be going deep into the playoffs. Offensively they are very talented and if the defense can get some stops, they can be a dangerous team to deal with. A lot of things are in place for them: good coaching staff, good players with speed and athletic ability. Their defense is the key to just how far they will go this season. If the ball bounces the right way, we shall see how far.