Riner…Even before the crowd was seated, Radford’s sophomore Chris Carter fielded the Auburn opening kickoff at his own 14-yard line. He went right toward the Radford sideline. He then turned up-field and raced 86 yards untouched to score. Freshman Connor Lytton’s point after made it 7-0 Radford with just 11 seconds into the game. Radford went on to win the benefit game 20-7 over the Auburn Eagles.
Radford would score again in the first quarter as sophomore Justice Marshall took a delayed handoff and romped into the end zone from 22 yards out. Lytton’s PAT with 2:43 remaining in the opening quarter brought the score to 14-0. Radford would score again with 2:56 before halftime on a Dale Stanley two yard plunge, but the point after snap was fumbled as took a lead into halftime 20-0.
The second half saw the Bobcats use every player that was dressed as their starters had limited Auburn to only 44 total yards in the first half and only two first downs.
Radford head coach Matthew Saunders said, “I thought we played well the first half especially on defense. We lost some intensity in the second half as we subbed everybody in. Our subs lost some concentration, and we got a little sloppy.” He then added, “We need to improve offensively. I thought Marshall and Carter performed well offensively. I’m proud of how our defensive line performed, and I thought our linebackers Justice Marshall, Dale Stanley and Elijah Duncan played well.”
Unofficially, Stanley and Marshall had 13 tackles each. Marshall rushed four times for 45 yards to go along with his touchdown. Freshman PJ Prioleau finished with 33 yards on 5 carries. Carter caught one pass for eight yards, rushed for eight yards on three carries to go with his 86 yard kickoff return. Elijah Duncan completed two passes for 13 yards and rushed for 26 yards.
Auburn got their only score with just 4:37 remaining as Payson Kelley scored on a 32 yard run. He finished the game with 34 yards on seven rushes. Carter Brockman carried the ball seven times for 26.
Radford will open their regular season this coming Friday at home versus the Maroons of George Wythe. Kickoff is at 7 pm at Bobcat Stadium.