Radford…The George Wythe Maroons scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter that led them to a hard-fought win over the Radford Bobcats, 26-18. Quarterback Deacon Beamer led the Maroons as he completed seven of 17 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 16 times for 77 yards and scored a touchdown.
Radford got on the scoreboard first when freshman PJ Prioleau took a pitch-out around right end and raced 37 yards for a score. Freshman Conner Lytton point after put Radford up 7-0 with 6:48 remaining in the first quarter.
George Wythe would tie the game on their next possession as Beamer would hit Jacquez Younger on a 25-yard pass. Trevor Sharitz would tie the game at 7 with his point after. They would then take the lead with 4:18 before half-time as Beamer ran 7 yards up the middle to pay dirt. Their 2-point conversion run failed.
Radford would then drive down to the Wythe 14-yard line, and Lytton would hit a 31-yard filed goal with just under 30 seconds before half to cut the margin to three, 13-10 at intermission.
The third quarter saw both teams trade punts and go scoreless as the game remained 13-10 going into the fourth quarter. The Maroons would get a 5-yard touchdown run from Isaiah Sawyers. The point after put them up 20-10 with eight minutes to go in the game. That score was set up by a bad snap from center that went over the Bobcat’s punter’s head.
The Maroons would strike again. This time as Teion Brown went in from five yards out. The point after was wide right as the scored stayed 26-10 with 4 minutes remaining.
Radford would strike right back as Chris Carter would take the kick off back 89 yards for an apparent score, but a yellow hankie was thrown way back at the Radford 40-yard line to nullify the score. They would march down the field and eventually score on a 22-yard reception by Carter from Trace Shepherd. Radford would go for two as Prioleau threw a pass to Kam Edwards to cut the Wythe lead to 26-18 with one minute remaining. The Cats would try an onside kick, but Wythe would get the ball to preserve the victory.
Radford finished with 130 yards rushing and 73 yards passing. Prioleau rushed six times for 53 yards. Chris Carter caught four passes for 52 yards and rushed seven times for 23 yards.
Bobcat’s head coach Matthew Saunders remarked, “We made too many mistakes. We’re a young team, and it’s my fault we made those mistakes. We have to clean them up. The guys played hard. I’m proud of how we played as far as playing hard. We lost a couple linebackers to injury, and we lost a couple running backs to injury. It made us have to change personnel.”
Radford was flagged for nine penalties for 92 yards. They lost a fumble, threw an interception, and with their other mistakes, it proved costly in their loss at home.
GW 7 6 0 13 – 26
Radford 7 3 0 8 – 18
GW- 19 first downs, Radford- 10 first downs
GW – 8 penalties for 77 yards; Radford – 9 penalties for 92 yards
GW – 336 total yards; Radford – 203 total yards