Saturday, October 15, 2005
Radford gets the best of Floyd
After falling behind early, the Bobcats take control of the Three Rivers tilt.
varsity.roanoke.com
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FLOYD -- Radford running back Ben Chandler understands the importance of keeping the football firmly tucked under his arm.
If he didn't, the Bobcats' 23-7 victory over Floyd County on Friday night would have been much more in question.
"Sometimes I just lose focus," Chandler said, "but that's the big thing I focus on before a game -- holding onto the ball and looking for my blocks."
Three River District play opened for both teams with a flurry of loose footballs. The Bobcats (3-3, 1-0) dribbled the ball away three times, but recovered twice. The Buffaloes (1-5, 0-1) gave up three of four fumbles in addition to their two interceptions.
"There was some really hard hitting tonight," Radford coach Norman Lineburg said of the turnovers.
Floyd came out loaded for cat, sending Radford three and out, then driving 61 yards in 11 plays to end its opening possession in a 1-yard Mike Davis keeper.
"For the most part, they ran it down our throat," Lineburg said. "They were very well-prepared. You've got to remember, we played on Monday, so we had only one day to prepare. ... They had us back on our heels; they did some things differently. ... We were expecting a little more option play and they just came right at us."
The decision to launch a full frontal assault on the ground may have had something to do with the Floyd County quarterback woes.
"That's basically our third-string guy," Floyd coach Winifred Beale said of Davis. "Matt Browning got hurt at Christiansburg, our second-string guy got hurt in practice. Davis is really a flanker."
After the touchdown, Friday got a lot gloomier for Davis. His seven carries netted only 30 yards and the passing game was an abysmal of 1-of-3 with two interceptions. The one completion, a well-placed 12-yard gain to Ryan Browning on the right sideline, immediately popped out of Browning's arms and was covered up by shifty junior linebacker Nathan Viers.
With Radford up 16-7 in the fourth quarter, Viers snagged a Davis pass outright, establishing that the game was firmly under Bobcat control. Three plays later, Chandler snaked across the field for a 38-yard touchdown run with 5:51 left in the game.
"We were really frightened up until he had that sensational run," Lineburg said. "He was just shaking off tackles."
"We knew he could do it if he got the blocks," lineman Elliott Horton said. "We made adjustments at halftime to try to make the holes bigger. If we can make the holes, we know he's going to hit it and he's going to hit it hard."
Chandler ran for 106 yards and two TDs on 19 carries.
Radford 7 9 0 7--23
Floyd County 7 0 0 0--7
FC -- Davis 1 run (Gelpi kick)
R -- Chandler 1 run (Gillespie kick)
R -- Holbrook 16 run (kick failed)
R -- Gillespie 26 FG
R -- Chandler 38 run (Gillespie kick)
Rad FC
First downs 15 12
Yards rushing 235 186
Passes C-A-I 5-9-0 1-3-2
Yards passing 49 12
Penalties-yards 6-32 4-33
Fumbles-lost 3-1 4-3
Punts-average 4-22.5 2-22
Individual statistics
RUSHING -- Radford, Chandler 20-190, Holbrook 9-14, Douglas 8-10, Gillespie 4-21; Floyd County, Bolt 7-29, Mathis 19-106, Davis 7-30, Webster 1-5, Moles 3-16.
PASSING -- Radford, Holbrook 5-9-0 49; Floyd County, Davis 1-3-2 12.
RECEIVING -- Radford, Douglas 3-16, Chandler 1-27, Webb 1-6. Floyd County, Browning 1-12.
