varsity.roanoke.com

Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Radford's William Saunders (15) is tackled by Giles defenders during Friday night's game at Giles High School.

Giles' Justin Goutier breaks a tackle to score the Spartans' first touchdown in Friday night's game against Radford.

PEARISBURG -- When it comes time for Giles to sow new grass on its football field's visiting sideline, the school knows where to send the bill.

It will be addressed to Radford coach Matthew Saunders.

Saunders paced a rut while his team took four quarters to get out of a big one Friday night. The Bobcats overcame a two-touchdown deficit in the second half and scored a rousing 35-28 Three Rivers District victory over the Spartans.

Sophomore quarterback Dontae Carter threw two TD passes in the second half and ran for the go-ahead score on a 6-yard run with 31 seconds to play, allowing Saunders to finally stop four quarters of nervous pacing.

"It's the only way I can try to lose weight, I guess," he said.

Everyone in black and gold invested plenty of sweat equity in the district opener. Radford (5-1, 1-0) never led until Carter's fourth-quarter TD, which came after the Bobcats' defense finally managed to force the Spartans to punt on three straight possessions.

"I thought we could score on them," Saunders said. "I just didn't know if we could stop them."

Giles (4-2, 0-1) mashed Radford early, rushing for 267 yards in the first half as starting tailback Travis Robertson gained 147 yards to key the Spartans to a 21-7 halftime lead.

The Giles lead reached 28-14 with 1:29 left in the third quarter when Cody Journell scored his second touchdown on a 32-yard sprint. Cowbells were jangling from the home stands.

Air horns pierced the night sky. It was just the sort of atmosphere to intimidate a young quarterback except ...

"I love this atmosphere, playing in front of it," said Carter, who completed 15 of 29 passes for 233 yards. "It's pretty good."

So was the sophomore. Rolling out on third down, he found Jon Thompson over the middle. The Group A sprint champion did the rest for a 77-yard TD that cut the deficit to 28-21.

Radford went 53 yards in six plays for the tying score, a 30-yard pass from Carter to Patrick Webb with 2:03 left.

Giles got the ball back at the 22 and Saunders gambled. He called a timeout after Giles' first play, a 1-yard gain.

"I felt like our kids and worked hard and were well-conditioned," Saunders said. "We had the field position right there and I didn't want to waste any time. I was trying to play for a field goal and see what happened."

Meanwhile, Giles was tiring. Journell, who played tailback the entire second half and began showing signs of cramps, shanked a 12-yard punt.

"We've probably got 10, 11 guys going both ways playing a majority of the football game," first-year Giles coach Jeff Williams said. "That's a big part of our football team."

Radford took over at the 26 and used just three plays to take the lead. Two runs by Dre Thompson set up Carter's game-winner.

"He just told us to go out there and play it smart, don't go for the big play," Carter said.

Radford used some trickery early, getting a 52-yard TD run from Webb on a fake reverse and a 7-yard flanker pass from Saunders to Jon Thompson in the first half.

Then, Carter took over.

"He's good," Williams said. "He's just a sophomore and he's scary."

Radford 0 7 14 14 -- 35

Giles 0 21 7 0 -- 28

G -- Goutier 21 run (Journell kick)

G -- Journell 80 run (Journell kick)

R -- P. Webb 52 run (Goodman kick)

G -- Robertson 1 run (Journell kick)

R -- J. Thompson 7 pass from Saunders (Goodman kick)

G -- Journell 32 run (Journell kick)

R -- J. Thompson 77 pass from Carter (Goodman kick)

R -- P. Webb 30 pass from Carter (Goodman kick)

R -- Carter 6 Run (Goodman kick)

R G

First downs 16 16

Yards rushing 23-148 52-384

Passes C-A-I 16-30-0 1-6-1

Yards passing 240 22

Penalties-yards 3-43 5-45

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0

Punts-average 5-36 5-27

Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Radford, Carter 9-53, P.Webb 3-50, D.Thompson 8-43, Saunders 3-2. Giles, Journell 22-167, Robertson 13-147, Goutier 12-69, Bane 4-1, Adkins 1-0.

PASSING -- Radford, Carter 15-29-0-233, Saunders 1-1-0-7. Giles, Robertson 1-1-0-22, Journell 0-5-1-0.

RECEIVING -- Radford, Saunders 6-22, J. Thompson 5-121, R. Webb 2-34, P. Webb 2-34, D. Thompson 1-29. Giles, Bane 1-22.