Saturday, October 17, 2009
Bobcats rally in 4th to defeat Floyd Co.
Kevin Adkins scores the go-ahead TD for Radford and accounts for 115 all-purpose yards.
FLOYD -- It was the sort of encore performance that Radford's football team wanted no part of.
After coughing up a three-touchdown lead in a wrenching loss to George Wythe on Sept. 11th, the Bobcats have been on guard against subsequent fainting spells. That was the case Friday night when visiting Radford surrendered a two-TD lead to Floyd County, but found the gumption to storm back and take control for good in the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats scored 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points to stop the defending Three Rivers District champions 25-14 and take firm control of this season's league title chase.
"We can't die down; we have to keep up the intensity the whole game," Bobcats quarterback Dontae Carter said. "If we do let down, then we're going to have the same results as we did against George Wythe and we can't have that."
Radford (4-3, 2-0) is rolling now, having won four of its last five games as it prepares to invade Glenvar next week. As for last year's VHSL Group A Division 2 runner-up, the Buffaloes (2-5, 1-1) are going in the opposite direction and are in jeopardy of missing the Region C postseason which has been expanded for the first time this year by two teams. Floyd County has lost four of its last five.
"We can't find the consistency we need," Buffaloes coach Winfred Beale said. "They made the big plays and we didn't."
The host team did come up with some plays, particularly in erasing Radford's 12-0 lead with scores in the second and third quarters.
Caz Cantrell, a junior who took over at quarterback for banged-up Matt Hollandsworth, who is done for the season, after the loss to Fort Chiswell on Sept. 25, drove the Buffs 79 yards in nine plays for the go-ahead score by Daniel Bradford, a 2-yard plunge with 7:07 left in the third.
Cantrell went 4-for-5 for 45 yards during the march, three of the completions going to Keifer Titus for gains of 26 yards. Cantrell finished 11-for-30 for 139 yards and an interception. Titus was the primary target with six snags for 74 yards.
The Buffs then went their last four possessions without recording a score.
"We didn't tackle as well as we should have," Radford coach Matthew Saunders said. "But we made the plays when we needed to."
Certainly that was true against Floyd County's running game, rendered a non-factor with a net gain of 45 yards.
Carter ran the show for Radford with 175 yards total offense, including 140 yards on 11-for-20 passing with an interception.
The Bobcats used some trickery for their second TD, a Carter to Brian Thompson back to Carter exchange in advance of a 29-yard heave to the wide-open Sam Mumpower for the score with 9:46 left before the break.
Earlier, Kevin Adkins' 29-yard sprint set up Carter's 1-yard plunge with 7:47 left in the first.
If anything went wrong for Radford it was on special teams. The Bobcats were 1-for-4 on PAT conversions.
Adkins was major actor in the triumph for Radford with 115 all-purpose yards, including 98 rushing. On his 26-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter, he reversed his field on the way to the end zone.
The other big-play guy for Radford was slot back D.J. Palmer, the Christiansburg transfer. A senior, he's settling into Radford's system and had 141 all-purpose yards, including 106 yards on six receptions.
"It's taken me a little while to get my feet on the ground here," he said.
Radford 6 6 0 13--25
Floyd County 0 7 7 0--14
R--Carter 1 run (kick blocked)
R--Mumpower 29 from Carter (pass failed)
FC--Bradford 2 run (Morales kick)
FC--Jones 3 run (Morales kick)
R--Adkins 26 run (run failed)
R--Mumpower 4 run (Goodman kick)
R FC
First downs 18 10
Yards rushing 170 45
Passes C-A-I 11-20-1 11-30-1
Yards passing 138 139
Penalties-yards 8-81 5-40
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Punts-average 3-35.6 5-29.8
Individual statistics
RUSHING -- Radford, Adkins 15-98, Carter 22-35, Palmer 4-35, Mumpower 2-7, Mitchell 2-3, Thompson 1-(-8); Floyd County, Jones 5-20, Harris 7-11, Carr 1-1, Cantrell 7-(-12)
PASSING -- Radford, Carter 11-20-1-140; Floyd County, Cantrell 11-30-1-139
RECEIVING -- Radford, Palmer 6-106, Thompson 4-15, Adkins 1-17; Floyd County, Titus 6-74, Peters 4-47, Bradford 1-18.
