Blacksburg rallies late to defeat Carroll County

BLACKSBURG - Isaac Johnston delivered touchdown passes on back-to-back offensive plays for Blacksburg in the third quarter, leading the Bruins to a 17-13 win over Carroll County on Friday night.

Johnston finished 13 of 25 passing for 261 yards in Blacksburg's first win of the season. The Bruins were off last week after a devastating loss to Giles County in week one.

"Well, anytime you get a win, it's good," said coach Dave Crist. "Tonight could've gone either way. It seems like we've had two of these in a row.

"This team competed. And Carroll County competed. They competed hard. It's just a tough game for either one of us to have lost."

The Cavaliers jumped on the scoreboard first after Ethan Underwood's 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Carroll County went 89 yards in just six plays on the drive, as quarterback Connor Lundy completed all three of his passes for 66 yards.

Blacksburg - which struggled offensively early on - got a 21-yard field goal from Carson Wise late in the first half to make the score 7-3 at the break.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, Blacksburg kick returner Korbin Hendricks let the ball bounce in front of him and backed away from it - deferring like he would a punt.

Carroll County pounced on the ball, and scored one play later as Lundy hooked up with Duncan Reece - who finished with 94 receiving yards - for a 16-yard touchdown and a 13-3 lead.

On the ensuing drive, Johnston hit 6-foot-6 Kaleb Bohrnstedt deep over the middle on a post route. The quarterback-turned-wide receiver went untouched the rest of the way for a 77-yard touchdown.

Bohrnstedt - who finished with 123 yards on four catches - was given plenty of cushion by Carroll County's defensive backs throughout the night.

"I think they just weren't prepared, since I had never played receiver before," Bohrnstedt said.

After a short Cavalier punt on the ensuing drive gave the Bruins great field position, Johnston hooked up with Malcolm McCoy for a 37-yard touchdown to close out the scoring halfway through the third quarter.

"[Johnston] didn't throw the ball very well in the first half," Crist said. "But, he's like all the rest of the guys. They have learned how to compete. He came back, and competed and made good reads and delivered the ball where it could be caught."

Carroll County 7 0 6 0-13
Blacksburg 0 3 14 0-17

C - Underwood 4 run (Goins kick)

B - Winse 22 FG

C - Reece 17 pass from Lundy (kick failed)

B - Bohrnstedt 77 pass from Johnston (Winse kick)

B - McCoy 37 pass from Johnston (Winse kick)

CA BL

First downs 13 11

Yards rushing 32-126 27-37

Passes C-A-I 12-25-0 13-25-0

Yards passing 185 261

Penalties-yards 7-48 6-48

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0

Punts-average 7-27 6-44

Individual statistics

RUSHING - Carroll County, Blankenship 5-19, Underwood 8-44, Dalton 2-8, Lundy 9-28, Edwards 6-24, Bowmen 1-5, Team 1-(-2). Blacksburg, Hendricks 9-8, Shelton 5-5, Johnston 10-17, Fugate 3-7.

PASSING - Carroll County, Lundy 12-25-0-185. Blacksburg, Johnston 13-25-0-261.

RECEIVING - Carroll County, Bowman 4-50, Reece 4-94, Edwards 1-14, Dalton 1-(-1), Blankenship 1-17, Underwood 1-11. Blacksburg, Bohrnstedt 4-123, McCoy 5-82, Goforth 1-17, Hale 1-15, Hendricks 2-24.

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