By RODNEY YOUNG
Patriot Publishing
Sometimes going on the road for a game can be tough. It was very tough on the Radford Bobcats Friday night as they traveled to Vinton to take on the Class 3 William Byrd Terriers.
Byrd throttled the Bobcats for a 35-7 win. Byrd’s two running backs, Jamez Toler and Gray Mathews combined for 291 rushing yards and three touchdowns, while their defense limited Radford’s offense.
William Byrd (4-1) and coming off a loss to Bassett, got on the scoreboard with 5:28 showing in the opening quarter.
Toler took the handoff and ran to paydirt from 21 yards out. Tyler Harris would then kick their point after for the 7-0 lead.
They would score on their first play of the second quarter with another Toler run. This one was for 37 yards as the outran the secondary of Radford and Harris’ kick made it 14-0.
Byrd would expand their half-time 14-0 lead to 21-0 with Mathews busting loose for a 46-yard touchdown with 5:41 to go in the third quarter. They would then go up 28-0 with 11:16 to go in the game when QB Cannin Lutz hit Tate Kotz on a three-yard touchdown pass and Harris’ kick.
Radford would start at their own 20 and on their first play, William Byrd blew a coverage as QB Tucker Williams hit a wide open Trenton Carter for an 80-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline. Louis Webster hit the point after to make it 28-7 with 11:03 remaining.
Byrd would get the final score of the game with 4:27 to go. Lutz would hit Stephen Byars on a 23-yard touchdown for a 35-7 score.
“We didn’t execute well enough against a quality football team,” Radford head coach Michael Crist said after the game.
Radford (3-2) was held to 37 rushing yards while their defense surrendered 398 yards of offense to William Byrd, with 340 of those yards coming on the ground.
The Bobcats will be back home Friday, Oct. 10 as they host the Patrick County Cougars. Kickoff is slated for 7 pm.
Radford 0 0 0 7- 7
Wm. Byrd 7 7 7 14- 35
Byrd -Toler 21 run- Harris kick
Byrd- Toler 37 run – Harris kick
Byrd – Mathews 46 run- Harris kick
Byrd- Lutz to Kotz 3 pass- Harris kick
Radford – Williams to Carter 80 pass- Webster kick
Bryd – Lutz to Byars 23 pass – Harris kick
Rushing – Byrd- Jam. Toler 21-153, Mathews 22-138, Kotz 3-57, Jak. Toler 1-0, Gray 1 – minus (-3), Lutz 3 – minus (-9) , Radford- McGuire 8-40, Lewis 2-2, Carter 1-minus (-4), Kimbrough 1 – minus (-1)
Passing – Byrd- Lutz – 6-8- 0 Ints.- 2 TDs- 58 yds., Radford – Sutherland 6-19- 2 Ints.- 0 Tds- 51 yds., Williams – 6-11- 0 Ints.-1 Td.- 121 yds.
Receptions – Byrd – Kotz 2-15, Toler 1-4, Green 1-12, Rozenboom 1-4, Byars 1-23, Radford – Carter 3-100, Hendricks 3-54, Peioleau 1-4, Garner-Rollins 2-3, Brown 2-3, Kimbrough 1-7
First Downs – Byrd – 17, Radford – 9
Fum. / lost – Byrd- 0 / 0, Radford – 1 / 1
Penalties – Byrd – 4- 30 yds., Radford – 5-40 yds
Tot. Yds. – Byrd- 398, Radford – 209
Tot. To’s – Byrd – 0 , Radford 3
Punts / Avg. – Byrd – 5 / 31.8, Radford – 7 / 32.6
