Radford holds on – beats Martinsville on Senior Night
By RODNEY YOUNG
NRVSPORTS.net
Playing on a mild Friday night, the home-standing Radford Bobcats held on to defeat the Bulldogs of Martinsville 21-14 on Senior Night.
Tied at 14 all, Radford would score with 3:14 to go in the third quarter, as Trenton Carter caught a short pass and then zig-zagged his way enroute for a 67-yard touchdown to take a 21-14 lead and Radford would hold on for the win.
Martinsville had their shot late with 1:19 to go in the game, and marched to the Bobcat 10-yard line with 17.9 seconds. On third down, the Bobcats would tackle running back Kenyon Reid for a loss, and the Bulldogs would call time with 9.2 seconds on the clock. Martinsville then would throw an incomplete pass with just three seconds left, and Radford would take over and hold off the Bulldogs for the hard-earned win.
Radford’s head coach Michael Crist in the Bobcat dressing room said, “We didn’t play the first half aggressively. But give Martinsville credit, they’re a good football team.” He then remarked, “I’m proud of how our team came out and played much better in the second half. This was a tough game, and I thought Martinsville played very hard.”
Radford scored first in the game on their first possession. They would drive 55 yards on eight plays that lasted 4:40, with Tucker Williams capping the drive with a one-yard run up the middle, untouched, and a Luciano Pugliese kick had the Cats up 7-0, with 7:20 on the clock.
Martinsville (5-5) would tie the game on their first play of the second quarter as Camarion Plunkett took the handoff around left end and rolled into the end zone from five yards for the score. Eland Blankenbaker’s point-after made it 7-7.
Radford would stop the Bulldogs on their opening second-half possession and would then drive the ball down to the Martinsville two-yard line. QB Peyton Dobbins then rammed his way in from the two to put the Bobcats up 14-7 with 8:03 left in the third quarter.
Radford would stop the Bulldogs again and would drive to the Bulldog 34. Matt McGuire would then take the handoff and get tackled at the 30, and the ball would get ripped out, and Plunkett picked the ball up and headed down the Bobcat sideline untouched and outraced the Bobcat team on his way for a 71-yard fumble recovery touchdown to tie the game at 14 at the 5:52 mark of the third quarter.
Radford (8-2) would get an answer as quarterback Dobbins hit Trenton Carter on a short five-yard pass, but Carter would cross over the middle of the field, zig-zag his way down the sideline on his way for a 67-yard touchdown to put Radford up 21-14 with 3:14 left in the third quarter.
The Bobcats and Bulldogs would not score in the fourth quarter, and the Bobcats held on for the win. Radford would finish with 237 yards of offense, and Martinsville would have 225 yards.
Coach Crist was asked about the playoffs starting next week, and he said, “We played, I think, well for the most part in the regular season. Next week is the fun part.”
Radford will host a Class 2 Region C playoff game next Friday with their opponent to be either James River, Dan River, or Patrick County. Kickoff is slated for 7 pm.
Radford 7 0 14 0-21
Martinsville 0 7 7 0-14
Rushing– Radford – Dobbins 18-85, McGuire 8-34, Williams 3-11, Carter 1-4, Martinsville – Plunkett 14-74, Martin 8-55, Reid 13-50, Lowe 6-3, France 1 – Minus (-1)
Passing – Radford – Dobbins – 5-13-0 ints.- 1 TD. – 103 yds., Martinsville – Lowe- 6-7 -0Ints.-0 Tds.- 43 yds.
Receptions– Radford – Carter 2-79, Garner -Rollins 2-13, Blaney 1-11, Martinsville – Davis 3-34, Plunkett 2-11, Martin 1 – minus(-2)
First Downs- Radford 11, Martinsville 12
Fumble-lost– Radford 1-1, Martinsville 0-0
Penalties- Radford – 4-43 yds., Martinsville 8-70 yds.
Total Yds. – Radford 237, Martinsville 225
Total TOs – Radford 1, Martinsville 0
Punts – Avg. – Radford 3- 32.6 , Martinsville 2 – 35.0