Bobcats Dominate Alleghany
Bobcats defense dominated all night – on the tackle (#4 Tanner, #10 B Mabry, #65 Ritchey, #51 Perdue, #50 R Mabry) (Elizabeth Kanipe/The Patriot)
By ELIZABETH KANIPE
The Patriot
The Radford Bobcats hit the road for the second week in a row Friday night, this time to take on the Alleghany Mountaineers. They were looking to continue their recent dominance of the Mountaineers.
The Bobcats wasted no time taking the lead. It took two rushing plays before Darius Wesley-Brubeck carried the ball 14 yards off the right side for the game’s first touchdown. Mason Sproule missed the extra point that hit the left upright.
The Mountaineers’ quarterback Ethyn Kimberlin fumbled the ball on their third play from scrimmage which was recovered by Bobcats’ Reece Mabry on the 17-yard line.
Four plays later, Wesley-Brubeck dove in the endzone from the one with 5:51 left in the first quarter. The 2-point conversion failed when Wesley-Brubeck was tackled short of the goal line.
After a couple of defensive holds, the Bobcats took possession on the Mountaneer 49. It took 6 plays to score when Zane Rupe connected with Marcell Baylor for a 10-yard slant pass for the touchdown. Sproule’s extra point was good giving the Bobcats a 19-0 lead.
The Mountaineers took over, but Kimberlin was stripped of the ball on their third play by Baylor and Landen Clark recovered on the 50 yard line.
After long runs by Xavier Cobbs and Rupe and a catch by Tyrel Dobson, Wesley-Brubeck carried the ball to the end zone from the 5-yard line for his third touchdown of the night. Sproule split the uprights to give the Bobcats the 26-0 lead with 2 minutes left in the half.
The Bobcats held Alleghany on the opening drive of the second half and Kamaree Taylor received the punt at the Mountaineer 35, returning it to the 23 where the offense took over.
A pass to Wesley-Brubeck got the ball to first and goal where Cobbs carried the ball off the right side to score from the 9 yard line. Sproule was good on the extra point and the Bobcats led 33-0 with 8:56 left in the third quarter.
On their next possession the Mountaineers were forced to punt. Wesley-Brubeck was able to break through and block the punt. Freshman Max Kanipe was able to scoop up the ball and return it 12 yards for the touchdown. Again, Sproule split the upright giving the Bobcats their final score of the contest.
With the Bobcat reserves in the game the Mountaineers were able to sustain a drive, but that ended when Clark intercepted a Kimberlin pass at the Bobcats 10 yard line to end the drive.
Max Kanipe took over at QB quarterback and was able to get Radford into Mountaineer territory on a long 33-yard run, but the drive stalled at the 21.
Alleghany’s last drive ended when Allen Hamblin intercepted a Kimberlin pass at the Bobcats 20 and was tackled at the 41.
The Bobcats defense was stifling, holding Alleghany to 20 offensive yards in the first half and 89 for the entire game. The offense rolled on the ground gaining 225 yards led by Rupe with 8 carries for 71 yards. Other leading rushers were Prioleau (38), Cobbs (37), Max Kanipe (35) and Wesley-Brubeck (30). Rupe also completed 5 of 13 passes for 55 yards. The leading receiver was Dobson with 2 receptions for 26 yards.
The Bobcats have a busy week of home games ahead, taking on Giles on Monday at 7 p.m. and then Glenvar on Saturday at 4 p.m.
