Radford comeback falls shorts against Carroll

By Rodney Young

NRVSports.net

Hillsville –  Playing on a crisp and cool night in Hillsville, the home-standing  Carroll Co. Cavaliers defeated the visiting Radford Bobcats 26-23.

Carroll Co. was up 26-7 late in the third quarter but had to hold on for the victory on Senior Night. Carroll Co. scored first after a scoreless first quarter.  Ayden Dickerson capped off a 97-yard, 12-play, and over eight-minute drive by scoring on a four-yard run off right tackle to put them up 6-0, with 11:10 on the clock in the second quarter.

Radford would answer on their next possession as Peyton Dobbins would hit  Tucker Williams on a three- yard slant pass to go up 7-6, with 8:52 left in the first half.

The Cavaliers would intercept a Radford pass at the Bobcat 29. Seven plays and four minutes later Dickerson would bull his way into the endzone and Hunter Gravley run for two-point conversion had the Cavaliers up 14-7 with 22 seconds before intermission.

The second half saw the Cavaliers drive and score on their first possession, going 73 yards on just three plays, capped off by a Hunter Gravley one-yard plunge, but their two-point run was stopped, with them up 20-7.

Carroll Co. would then intercept a Radford pass in their end zone for a touchback.

They would then drive the ball 80 yards on nine plays that took over six minutes off the clock. Colton Gravley, the Cavalier quarterback, would sneak in from one yard, but their two-point run was stopped short. They had taken a 26-7 lead over the Bobcats, as they were dominating the game.

Radford wouldn’t quit as they scored with just 14 seconds left in the third, with Dobbins tumbling into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. Dobbins would then hit Trenton Carter over the middle of the end zone for two points, cutting their deficit to 26-15.

The Bobcats would recover a fumble, and Colten Garner-Rollins would pick up the loose pigskin and rumble for 59 yards and be tackled at the Cavalier 11.  Dobbins on the first play would go right up the middle for an 11-yard touchdown run with 4:29 remaining in the contest. Garner- Rollins would take the handoff and roll to his right and into the end zone for a two-point conversion to make the score 26-23.

Carroll Co. would down the kickoff at their 36. They would pick up a first down with 2:45 to go on a fourth-and-one. They would then face a fourth-and-two at the Radford 45 and again would get the first down to ice the game.

Radford  ( 6-2, 3-1)had their opportunities, as on their opening possession of the game saw them drive to the Cavalier one-yard line, with a first-and-goal. They would try to run on three straight plays and were faced with fourth and goal at the one-yard line.  On the fourth down, the Cavaliers would throw Garner-Rollins for a two-yard loss and took over on downs. They proceeded to drive the ball 97 yards, which took over eight minutes off the clock, getting the opening score of the game.

Carroll Co. head coach Seth Greer would say, “I’m so proud of this group of guys. We beat a very good team. They are explosive on offense, and we wanted to control the ball. Our o-line did a heck of a job, and our backs did too.” He then remarked, saying, “ This group just keeps playing, and we want to wear people down.” He then said, “ Coming into the game, we had rushed for 3100 yards and been averaging over 400 yards per game.”

 

Radford head coach Michael Crist said, “ We had our opportunities. We had first and goal at one yardline and didn’t punch the ball in for a score.” Coach then said, “ I thought if we could have stopped them there on a couple of fourth downs late, we could still win the game. We made mistakes, and they’re too good to make mistakes against.”

This is the first time in over 50 years Carroll Co. has beaten Radford back-to-back. The Cavaliers improved to 8-0, 4-0 in district play and now rest in first place in the Three Rivers District. The Cavaliers won two games for three straight years, 2021-2023.  They had only one winning season since 2010, but now are undefeated for the 2026 season.  They rushed for 366 yards on  57 rushes.

Neither team punted.  Carroll Co. got 116 yards and a touchdown from Hunter Gravley, and 110 yards and two touchdowns from Ayden Dickerson. Colton Gravley had a touchdown and 88 yards.

Dobbins rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw for 148 yards. Tucker Williams caught four passes for 55 yards and a score.

Radford will be home next Friday to take on the Floyd Co. Buffaloes, with kickoff scheduled for 7 pm.

 

Radford      0  7  8  8 – 23

Carroll Co. 0 14 12 0-  26

 

Rushing – Radford – Dobbins 9-80, Garner-Rollins 3-4, Dehart-Lewis 2-0. VCarroll Co. –  H. Gravley 13-116, Dickerson 18-110, C. Gravley 12-88, Dalton 9-26, Crotts 4-15, Ketterer 2-11

 

Passing – Radford -Dobbins 11-14-2 Ints.1 TD- 148 yds.  Carroll Co.C. Gravley 0-0-0 Ints.  -0- Tds.  0 yds.

 

Receptions- Radford – Williams 4-55, Garner-Rollins 3-30, Carter 3-59, Blaney 1-4, Carroll Co. -None

 

First Downs- Radford 10, Carroll Co. 19

Fumbles lost – Radford 0 -0, Carroll Co. 2-2

Total Yds. – Radford 232, Carroll Co. 366

 

Penalties – Radford – 8-65 yds., Carroll Co. 5-40

Total TOs– Radford 2, Carroll Co. 2

Punts- Avg. – Radford 0-0, Carroll Co. 0-0