Bland County defeats Galax

BEARS OUT-RASSLE MAROON TIDE IN THE MUD
By JERRY SCOTT/Correspondent

Bland County and Galax have turned their annual gridiron meeting into a new sport, at least when they meet in Galax. For the third straight trip that the Bears have endured at the home of the Maroon Tide, mud rasslin’ has been the sport of choice.
On a Friday night when Galax paraded their Homecoming 2008 candidates onto the field at halftime, Bland County found a way to slosh out a 19-8 win in front of a sparse crowd. With a steady rain falling throughout and swirling winds enclosing the field, the two teams fought it out in the middle of the field, the beautiful grass that covered the field turned into a sea of mud by the time the final horn sounded.
Bears’ quarterback Josh Shrader slipped and slid his way to 96 yards on 22 carries and scored twice for the Bears, now 2-0 in the MED and sporting a program-best ever 7-1 overall mark. His two touchdowns gave him 14 for the season, one shy of the single season record held by Casey Elliott (2001) and Thomas Willis (2006).
“That’s great,” Bears’ coach Harris Hart said when informed of those two tidbits. “It’s a testament to these kids, how hard they’ve worked. They’re just a great group of kids.”
Coupled with the win was Fort Chiswell’s 25-6 triumph over Grayson County that also leaves the Pioneers at 2-0 in the MED. Bland County and Fort Chiswell meet this coming Friday in Bastian with the loser seeing their hopes for an outright MED championship all but dashed.
Korey Kennedy added 78 yards on 17 carries for the Bears, whose 244 yards rushing was the bulk of their 252 total yards. Unable to pass due to the weather, Shrader hit one of two passes, his 8-yard completion to Dylan Kidd accounting for all of Bland County passing yards. The Bears fumbled 10 times in the game, losing three but still managing to keep their year-to-date turnover margin at plus-five.
“Regardless of the weather conditions, our young men came ready to play tonight,” Hart stated. “They played hard, the defense played great considering. And give Galax credit. They always play us tough.”
The two teams battled the elements to a scoreless tie in the first half. The Bears did manage to drive to the Galax 17-yard line of their second possession of the game only to fumble the ball away at the 14.
Bears’ punter Nick Leighton twice pinned Galax (1-2, 2-6) deep in its own territory with punts of 56 and 57 yards. Bland County had a possession reach the Galax 28 late in the second quarter before losing the ball on downs and the Maroon Tide only crossed midfield once the entire first half, that on the game’s opening possession before punting from the Bland County 45.
Bland County got on the board early in the third quarter, taking a 6-0 lead with 11:11 remaining in the stanza on a 51-yard scoring run from Shrader. On second down from the BC 49, Shrader literally tip-toed around the right end, catching a couple of key blocks before slopping his way to the end zone. His PAT pass to Kidd failed.
Four plays later, Galax was forced to punt for the sixth time and Kidd couldn’t handle the ball, Galax’s Jacob Fisher recovering for the Maroon Tide at the Bears’ 36. Seven plays later, Galax senior quarterback Tyler Houk hooked up with Jerad Brown for a 28-yard pass play on fourth-and-16 from the 29 to set up Houk’s one-yard scoring run at the 4:56 mark. His conversion run pushed Galax on top 8-6.
“Under bad conditions, Galax ran their offense well at times,” Hart stated. “They certainly ran their defense well, especially in the first half by shutting us down completely.”
On the ensuing possession, Bland County drove to the Maroon Tide 35 before again fumbling the ball away. However, after taking over at its own 20, the Maroon Tide couldn’t overcome 25 yards in penalties and wound up punting from its own 16.
The Bears answered with a drive of 40 yards in seven plays, capitalizing on another 15 yards in penalties by Galax, before Korey Kennedy’s ninth touchdown of the campaign on a three-yard run made it 12-8 with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter.
Kidd atoned for his fumble by taking one away from Galax on the ensuing kickoff. Fisher fielded the ball at the Maroon Tide 32 but lost the handle at the 38, Kidd recovering to set up Bland County’s third and final touchdown.
“That was certainly the turning point in the game,” Hart stated. “By that time we had retaken the lead and were able to drive down and score again. At that point, we had taken over the game by controlling the line of scrimmage.”
Staying with the run, the Bears needed eight plays to reach paydirt, twice keeping possession by recovering their own fumbles before Shrader scored on third-and-nine from the Galax 14 at the 3:34 mark. Leighton’s PAT kick made it 19-8.
“Our offensive line came alive in the second half,” noted Hart. “They really dominated the line of scrimmage. Defensively, we played good too all game with a breakdown in just one or two plays.”
Facing a two-possession game, Houk threw incomplete on the first three plays of Galax’s next possession before connecting with junior Bryan Martin for a 12-yard gain on fourth down at its own 45. Given new life, albeit briefly, Houk’s pass on second down from the Bears’ 43 was intercepted by Blaine Fisher with 2:44 to play.
Galax was able to accumulate only 122 yards of total offense. Houk managed just 31 yards rushing on 20 carries and freshman fullback Jordan Vaughan netted 29 yards on six carries. Houk hit four of 12 passes for 50 yards with Brown making two catches for 40 yards.
Defensively for Bland County, Kyle Kennedy was the leader on tackles with seven solo takedowns and six assists. Shrader finished with two solos and four assists with Fisher, Kidd, and Jacob Lambert getting turnovers.
Fort Chiswell now comes to Bastian Friday night with the MED marbles on the line. Hart, however, doesn’t see this game any more important than the others.
“At this point in the season, every Friday is important,” Hart stated. “As for Fort Chiswell, you know, Chris Rodriquez [running back] is a tremendous athlete but he’s got good people around him, too. We’re going to have to look at some film to see what we need to do. We can’t prepare just to stop him. They’ve got other good athletes we will have to prepare for as well. All of the kids on both of these teams know what’s on the line.”

Bland County 0 0 6 13—19
Galax 0 0 8 0—8

SCORING—
Third quarter:
BC—Shrader 51 run (pass failed) 11:11
G—Houk 1 run (Houk run) 4:56
Fourth quarter:
BC—Ko. Kennedy 3 run (run failed) 8:02
BC—Shrader 14 run (Leighton kick) 3:34

TEAM STATISTICS—
BC Gx
First downs 10 6
Rushes/yds 55/244 30/72
Comp/Att/Int 1/2/0 4/12/1
Passing yds 8 50
Returns/yds 7/25 5/41
Penalties/yds 5/35 10/75
Fumbles/lost 10/3 4/2
Punts/avg yds 3/45.7 7/30.7

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS—
Rushing:
Bland County—Shrader 22/96, Ko. Kennedy 17/78, Ky. Kennedy 11/49, Lambert 4/16, Kidd 1/5. Galax—
Houk 20/31, Vaughan 6/29, Mazon 3/11, Anderson 1/1.
Passing:
Bland County—Shrader 1/2/0, 8 yds. Galax—Houk 7/12/1. 50 yds.
Receiving:
Bland County—Kidd 1/8. Galax—J. Brown 2/40, Martin 1/12, Mazon 1/-2.
Returns:
Bland County—Kidd 5/21, Blai. Fisher 1/ 4, Kr. Kennedy 1/0. Galax—Fisher 2/15 (with 5-yard fumble advance by Anderson), Martin 1/12, Houk 2/9.