Floyd County defeats Fort Chiswell 28-25

By JIM CUNNINGHAM/Staff

The Floyd County Buffaloes barely avoided a major upset by scoring a late touchdown to defeat the Fort Chiswell Pioneers 28-25 in a non-district football game played Friday night at the Fort.
The Pioneers, after falling behind 14-0 in the second quarter, rallied to get back into the game by scoring twice in the first half to cut the Buffalo lead to just 21-13 at halftime.
Fort Chiswell then scored a touchdown in the third quarter and one in the fourth to claim the lead before Floyd County scored the go-ahead TD with only 3:44 left in the game.
The Buffaloes improved to 4-0 on the season with the win while the Pioneers fell to 2-2.
Despite the loss, Fort Chiswell Head Coach Stephen James said he was “extremely proud of our kids’ effort. We put together a great game against a pretty good football team, one of the best in the region…We showed a lot of heart.”
Floyd County quarterback Luke Harris passed for 105 and three touchdowns but was held to far less than the 175 yards rushing he had against George Wythe the week before.
“Harris is probably the best football player we’ll face all year,” said James.
Fort Chiswell’s leading rusher was Chris Rodriguez who picked up over 60 yards on 17 carries.
FC quarterback Hody Viars did a good job passing and was protected well by the offensive line of Anthony Chrisley at center, Marvin Grubb and Kyle Mabry at guards and Matt Dunn and Dakota McGinn at tackles.
The Pioneers took the opening kickoff and began play on their own 27-yard line. Viars passed to Zack Cook on a third and seven play to get a first down near midfield. Then Rodriguez picked up another first down on a third and two carry.
But Fort Chiswell fumbled the ball over to the Buffaloes on the next play.
The Pioneers weren’t hurt by the turnover, however, as their defense dug in and forced Floyd to punt after three downs.
The Buffaloes returned the favor, and the Pioneers punted it away on their next series.
This time Floyd County put together a strong drive that was capped off on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Christian Rodrique. Rodrique also kicked the point after to give the Buffs a 7-0 lead with only 12 seconds left in the first quarter.
After another Fort Chiswell punt, Floyd County got it going again. The drive was culminated on a 16-yard run by Zack Bonham. Bonham was the game’s leading rusher with 152 yards on 21 carries. Nathan Weiss kicked the point after to boost the Buffs’ lead to 14-0 with 8:54 left in the second quarter.
But the Floyd County fans hadn’t even stopped cheering when Rodriguez took the ensuing kickoff, changed directions a couple of times, and weaved his way through the Buffaloes for an 85-yard touchdown. Kyle Mabry kicked the extra point to cut the Floyd lead in half at 14-7 with 8:32 left in the half.
The Buffaloes then used up over six minutes on their next possession that was capped off on a 10-yard TD pass from Harris to Brett Holman. The PAT kick made it 21-7 with 2:13 left in the half.
The Pioneers had to punt again on their next series, but got the ball back quickly when Dieter Chandler recovered a fumble for the Fort inside the Floyd 20.
There was only 19 seconds left in the half, but the Pioneers needed only three seconds as Viars passed to Zack Cook for a 10-yard touchdown. The kick missed, but the Pioneers had closed the gap to 21-13.
The Buffaloes received the second half kickoff, but their possession was ended almost immediately when Storm Bond intercepted a pass to put the Pioneers back in business at the Pioneer 46.
Viars passed to Parker Mabe for about 11 yards. Then Viars passed to Zack Cook on a fourth and one play to get a first down at the Buff 29.
On a third and three play, Rodriguez bolted through for six yards for another first down at the 16.
Two plays later, Viars passed to Cook for a 16-yard touchdown. A two-point pass attempt failed, but the Pioneers had cut the Floyd lead to just 21-19 with 4:47 left in the third quarter.
Fort Chiswell forced Floyd County to punt on its next possession and then got a break when Holman intercepted a pass and ran it back to the end zone; the play was nullified, however, due to a penalty.
The Pioneers went back on the attack. A big play on the drive was a pass reception by Bradley Robinson to move the ball inside the Floyd 20.
The drive was capped off several plays later on a one-yard keeper by Viars. The PAT pass attempt failed, but the Pioneers had taken the lead for the first time in the game at 25-21 with 10:41 left in the fourth period.
Floyd County nearly answered right away as Harris went up the middle on a keeper for nearly 80 yards to the end zone, but the play was called back due to a holding penalty.
The Buffaloes continued their drive down inside the Pioneer 30, but the Fort Chiswell defense came up big on a fourth down and inches play to take over on its own 26 with about six and a half minutes left in the game.
Unfortunately for the Pioneers, they managed only to use up about a minute off the clock when they had to punt.
The Buffaloes took over near midfield and took about two minutes before they crossed the goal line on a 17-yard pass from Harris to Rodrique. The kick put the Buffs back on top at 28-25 with 3:44 left in the game.
The Pioneers still had time and did come close to scoring when a Viars pass nearly connected with a receiver near the goal line. But after moving down inside the Buffalo 40, a fourth down and six pass fell incomplete.
Floyd County got the ball back with about a minute remaining and ran out the clock.

Floyd County 7 14 0 7 – 28
Fort Chiswell 0 13 6 6 – 25

Scoring:
Floyd – Rodrique 14 pass from Harris (Rodrique kick)
Floyd – Bonham 16 run (Weiss kick)
Fort – Rodriguez 85 kickoff return (Mabry kick)
Floyd – Holman 10 pass from Harris (Weiss kick)
Fort – Cook 10 pass from Viars (kick blocked)
Fort – Whisman 16 pass from Viars (pass failed)
Fort – Viars 1 run (pass failed)
Floyd – Rodrique 17 pass from Harris (Weiss kick)
(T – 2:19)