Friday night football

By JERRY SCOTT/Staff

Greg Thompson rushed for 136 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns as Grayson County smacked Bland County 36-19 last Friday night in Bastian in the gridiron regular season finale for both teams. Senior teammate Bo Pollard added 99 total yards and also scored twice as the Blue Devils wrapped up the 2007 MED title with a record of 5-0 in the league and 8-2 overall.
Despite the loss, the Bears will join the Blue Devils in the Region C playoffs that begin this coming Friday. The Bears will enter postseason play at 7-3 following their 3-2 showing in MED contests this season. The downside is that with Galax’s win over Pocahontas, the Bland County loss dropped the Bears into third place in the district.
Pollard rushed for 73 yards as the Blue Devils amassed 264 yards from their running game on the soggy Bastian turf that came as a result of rain that fell during the afternoon and steadily continued throughout the evening. Grayson County’s total yardage amounted to 290 yards as Pollard chipped in 26 yards on two pass completions.
The Blue Devils scored off the game’s opening possession as Pollard’s 13-yard touchdown pass to senior Zack Jones stacked Brett McPherson’s club to an 8-0 advantage. The score at the 7:32 mark of the first period came at the tail of a 10-play, 63-yard drive that featured nine straight rushing plays prior to the scoring catch. 
Pollard also had a huge 25-yard run during the drive that moved the ball from the Bears’ 40 to the 15 two plays before the score. Pollard accounted for 37 rushing yards in the possession.
Bland County’s first possession ended in the first of three Nick Leighton punts of 50 yards or more. Grayson County, however, fumbled the possession away at their own 20-yard line and the Bears were there to quickly capitalize. On first down, Korey Kennedy sprinted 20 yards for his 14th touchdown of the season, scoring at the 4:33 mark. The ensuing PAT pass try failed as the Bears found themselves closer but still in arrears at 8-6.
That score held until near the midway point of the second stanza. Following a takeover on downs, the Blue Devils marched 70 yards in eight plays, extending their lead to 14-6 on a 39-yard Thompson scoring run. The score came at the 7:36 mark of the first half and gave Grayson County a 14-6 edge following the failed PAT run by Thompson.
The Bears fumbled away their next possession on the very first play from scrimmage and Grayson County answered with another scoring drive that resulted in a 22-6 advantage. Thompson’s one-yard scoring run capped a drive of 59 yards that started when junior Greg Osborne gained the first of his three fumble recoveries following Adam Kirk’s cough-up at the Bland County 40-yard line.
The two teams swapped turnovers during the final minutes of the first half and the second quarter drew to a close as Leighton booted a 50-yard punt after the Bears went three-and-out following freshman Jacob Lambert’s interception at the BC7. The pick was one of two Lambert takeaways following his first stanza fumble recovery.
Every possession during the third period ended in punts and Jones’ kick on the first snap of the fourth period came right back to Grayson County’s favor when Bland County’s Kyle Kennedy fumbled the attempted return at the Bears’ 15. Three plays later, Pollard scooted in from seven yards out as the Blue Devils led 30-6 with 10:15 remaining.
Bland County answered with their second touchdown when Lambert scored from 13 yards out to cap a 58-yard, 6-play drive. Korey Kennedy netted 29 yards on two carries in the drive while Kristopher Kennedy added a big 13-yard run early on that enabled the Bears to cross midfield.
After a 33-yard scoring run from Pollard made it 36-13 with 2:31 left, the Bears managed to add one final score to produce the final 36-19 tally. Lambert and B. J. Gibson sparked a drive of 66 yards in seven plays that ended when Gibson toted the ball for the score with 28 seconds left in the game.
The Bears played the game without starting quarterback Josh Shrader. The Rocky Gap junior was nursing an ankle injury that occurred earlier in the season and was aggravated in Bland County’s win over Fort Chiswell on Nov. 2.
That left the Bears’ offense somewhat shorthanded in a big game with a chance to tie for the 2007 title on the line. Korey Kennedy was his usual self as he paced the Bears with 122 yards rushing on 17 carries. Lambert followed with 63 yards on four carries. Each scored for Harris Hart’s gridders. Lambert also added 59 yards in returns.
Defensive standouts for Bland County included Ethan Jones with 12 tackles, five solo. Lambert added nine assists en route to 11 overall tackles. Kyle Kennedy had four solos and six assists for the Bears.
The Bears will travel to Rural Retreat this week to face the 7-3 Indians in a Region C semifinal tilt. The Bears are making their first trip into postseason action since the 1996 season.

GRAYSON COUNTY 8 14 0 14—36
BLAND COUNTY 6 0 0 13—19

SCORING—
First quarter
GC—Jones 13 pass from Pollard (G. Thompson run) 7:32
BC—Ko. Kennedy 20 run (pass failed) 4:33
Second quarter
GC—G. Thompson 39 run (run failed) 7:36
GC—G. Thompson 1 run (G. Thompson run) 3:44
Fourth quarter
GC—Pollard 7 run (Jones run) 10:15
BC—Lambert 13 run (Crouse kick) 7:24
GC—Pollard 33 run (run failed) 2:31
BC—B. Gibson 4 run (run failed):28

TEAM STATISTICS—
GC BC
First downs 12 8
Rushes/yds 57/264 41/224
Comp/Att/Int 2/6/1 0/1/0
Passing yds 26 0
Returns/yds 4/48 7/73
Penalties/yds 4/20 3/30
Fumbles/lost 1/1 5/3
Punts/avg yds 4/30.8 5/46.6

INDIVIDUUAL STATISTICS—
Rushing:
Grayson County—G. Thompson 28/136, Pollard 17/73, Williams 9/47, Watson 2/13, Jones 1/-5. Bland County—Ko. Kennedy 17/122, Lambert 4/63, B. Gibson 3/16, Kr. Kennedy 3/14, Kirk 5/5, Pennington 8/3, L. Gibson 1/1.
Passing:
Grayson County—Pollard 2/6/1, 26 yds., Watson 0/0/0, 0 yds. Bland County—Pennington 0/0/0, 0 yds., Kidd 0/1/0, 0 yds.
Receiving:
Grayson County—Jones 1/13, Harvey 1/13.
Returns:
Grayson County—Watson 1/20, Hash 1/16, Williams 1/12, Osborne 1/0. Bland County—Lambert 4/59, Ky. Kennedy 3/14.