Radford squeaks by George Wythe Maroons 20-13

Radford squeaks by Maroons

By JESSE DINGER/Correspondent

The George Wythe Maroons traveled to Radford Friday night to take on the Bobcats, and came away with a narrow defeat, falling 20-13.
For the second straight game, the Maroons played a tough opponent, and lost by only one score, with the game coming down to the final moments.
GW (0-2 overall) had several opportunities to take momentum in the game as Radford had five fumbles on the night, but unfortunately for the Maroons, the Bobcats were able to gather all but one of those loose balls.
Quarterback Jacob Sharitz had a solid night for GW, as he was 12-24 passing for 190 yards and a touchdown.  Tyler Wood was on the receiving end of five Sharitz’ passes, gaining 40 yards.
Brandon Atwell also picked up 67 yards on four catches, while Levi Lanter contributed two catches for 68 yards, including a 30 yard touchdown.
Will Sawyers was the leading rusher for the Maroons, picking up 49 yards on five carries.  Jonathan Turpin also had a good night running the ball, getting eight carries, going for 34 yards and a touchdown.
Radford (2-0 overall) received a great performance from quarterback Dontae Carter.  Carter was 12-15 passing for 157 yards, and also ran for 31 yards on 18 carries and had two rushing touchdowns.
Ryan Webb was the leading receiver for the Bobcats, catching six balls for 86 yards.  Dre Thompson had the best game running, getting 75 yards on 18 attempts.
The Maroons received the opening kickoff of the contest, but stalled on the drive after three plays and had to punt.  Radford took over and got all the way down to the GW 11 yard line before they started moving backwards, and were faced with a 4th and long on the Maroons 26.
Kicker Michael Goodman came on to the field, however, and nailed a 41 yard field goal attempt to put the first points of the game on the board with 7:48 left in the first period.
GW got the ball back and picked up two quick first downs, but then a fumble that the Maroons were lucky to recover set them back an extra 13 yards, and ultimately led to a punt situation.  On the punt attempt, however, the snap was fumbled, and Radford took over on the ‘Roons 30 yard line.
The Bobcats were only able to get to the 25 yard line before 4th down came, so they brought Goodman back out to attempt a 40 yard field goal.  The Maroons were able to come up with a big play here, as they blocked the kick, and took over on their own 26 yard line with no damage done.
After a zero-yard run on 1st down, Sharitz hit Atwell for a 33 yard pass to get the Maroons inside Radford territory.  GW went for another big play on the next snap of the ball, as Sharitz hit Lanter for 38 yards, putting the Maroons at the 3 yard line.
On the next play, Turpin finished off the drive with his first career varsity touchdown run.  Michael Jones came on to kick the extra point, which sailed threw the uprights, putting the Maroons up 7-3 with 1:23 left in the first quarter.
Radford started its next drive at its own 40 yard line, but quickly moved down the field to get inside the Maroons 5 yard line, mostly with excellent passing by Carter.  On a 3rd down play, GW was able to capitalize on an errant pass by Carter, which Sawyers was able to intercept for the Maroons in the end zone and return for 17 yards.
On GW’s ensuing drive, Sawyers continued to make big plays for the Maroons, both running the ball and catching it, until his team was to the Bobcats 23 yard line.  The drive was brought to a sudden halt, however, as a Radford defender intercepted a Sharitz pass attempt.
The ‘Cats then started a lengthy, 84 yard scoring drive that had Carter either running or passing for a lot of the yards, which he ultimately capped off with a five yard touchdown run with 33 seconds left in the first half.
GW got the ball back and ran out the clock to go into the halftime intermission trailing 10-7.
Radford received the kick to start the third quarter and continued the momentum it had just gained on offense, moving the ball all the way down to the Maroons 5 yard line.  On first and goal, the Bobcats tried to run the ball into the end zone, but when the Radford player laid out to get across the goal line, he fumbled the ball, which Johnny Quick scooped up and returned 15 yards.
The Maroons failed to go forwards on the next drive, and actually lost 10 yards before 4th down came along.  On that 4th down punt attempt, a high snap for GW led to the kick getting blocked by Radford out of the end zone, resulting in a safety, giving RHS a 12-7 lead halfway through the 3rd period.
The Bobcats received the free kick and were able to manage to get the ball to GW’s 18, before the Maroons defense was able to hold them and force another field goal attempt.  The 35 yard kick sailed wide right for Radford, leaving the Maroons unscathed again.
GW’s offense sputtered again on the next possession, resulting in punting the ball.  Radford took over in Maroon territory, and a huge 36 yard pass from Carter to Webb put the Bobcats at the 13 yard line.
On second down, a 12 yard run put the ‘Cats on the one yard line, where on the next play, Carter carried the ball in for his second rushing touchdown of the game.  Radford then went for a 2-point conversion, and the kicker Goodman found Jon Thompson in the back of the end zone with a pass, putting RHS up 20-7 with just over 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
Both teams then traded possession, failing to get anything going, until GW got the ball again on its own 27.  Helped out a lot by Radford penalties, the Maroons were able to get down to the Bobcats 30 yard line, where on a second down play, Sharitz hit Lanter with a pass, and Lanter found his way into the end zone for the touchdown.
The extra point attempt was blocked, however, leaving the Maroons trailing 20-13 with 4 and a half minutes left in the game.
GW’s defense was able to force Radford to go three and out, but on the first Maroon play, Radford picked off a Sharitz pass with 2:22 left in the game.
Radford then attempted to kill the clock, but the Maroons got one more chance with the ball, taking over with 1:07 left with 51 yards to the end zone.
Unfortunately for GW, it only managed a two yard completion, followed by two incomplete passes before a four yard loss on 4th down, turning the ball back over to Radford, sealing its fate.
George Wythe is now scheduled to host the Floyd County Buffaloes this Friday night, while Radford will take on Grayson County.

George Wythe 7 0 0 6—13
Radford 3 7 2 8—20

Scoring:
R-Michael Goodman 41 Field Goal
GW-Jonathan Turpin 3 run (Jones kick)
R-Dontae Carter 5 run (Goodman kick)
R-Safety
R-Carter 1 run (Jon Thompson pass from Goodman)
GW-Levi Lanter 30 pass from Sharitz (kick blocked)

Stats GW RHS
First Downs 11 17
Rushing Attempts 21 40
Rushing Yards 115 105
Att-Comp-Int. 24-12-2 15-12-1
Passing Yards 190 157
Punts-Average 3-30.3 3-32.7
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 5-1
Penalties-Yards 12-85 9-90