Blues claim district with win over Carroll County

By DAVE COX/Staff
HILLSVILLE- It took a lot of hard work, overcoming many mistakes, penalties and adversity for the Blues to make this week’s Southwest District football matchup with the Grundy Golden Wave just a formality, but that’s what they did last Friday at Tommy Thompson Field against the upstart Carroll County Cavaliers!
Both Richlands and Carroll County went into the all-important SWD battle with unblemished district records and the Cavaliers were determined to capture their first-ever SWD championship, and for awhile, it appeared they may do just that, leading at halftime 13-7 after dominating the first half statistics. However, it wasn’t in the cards for CCHS as Richlands (8-1, 5-0 SWD) came up with its second huge third quarter in as many games to capture an exciting 21-13 decision and win its sixth straight conference title under cold, breezy conditions. Richlands has claimed the district championship regardless of the outcome of this week’s game against Grundy.
Carroll County (6-3, 4-1 SWD) made it tough for the visitors, but the Blues also made things tough on themselves, failing to score on three different trips into the red zone. A couple of costly fumbles deep in Carroll County territory marred an otherwise decent performance by the RHS offense. The Blues also missed a 37-yard field goal attempt because of the very windy conditions. Add to that, the barrage of penalty flags that were thrown and it made for an uphill battle, not just for Richlands, but for both squads. The Blues had a pair of touchdowns called back because of penalties. Many of the flags were justified, but many were hard to figure out. Richlands drew the ire of the officiating crew 14 times for 150 yards in penalties and Carroll was whistled nine times for 100 yards.
Richlands head coach Greg Mance would not comment on the officiating, but was quick to heap phrase on his players. “I told our kids that I was proud of them,” he said. “We battled back from some major adversity tonight and overcame a lot of penalties. I’m proud of our guys for coming back and finding a way to win on the road.”
For one of just a few times this season, the Blues found themselves behind after watching the Cavaliers dig out of a 7-0 hole to score two unanswered touchdowns for a 13-7 lead at halftime. After the break, when the needed adjustments were made, the Tornado played like an entirely different team.
Carroll County fumbled on its first offensive play to start the game and Albert Fajardo alertly fell on the loose football at the CCHS 41. Five plays later, Richlands returned the favor as Adam Nester recovered a Blues’ fumble at the Cavalier 14.
After allowing a couple of first downs, the Tornado defense held and forced a Carroll County punt. Austin Johnson caught the football at the RHS 38 and never stopped until he reached pay dirt 68 yards away. Reece Strong tacked on the extra point kick to put the Blues ahead 7-0 with 5:29 left in the first frame.
Carroll County put on a sustained nine-play drive to knot the game on its next possession. Ulises Moreno bolted away from the RHS defenders for a 46-yard scoring run with 1:32 left in the first quarter. Moreno also kicked the PAT.
A personal foul penalty proved costly for the visitors in the second chapter after a 13-yard pass completion from CCHS quarterback Blake Bowman to Dillon Caviness. The combination moved the football to the Richlands 26-yard line. Three plays later, the Cavaliers were faced with a fourth-and-four situation at the RHS 20. Carroll decided to go for it and Bowman fooled everyone on a keeper, carrying the football to the house 20 yards away. Moreno’s kick was no good, but the host team was up 13-7 with 5:03 left to play in the first half.
Jack Vance had a 42-yard interception return for the Blues, but the visitors failed to capitalize on the opportunity after Caviness recovered a Richlands fumble at the CCHS 11.
Later in the second quarter, Zack Surratt intercepted a Richlands pass and returned it 39 yards, but Sean Overton stopped the Carroll drive with an interception that he returned 32 yards on the final play of the first half.
For the second straight week, Richlands came out breathing fire to start the second half and scored an apparent touchdown on its initial offensive play of the third period when Devon Johnson cruised through the CCHS defense 70 yards untouched. The yellow laundry came out on the play and the visitors had to settle for a first down at the Carroll 43 instead of a score.
Undeterred, Richlands continued its trek toward the go-ahead tally. Devon Johnson picked up six yards before RHS quarterback Cody Johnson hit Will Lowe on a nice 21-yard pass to the Carroll 16. Devon Johnson covered those yards on his next carry to tie the game.  Strong put the Blues ahead to stay at 14-13 with his kick. The scoreboard clock showed 10:42 still left in the third stanza.
Richlands added some insurance points on its next offensive possession, moving from its own 38-yard line in only five plays. Austin Johnson picked up 14 yards and Cody Johnson 12 and 36 with the latter taking him into the end zone with 6:43 left in the third period. Strong added the extra point to make it 21-13.
The remainder of the third quarter and the first minutes of the fourth were filled with numerous penalties, disallowing either team to mount virtually no threat of scoring. The Blues did advance to the CCHS 15 only to pick up a five-yard penalty which set them back to the 20. The visitors then tried a 37-yard field goad against the wind and it came up short.
A sustained drive by the Blues midway through the final period did not yield any points for Richlands, but did eat valuable time off the clock. When Carroll County finally got the football back, time was not on its side. Bradley Strong ended any hopes of a comeback when he picked off a Cavalier pass. The Blues then took a knee to end the contest.
Devon Johnson ended his night’s work with 123 yards rushing on 17 carries. Richlands had 209 rushing yards as a team. Cody Johnson went 5-of-15 passing for 68 yards.
Carroll County finished with 216 rushing yards with 180 of those coming in the first half. Bowman was 5-for-19 passing for 55 yards for the Cavaliers. Cody Johnson was intercepted once and Bowman three times.
Defensively, Cody Thomas led the Blues with 10 tackles and two assists. Lowe managed seven tackles and three assists.
“We battled hard in the second half,” said Mance. “Hats off to our defense for shutting Carroll County down in the second half.”