Published: November 28, 2009 02:11 am      

Blue Tornado falls in regional final

ROANOKE, Va. — The Richlands Blue Tornado run for their sixth region championship was not in the cards Friday night when they traveled to Roanoke to defend their crown against Cave Spring.

The Knights scored 14 unanswered points in the final six minutes of the game to beat the Blues, 35-21, in the Region IV, Division 3 championship.

“I thought we did a good job in the first half, then, we cut our penalties down in the second half,” RHS head coach Greg Mance said. “Then we tie the game with seven minutes to go in the game and I thought we had the momentum and I knew we had to get a stop.”

“But (Josh) Woodrum kept making plays on third down and it wasn’t our night.”

Cave Spring’s No. 6, Josh Woodrum had a lot to do with the fact that the Blues will not see a state semifinal game for the first time in five years. Woodrum rushed the ball 28 times for 205 yards and a touchdown and Sam Wright had 25 carries for 107 yards on the night to stifle the Blues defense.

Richlands came out with the momentum on the opening kickoff when an onsides kick by Cave Spring gave the Tornado the ball on their own 49-yard line. The Blues drove the ball 51 yards for a touchdown in three minutes and capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown by Cody Johnson. The extra point was wide in the swirling winds holding the Tornado lead at 6-0. The Knights came back on their ensuing possession and moved the chains 76 yards to tie the game when Woodrum hit Erik Jacobsen on an 11-yard scoring pass. Ethan Hafey gave Cave Spring the lead,7-6, with the point after.

The Blues came back in the second quarter and regained the lead after taking the ball 81 yards and scoring on 26-yard Cody Johnson pass down the middle to Cody Thomas. The Tornado went for the conversion and went ahead, 14-7, when Johnson hit Sean Overton in the corner of the end zone.

The Knights drive the ball inside the Blues 20-yard line before the end of the first half, however, the Richlands defense stood up on a fourth-and-2 and the Blues took over on downs.

Second half adjustments played into the favor of Cave Spring to start the second half. The Knights came out on the first possession of the third quarter and took the ball 86 yards in 10 plays aided by a Woodrum run on the first play from the line of scrimmage. Woodrum picked his way through the Tornado defense for 37 yards before the Blues could stop the ramble. Nine plays later, Sam Wright cashed in with a 3-yard touchdown and Hafey added the PAT to even the game.

Then, Richlands did the unthinkable and put the ball on the carpet with a fumble and the Knights pounced on the gift. Cave Spring used nine plays to convert the turnover into points when Wright punched in a 1-yard score. The Knights held their slim margin until the 7:07 mark in the fourth quarter. After a defensive battle kept both teams out of the end zones, the Tornado broke the ice and evened the game. Richlands had the ball at their won 13-yard line when Cody Johnson completed a short pass to Austin Johnson who danced his way out of the backfield until he found himself in clear sailing down the right sidelines. He picked his way clean across the 50 before taking the Knights to the races for an 87-yard catch and run touchdown. Reece Strong added the point after to tie the game at 21 apiece.

However, Woodrum had too much time left on the clock and he worked his offense to perfection and Wright scored the go ahead touchdown with a 3-yard run with 2:54 left in the game.

Richlands had one shot to even the game in the waning minutes, however, Jacobsen intercepted a Richlands pass after Cody Johnson had been knocked from the game to end the Tornado threat. Cave Spring finished the job with a 42-yard drive and a 2-yard touchdown by Woodrum with less than a minutes to go in the game to end the Tornado season at 10-2.

Cody Johnson finished the game with 5-of-10 for 133 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 53 yards on 18 carries. Devon Johnson had 25 yards on seven carries. Austin Johnson rushed for 80 yards on three carries and caught two passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Bradley Strong caught three passes for 24 yards.

Devon Johnson had seven tackles to lead the Blues with Will Lowe, Cody Thomas and Albert Fajardo finishing the night with six tackles each.

Cave Spring continues to the state semifinals next week when they play Northside who beat Liberty-Bedford.



At Dwight Bogle Stadium

Richlands..............6 8 0 7 — 21

Cave Spring..........7 0 14 14 — 35

First Quarter

R – Cody Johnson 5-yard run (kick no good)

C – Erick Jacobsen 11-yard pass from Josh Woodrum (Hafey kick)

Second Quarter

R – Cody Thomas 26-yard pass from Cody Johnson (Sean Overton pass from Cody Johnson

Third Quarter

C – Sam Wright 3-yard run (Hafey kick)

C – Sam Wright 1-yard run (Hafey kick)

Fourth Quarter

R – Austin Johnson 87 –yard pass from Cody Johnson )Reece Strong kick)

C – Sam Wright 3-yard run (Hafey kick)

C – Woodrum 2-yard run (Hafey kick)