The William Byrd football team continued their recent domination over Roanoke
County rival Hidden Valley with a 65-3 win over the Titans at Vinton’s Patterson
Stadium last Friday. In the past three years Byrd has outscored Hidden Valley by a
combined 177-10 in three victories.
This one was over early, as Byrd used big plays to pull away. The Terriers led 21-
0 after the first quarter on three strikes of 65 yards or more. Gray Matthews opened the
scoring with a 75 yard run, Jamez Toler ran one in from 67 yards out and Cannin Lutz
passed to Kevin Green for a 65 yard score.
The second quarter was the Jamez Toler show as he scored three more times on
runs of 20, one and 63 yards. Connor Whitehead was perfect on extra point conversions
and Byrd held a commanding 42-0 lead at the half.
The clock ran without interruption in the second half and so did the Terriers. Freshman backup quarterback Carter Gray threw his first high school touchdown pass to Green in the third period, covering 37 yards, then found Hendrix Wright for a 21 yard score in the fourth quarter. Zane Taylor wrapped up the scoring with a 34 yard
interception return for a TD. The Titans managed to avoid the shutout with a fourth
quarter field goal.
“Our players improved in each phase of the game,” said Byrd coach Brad Lutz. “Offensively we had seven players with at least one carry, two different quarterbacks throw a touchdown and six different players have at least one reception. Our offense is team driven, and we had a lot of players generate offense for us.
“Defensively, we tackled well and forced our first turnover for a score. Our
special forces were very productive and maintained great field position for our offense
and defense.”
Toler finished with 157 yards rushing on just eight carriers, four of which went
for touchdowns. Byrd had 269 total yards on the ground.
Cannin Lutz completed all four of his passes for 138 yards and Gray was four-for-
five for 73 yards, and they combined to throw three TD passes. Green had two receptions,
both touchdowns, for 102 yards and Tate Kotz caught two passes for 43 yards.
On defense Mason Herschel had 10 tackles, including four for losses and two
sacks. Bruce Robinson had five tackles and four quarterback pressures and Zane Taylor
had a pick.
This week things will get a little more challenging as the Terriers go on the road
for the first time to meet Christiansburg on Friday night. The Blue Demons are 0-2 with
losses to Carroll County and Abingdon but they’re a much better team than Hidden
Valley.
“They are the best team we have played up to this point,” said Lutz. “They are
well coached, strong, and athletic.”
