It’s official. The William Byrd football team has conquered South Roanoke County.

A week after blasting Cave Spring, 34-7, the Terriers did a number on the other south county team, Hidden Valley. Byrd put a 35-3 hurting on the Titans at Patterson Stadium in Vinton on a wet Friday night.

This one was supposed to be closer. A week prior the Titans took a solid Patrick Henry team to overtime before losing, 41-38. Hidden Valley quarterback Jonah Fitzgerald passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more against the Patriots in an offensive show.

Against Byrd, not so much. The Terriers held Fitzgerald to just 87 passing yards and picked him off three times. Hidden Valley did not score a touchdown against the Byrd defense, managing only a second quarter field goal.

“We did a real good job on pass defense,” said Byrd coach Jeff Highfill. “We have a lot of experience in the secondary and they did a good job. Last year we had more of a pass rush, but our rush is starting to get there. I was pleased with the defense.”

Byrd led 14-3 at the half. After a scoreless first quarter Larry Basham broke loose for a 38 yard TD run to give Byrd the lead. The Titans countered with a 22 yard field goal, but Basham’s 34 yard run and Nathan Patrick’s extra point gave Byrd an 11 point lead at the half.

The Terriers put it away in the third quarter as Basham ran for his fourth TD, this one from four yards out. Logan Taylor had a one yard plunge and it was 28-3 after three quarters. Byrd got some icing on the cake when quarterback Sam Dantzler broke free for an 88 yard TD run to cap the scoring, and Patrick was perfect on five extra point kicks.

The Terriers rolled up 436 yards on the ground and out-gained Hidden Valley overall by a better than two to one margin with 459 yards to the Titans’ 203. The offensive line, which was almost totally rebuilt from last year, played well.

“We still have some work to do but they were better than they were last week,” said Highfill.

Basham led the Terriers with 199 yards on 18 carries for an average of just over 11 yards per attempt. Dantzler had 142 yards on eight carries for an average of almost 18 yards per attempt thanks to the 88 yard run.

Nic Hale rushed for 27 yards, backup quarterback Dylan Hatfield and Josh Moore had 20 each, TJ Johnson had 12 yards and Taylor and Hayden Lyle gained four yards each, with Taylor scoring a touchdown.

Dantzler passed just three times, completing two for 36 yards. Trevor Hill caught one for 36 yards and Basham had one reception for 12 yards.  The Terriers are 2-0 and averaging 34.5 points a game and a wide receiver has yet to catch a pass.

Defensively, Taylor led the Terriers with 20 tackles. Thomas Adams had 10 tackles after returning from an injury and Trevor Hill had nine tackles and two interceptions. Matt Hale had seven tackles, Dantzler had five tackles and a pick and Josh Moore had five tackles.

This week, the Terriers will take on Bassett. The Bengals are the only Group 4A school on the schedule and they replace Salem for week three this year.

Bassett has started off 0-2 with losses to Dan River and Rustburg. They were 1-9 a year ago and have a new coach in Brandon Johnson, who comes over from Magna Vista.

“Their offense looks a whole lot like Hidden Valley, only they’re more athletic,” said Highfill.

Byrd’s junior varsity beat Hidden Valley last week, 20-0. The jayvees will play Bassett at home tonight following a 5 pm game between the middle school team and Central Academy.