The Virginia High School League football playoffs begin tonight
and the William Byrd team will open with a home game, only not against the
team they expected to play. Byrd will host Staunton River on Friday night at 7 pm
at Patterson Stadium in the Region 3D quarterfinal round.
After nine weeks of play Byrd was ranked fourth, as they still are heading
into the playoffs. However, Staunton River was ninth in the region rankings and
looking like the Golden Eagles wouldn’t be invited to the dance. After all, their
final game was against William Fleming, a Class 5 team that was looking to finish
the regular season unbeaten for the first time ever.
However, you still have to play the game. In a stunning upset Staunton
River beat the Colonels in double overtime, 29-28, to move from ninth place in
the rankings to fifth. They benefited from not only playing a team two classes
higher, but picking up rider points from all the games Fleming had won.
And that makes for another interesting scenario. Just two weeks ago the
Terriers played a regular season game in Moneta and edged host Staunton River,
21-20 in an overtime game. So, Friday’s game will be a rematch of the “War on
24,” only this time it’s the Eagles who will make the 15 mile trip between
schools.
Byrd comes into the game at 8-2 after defeating Northside in their regular
season finale last week. The Terriers took a 28-13 win on “Senior Night” and
most folks figured this Friday would be a rematch of that game, as Northside was
ranked fifth in the region with one week to go.
When Staunton River leap-frogged four teams it dropped Northside from
fifth to sixth, and the Vikings will now open at third seeded Lord Botetourt
Friday. That will be an interesting game as well, as the Vikings shut out LB, 17-0,
on the same night Byrd got by Staunton River. Other first round Region 3D
games find eighth seeded Bassett at top-seeded Abingdon and seventh seeded
Christiansburg at second seeded Magna Vista.
If Byrd can get by Staunton River Friday the Terriers would play the
Abingdon-Bassett winner the following week. That will be in Abingdon if the
Falcons win, but if Bassett pulls an upset the Bengals would come here.
First things first, the Terriers won’t have an easy time with Staunton
River. The first War on 24 went to the final seconds and final inches before a
failed two-point conversion attempt decided the outcome. You could say it will be
easier to prepare for the Eagles having recently played them, but Staunton River
coach Shaun Leonard can say the same thing.
“I’m confident both teams will have adjustments for this week’s game,”
said Byrd coach Brad Lutz.
Both teams have momentum on their side. While the 5-5 Eagles are
coming off the euphoria of a big win over Fleming Byrd is 8-2 and on a three
game winning streak. Last week’s win over Northside was a big one.
The Terriers struck first against the Vikings on a 59 yard run by Jerrett
Shepherd. Northside got even quickly, returning the kickoff 73 yards to make it 7- 7, but Gray Matthews answered with a 58 yard TD run and Byrd led 14-7 after the first quarter.
The Terriers opened some distance in the second quarter. Shepherd scored
on another long run, this time from 55 yards out, and Cannin Lutz found Tate
Kotz for a 62 yard touchdown connection. Connor Whitehead kicked his fourth
extra point and the Terriers led 28-7 at the half.
That was all Byrd would need, as the defense took over in the second half.
Northside cut the lead to 28-13 in the third quarter but a scoreless fourth period
sealed the deal for the Terriers.
Three Byrd backs rushed for 330 yards against Northside on 27 carries, an
average of over 13 yards per attempt. Matthews had 150 yards on 10 carries,
Shepherd had 148 on 10 attempts and Jalen Toler had 32 yards on seven carries.
This is after Byrd lost standout junior back Jamez Toler for the season
with an injury in mid-October. The offensive line of BJ Cheatwood, Hayden Lish,
Cyrus Adams, Greg Stiltner and Nick Bustamante doesn’t get the recognition of
the backs that cross the goal line, but they’re a huge part of the success of the
running game as well.
“Coach Andrew Close does an outstanding job developing our running
backs,” said coach Lutz. “He has built depth that allows us to rotate running
backs, which has helped our offense tremendously. Last week, we had three
running backs produce a lot of offense for us.
“Our offense emphasizes the importance of unselfishness. Our players
have bought into that, and it has helped us grow the program because more
players are involved.”
Cannin Lutz added 120 yards through the air, completing six of 14 passes.
Kotz had two receptions for 85 yards.
On defense Maurice Burnette had a monster game with 11 tackles,
including three for losses. He also had a sack and four quarterback hurries.
Ethan Haston had 11 tackles and Shepherd had 10, and they combined for
four pass breakups. Blake Anderson had seven tackles.
Byrd’s jayvee team also won last week, shutting out the Vikings 34-0 at
Northside. The jayvees finished 9-1 and some could be suiting up to join the
varsity this Friday when the playoffs begin.
“Our players have worked really hard, and they are excited to enter the
third phase of our season,” said Lutz.
