Marty Gordon
Week one of high school football is in the books. Radford and Christiansburg picked up wins, while Eastern Montgomery, Auburn and Blacksburg were on the end of losing games.
Games this Friday:
Christiansburg at Abingdon
Tanner Evans ran for four touchdowns, ran for101 yards and passed for another 131 as Christiansburg began the 2023 season with a 42-0 win over Class 2 Floyd County. Evans, a senior, was 5-12 through the air and rushed 10 times, only playing 2 1/2 quarters before taking to the sidelines.
Evans had touchdown runs of 39, 25, three and seven yards. He also threw a 22-yard touchdown to Jacob Evans. Matt Annis added a 51-yard score.
The Christiansburg defense held the Floyd offense to 87 yards of total offense with only 17 coming in the first half.
In Week one, Abingdon Falcons fell 26-21 to John Battle. Abingdon took a 14-6 into halftime as junior Alex Hawkins scored on a fumble following a muffed punt snap and quarterback Luke Honaker found 6-6 tight end Aidan Woods on a seven-yard scoring pass.
Honaker finished with 122 yards on 14 carries.
The Falcons turned the ball over three times on interceptions.
Honaker will have a couple of big targets in Woods and 6-5 Lucas Brooks at receiver.
The Falcons finished 4-6 last season and took two losses at the hands of Christiansburg in the regular season and then in the Class 3 regional playoffs.
Prediction: Christiansburg 38, Abingdon 21.
Lord Botetourt at Blacksburg
Botetourt was shut out last week in a 14-0 loss to E.C. Glass.
Blacksburg took it on the chin in Week One, 35-8 to Giles. Ethan Karpa was eight of 13 in the passing category for 97 yards. Jared Bradshaw rushed for 42 yards.
E.C. Glass took the 14-7 victory of Botetourt in their openers. Tristan Overby led the team with 80 yards, while Javari Nicely added 76 on 23 carries.
Prediction: Lord Botetourt 48, Blacksburg 14.
Giles at Radford
Radford will look to move to 2-0 with a contest against former New River District-foe Giles and its Single-Wing offense. Radford beat George Wythe 42-7 in last week’s game.
Giles rolled in a 35-8 win over Blacksburg. Christian Ratcliffe rushed for 134 yards and three touchdowns. He also completed four of five passes for 80 yards. Khalik Saunders added 62 yards and a score. Prediction: Radford 32, Giles 21.
Auburn at Craig County
Auburn managed to score last week on a potent Narrows’ defense. This week, their offense will have to step up against an opponent, which is also fighting the depth-bug. Both teams hope to finish a 10-game season with no cancellations.
Prediction: Auburn 12, Craig County 8.
Rural Retreat at Eastern Montgomery
Rural Retreat fell 14-12 to Ft. Chiswell, after failing to convert on a two-point conversion with minutes left in the game. Caleb Roberts threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
Eastern Montgomery is coming of a 41-8 loss to Holston.
Prediction: Rural Retreat 28, Eastern Montgomery 14.
First week, Area Top Five: 1) Glenvar, 2) Christiansburg, 3) Radford, 4) Salem, 5) Narrows.
Players of week: The All-County/All-City preseason co-players of the year, Christiansburg’s Tanner Evans and Radford’s Landon Clarke, are the first week’s players of the week.
