Photos by Bryant Altizer
Marty Gordon
Radford and Glenvar gave fans everything thing they would want in a high school football playoff game on Friday night.
Over the past two years, Glenvar has scored in the final minutes to knock Radford out of the postseason. This week, it was Radford who scored with a minute to go to pick up the 29-24 win.
QB Landon Clark was picked off three times but completed 26 of 40 passes for 295 yards with two touchdowns. He also rushed 13 times for 116 yards in the game. Max Kanipe caught 13 of those passes for 154-yard night with a score. Sincere Taylor added six catches for 73 yards.
Clark is 63 yards from passing his yardage record from last year. Friday night, he passed his record for completions and set the record for passing attempts in a season. Kanipe tied Parker Prioleau’s receptions record from last year.
For the season, Clark is now 191 of 296 through the air with 2,910 yards with 34 touchdowns. He has rushed 105 times for 1,056 yards with 24 touchdowns.
Kanipe now has 62 catches for 1,333 yards with 14 touchdowns, while Taylor has added 44 for 631 with four TDs.
On the season, J.D. Grubb has rushed 94 times for 495 yards to give the running attack a one-two punch.
Radford will now play a familiar foe in the form of Graham, who beat Union on Saturday.
The game will be held at Christiansburg High School on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Graham is 12-1 after Saturday’s 33-24 win over Union. The 2022 Class 2 Offensive Player of the Year Ty’Drez Clements rushed for 306 yards and four touchdowns for the defending Class 2 champions.
The G-men have outscored opponents 489 to 165 this season. Their lone loss came to Union in the regular season.
Of note this season, they beat the Class 1 semi-finalists Galax 42-13 and Pulaski 52-24.
Last year, Graham finished 15-0 and took down Central Woodstock 34-7 in the title game.
The school is 93-11 since the 2015-16 season when they finished 6-6. Since Tony Palmer took over as coach, the G-men have dominated the competition.