Marty Gordon
Radford High School will play for the Class 2 state football title this weekend after beating last year’s state champion Graham this past week on the turf at Christiansburg in front of 4,000-plus fans. Radford will face Riverheads at Salem stadium.
The Bobcats (12-1) are seeking their first state title in 51 years, and Saturday will be their first state championship appearance since 2009. You can’t say that about their opponent.
Riverheads (13-1) is no stranger to the state championship game. The numbers show: District Champions in 1975, 1976, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022; Region B Runner-up in 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011; Region Champions in 2000, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022; State Runner-Ups in 2015 and State Champions in 2000, 2006, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
This will be Riverheads’ ninth straight trip to the big game. They moved up to Class 2 this season after winning the last seven trophies in Class 1.
Last year, they beat George Wythe in the championship, also played at Salem as Riverheads rushed for 485 yards and seven touchdowns in the 49-27 win. Riverheads running back Cayden Cash-Cook rushed 17 times for 282 yards and five touchdowns.
The Gladiators had to use a field goal as time ran out earlier this season in a win over Christiansburg. The wins have come in buckets for the team.
Riverheads has clicked off 13 straight wins after losing their season opener 8-7 to Central Woodstock. They avenged that loss in the playoffs.
This past weekend, Riverheads rolled 37-7 over Poquoson. They have outscored opponents 451 to 160 this season.
Caden Cook-Cash has been the workhorse for Riverheads. He has rushed for 100 yards in eight games.
He was last year’s Class 1 Offensive Player of the Year after gaining 1,879 yards rushing with 175 carries and 26 rushing touchdowns including 775 yards in four playoff games. He has rushed for over 3,900 yards in the past three years. A foot injury forced him to miss several games during the regular season.
The team runs a Wing-T formation, which relies on blocking and pulling defenders out of position, plus some misdirection, to create running room. In so many ways, it looks similar to the Single-Wing run by Radford’s foe in Giles.
