SALEM, Va. – The Radford Bobcats faced off against the Riverheads Gladiators for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff at Salem Stadium, looking to secure a Class 2 title.
The Bobcats did just that, defeating Riverheads 39-21. It was the first state football title for Radford in 51 years. The 1971-72 teams won back-to-back titles.
“Everybody wanted it for us so I’m so happy for the kids you know it takes so much to get into. This takes so much to be here and then to finish it’s like all your labors come to fruition for these guys just I can’t tell you-- they are the pride of Radford city right now and they deserve every bit of it,” Radford coach Michael Crist says.
Elon bound senior quarterback Landen Clark, the reigning 1st and 10 player of the year, piled up 260 yards passing, connecting for 4 touchdown passes. He also added 99 yards rushing and another TD on the ground.
It’s surreal for sure, you know? I think the city might be more proud of it than you we are! Obviously we’re thrilled and stuff you know -- we knew if we kept working week in and and week out and just continuing to get better weekly we knew what we could possibly get to and we got there and it just took consistent effort every single week.” Quarterback Landen Clark explained.
Radford was shaky at the start, fumbling the football and giving Riverheads a scoring opportunity from the get-go. The Gladiators big gun, Cayden Cook-Cash had the first of three touchdowns. he would finish with 196 yards rushing, but the Bobcats always had an answer.
After TD passes to Max Kanipe and Luke Woodard, and a TD run by Clarke, the Bobcats led 19-14 with the first half winding down. Riverheads fumbled on their next possession, and Clark hit Kanipe on very next play for a 25-14 lead at the half. The momentum swing was obvious, as Riverheads does not have a “hurry-up” offense for situations where they are trailing.
“We knew they hadn’t played anyone like us with our tempo, that runs our style of offense the way we do. So it’s nice because they haven’t seen anyone like us but we also don’t really know what to expect so we just came out on top. We got some big stops on defense,” senior Max Kanipe says.
The Bobcats managed two more scores in the second half to give them some breathing room, and a long-time consuming drive in the 4th that all but salted away the win.
Clark hit running back JD Grubb for his 4th touchdown pass of the game, and senior defensive lineman Dawson Martin intercepted an attempted halfback pass for a touchdown to close out the Radford scoring.
The Bobcats finish 15-0 and the VHSL Class 2 State Champions.