RADFORD – Radford kicker Caleb Findley is the biggest liar on the face of the earth.

 

“I wasn't nervous at all,” Findley said, just minutes after he kicked a game-winning field goal with no time left on the clock to secure a 36-35 Bobcats win.

 

Radford drove 65 yards after Hunter Griffitts recovered Findley's onside kick with 2:57 remaining in the game. Bobcats coach Matthew Saunders didn't even talk about Findley's field goal, but instead emphasized the onside kick as the game's turning point.

 

“He's been kicking great onside kicks in practice,” Saunders said. “I knew we had to do it because we only had one timeout.”

 

Radford trailed 28-20 heading into the fourth quarter, and it was then that Saunders and his staff adjusted to a shotgun formation.

 

“We just started blocking down and trying to run it outside a little bit,” he said.

 

The adjustment set up Kevin Adkins' 63-yard jaunt with 3:08 to go that slimmed the deficit to two points.

 

It was from there that Radford star quarterback Dontae Carter stole the show. Carter completed all five of his passes on the final push that set up the field goal and 13 of 18 for the game. Saunders said he wasn't nervous letting Carter pass in the two-minute-drill offense, even though he had thrown three interceptions in the game.

 

“Sometimes he makes great plays on bad plays and sometimes he makes a bad play on a bad play,” he said of the senior.

 

George Wythe coach H.S. Ingo, whose team beat the Bobcats in Wytheville 21-19 last season, was clearly proud of his young team's effort.

 

“Our kids played their butts off,” Ingo said. “We're a young team and our kids showed poise under pressure.”

 

Ingo's Maroons held the lead 35-26 with just over three minutes remaining, and their offense had been clicking, making Radford defenders miss all night.

 

“Our kids tend to over-pursue a lot...and I've got to live with it,” said Saunders. “We're aggressive on defense and I hate to be over-aggressive, but we're going to work on that.”

 

Luckily for Saunders, his offense woke up in crunch time. After the game, Ingo's focus was already on the Maroons' next game.

 

“We're gonna use this hurt we're feeling right now...and we're gonna bounce back on Monday,” he asserted.

 

As for Findley, maybe some honesty came out after all. He admitted it was the biggest kick of his life.

 

“Last year, I missed a game-winner [for Radford's JV team],” he said.

 

The sophomore didn't miss Friday.

 

            1          2          3          4          T

GW     7          7          14        7          35

R         7          13        0          16        36

 

R – Devore 7 pass from Carter (Findley kick)

GW – Semones 25 run (Hawks kick)

R – Palmer 8 pass from Carter (kick failed)

R – Saunders 16 fumble return (Findley kick)

GW – Tolley 31 run (Hawks kick)

GW – Atwood 3 run (Hawks kick)

GW – Tolley 4 run (Hawks kick)

R – Adkins 5 run (pass failed)

GW – Willis 1 run (Hawks kick)

R – Adkins 63 run (Findley kick)

R – Findley 25 FG

 

 

                                    GW                 R

First downs                 13                    14

Yards rushing              236                  174

Passing C-A-I             2-2-0               13-18-3

Yards passing              17                    168

Penalties-yards           3-25                 3-25

Fumbles-lost               5-4                   2-1

Punts-average             2-29.5              3-34

 

RUSHING – GW, Semones 5-42, Castanon 10-41, Tolley 12-87, Austin 2-2, Atwood 11-72, Willis 4-(-8). R, Adkins 13-125, Carter 18-30, Minter 3-14, Dark 2-5.

PASSING – GW, Willis 2-2-0. R, Carter 13-18-3.

RECEIVING – GW, Baltazar 1-10, Tolley 1-7. R, Minter 5-95, Adkins 2-23, Devore 1-7, Palmer 1-8, Dark 2-15, Mitchell 1-8, Patterson 1-12.