Buckingham County High School’s varsity football team was locked in a tie for more than half of its contest against visiting Chatham High School on Thursday, but the Cavaliers were able to produce three consecutive big plays on offense in the third quarter to pull away for a 20-7 victory.

“We let it get away from us,” Knights Head Coach Josh Wallace said. “… We’ve got to understand, hey, just got to get better at the little things, and once we start taking care of the little things, then the big things will start taking care of themselves…”

Chatham scored 79 points in its season-opening win Aug. 25, but the Knights held the Cavs scoreless through the first two quarters Thursday as the scoreboard read 0-0 at halftime.

Wallace cited a great scheme and good execution as the reasons why Buckingham was able to contain Chatham’s playmakers that were so productive the week before.

But Chatham’s big-play ability manifested itself in the third quarter. Senior Preston Turner, who scored nine times and ran for 448 yards in his team’s opener, scored his 10th touchdown of the season just more than three minutes into the third quarter Thursday on a 94-yard run.

The Knights made the score 7-7 less than a minute later after sophomore running back Walter Edwards scored on a 13-yard run.

“They had one guy outside, and they weren’t making any adjustments, so we just headed outside and sprang it out there,” Wallace said, explaining what led to Edwards’ touchdown.

But the Cavaliers were able to produce two more big plays. Senior running back/wide receiver Parker Martin scored on touchdown runs of 80 and 73 yards.

“We got a little flustered there before halftime, and some of our guys didn’t come out with the right mindset, and (the Cavaliers) busted off three big plays. So we’ve got to learn — you’ve got to be consistent, and do it all the time. We can do it in the first half, (but) we’ve got to finish the game.”

For the game, Edwards ended up with 16 carries for 81 yards and a score. Junior quarterback Tyrese Ayres carried the ball 14 times for 79 yards.

Since the Knights’ game was moved up to Thursday due to expected inclement weather Friday, they had another valuable day of rest, allowing time for healing and recuperation before beginning preparations for the start of their James River District schedule which comes Friday evening.

“We lost our starting quarterback after the first series (Thursday),” Wallace said Friday, referring to injuries. “We lost our starting center, so that didn’t help last night either.”

Sophomore Garrett Hafley has been the team’s starting center, and freshman Gerry Toney has been its starting quarterback.

Ayres and senior Daniel Brickhill split time at quarterback against the Cavaliers after Toney was sidelined.

Buckingham (0-2) visits Amelia County High School on Friday with kickoff set for 7 p.m.