BUCKINGHAM – Homecoming seemed to be no distraction for the Buckingham County High School football team, which cruised past Randolph-Henry for a 50-14 victory last Friday in Buckingham.

The Knights, who haven't lost a regular season game in two calendar years (20-consecutive) took advantage of early Randolph-Henry mistakes and built a comfortable lead, en route to the decisive victory.

“We played well on both sides of the ball,” said BCHS head coach Craig Gill. “You always have a concern that homecoming can be a distraction, but they put all the peripheral things out of their mind and focused on what is a really good Randolph-Henry team.”

Buckingham senior tailback Maurice Taylor rushed for 197 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries, but the Knights also received a defensive spark from sophomore Tariq Bartee, who had five tackles, a tackle for a loss, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception and a blocked extra point.

Bartee's first caused fumble came late in the first quarter, just outside the BCHS redzone, with the Knights up 3-0 on a 27-yard field goal by Russell Taylor.

Four plays later, Maurice Taylor scored on a ten-yard run, that was set up by a one-handed 30-yard reception by LA Briley from quarterback Tarian Ayers.

Taylor scored a second time on a two-yard run with 3:33 remaining in the half, and BCHS took a 23-0 lead just 41.5 seconds before halftime on an eight-yard touchdown reception by Cam Johnson.

On the first play of the third quarter Randolph-Henry quarterback Jamie Dailey found a wide open Bryant Jones on what wound up being a 77-yard touchdown, but Bartee quickly stemmed much of the momentum gained by the quick strike by blocking the extra point kick.

Two third quarter scores by Buckingham put the game out of reach. Maurice Taylor scored on a 21-yard run with 8:44 left in the third, and Ayers hit Briley on a deflected 18-yard pass to put BC up 36-6.

Dailey capped Randolph-Henry's best drive of the night early in the fourth quarter with a nine-yard pass to Khari Jenkins, and Dailey added a two-point conversion to cut BC's lead to 36-14, but Buckingham scored two more touchdowns to put the game away for good. The first coming on a 13-yard run by Maurice Taylor, and the second on a 37-yard run by reserve tailback Kenneth Johnson with 4:42 left.

“I thought we were very balanced,” said Gill. “We mixed our pass and run plays well, and kept them from being able to key on one aspect of our offense.”

In addition to Maurice Taylor's offensive numbers, Ayers rushed six times for 45 yards, and Johnson had one rush for the 37-yard touchdown. Overall, BCHS compiled 281 rushing yards.

Ayers was 10-17 passing for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Briley had four catches for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Caleb White had four catches for 41 yards and Johnson had two catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.

In addition to Bartee on defense, Michael Layman had five tackles, two tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery, while Maurice Taylor had five tackles, two for a loss and a fumble recovery. Defensive end Laysean Hearns had four tackles.

Buckingham will be idle this Friday, as the Knights receive their second bye in four weeks.

“Two byes this close together is a little tough,” said Gill. “We're playing well right now, and when you're in a rhythm like we are in, it's something you want to keep going. Plus, we're pretty healthy, with only a few dings and bruises.”

Buckingham shouldn't have any trouble keeping focus on the task at hand, however, as the Knights will travel to Amelia on November 5, and will wrap-up the regular season against Central of Lunenburg on November 12.

“Nothing's been decided. All that we've been able to do thus far will hinge on those two games. They'll make or break our season.”