Knights Throttle Nottoway; Lose Quarterback
Published 4:09 pm Tuesday, October 2, 2012
As expected, the Buckingham County High School football team rolled in its James River District contest at Nottoway last Friday night, but the Knights' 48-14 victory didn't come without a price.
Senior quarterback Cam Johnson, who also plays in Buckingham's defensive backfield, injured his elbow, and will be out for what looks to be a minimum of three or four weeks.
“That's definitely a big blow for us,” said BCHS head coach Craig Gill. “He was having a great game on both sides of the ball, with an interception and a couple of pass deflections, right up until he got hurt. He's a great leader, a captain and the boys rally around him. Now, someone else is going to have to step up.”
The Knights jumped out to a 14-0 lead, before Nottoway cut the lead to 14-6 late in the first quarter, and may have tied the game before the end of the half, if not for Kenneth Johnson.
“They broke a long one, and Kenny made a game-saving tackle and caused a fumble. We were able to score twice before halftime, and get a comfortable lead. It very well could've been tied at halftime.
Buckingham scored once more in the third, and two more after Nottoway scored for the second time to get the comfortable victory.
Kenneth Johnson led the Knights with 165 yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries. He also added a two-point conversion.
Kyree Koonce picked up 158 yards on 13 carries, and scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. Cam Johnson rushed 12 times and scored a touchdown, before his injury. He was also 2-2 passing for 15 yards.
Stephon Anderson led the Knights defensively with 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries.
Devin Smith had ten tackles, three for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Tariq Bartee had 9.5 tackles on the evening.
It will be homecoming at Buckingham on Friday night in more ways than one, as the Knights will play only their second home game of the season on Friday against Randolph-Henry.
“They're 0-5, but looking at film, they really could be 3-2. They have a great tailback and two or three all-district linemen, and played well against Amelia last week and got out to a quick start against Cumberland the week before. They've had some bad luck, but they are capable of putting it together and pulling off a victory.”