A minor earthquake may have been felt in Buckingham earlier in the week, but on Friday night, it was the Buckingham County football team that got things rumbling.
The Knights extended their win streak to nine games and capped the regular season with a decisive 55-6 victory over visiting Prince Edward. With the win, Buckingham not only secured the James River District crown, but clinched the No. 5 seed in the 2A West.
The Knights haven’t just been winning, they’ve been dominating. In the past three games, Buckingham has outscored its opponents 177-36.
“There’s always one player that can change the game and it just blows my mind that we did this this year,” Buckingham coach Craig Gill said. “We usually have nail biters, but to do this is a tribute to the young men, as hard as they work. It’s been three years since we won [the district title] outright and I’m just proud of the way they’ve worked all spring and summer. It paid dividends for us the whole year.”
It took just four and a half minutes for Buckingham to take a two-touchdown lead. Hunter Edwards got things started with a 28-yard sprint, followed by B.J. Gough’s 11-yard run.
After forcing the Eagles to punt, Rajheem Holman raced 55 yards on the return to set up Buckingham’s third TD of the quarter. Leon Ragland found his way straight up the middle from five yards out as the Knights took a 21-0 advantage.
“Coach told us to get on them early and that’s what we did,” said Ragland, who rushed for 1,746 yards and 34 touchdowns this season. “They couldn’t get anything going and we got everything going.”
Buckingham was equally impressive on defense, holding the visitors scoreless for three quarters. In fact, the Eagles did not get a first down until the second quarter. The Knights kept explosive running back Delquan Bigelow in check much of the night. The senior speedster rushed for over 2,000 yards this season, but Buckingham contained him to a single score, a 61-yard dash in the third quarter.
B.J. Gough led the way on defense with six solo tackles, while Sean Ayres finished with 4.5. Patrick Carr and Harley Gough each recorded a sack.
“[Bigelow has] had a great career,” Gill said. “He’s given us fits the last two years and that was our main focus. If we play defense, we’ll win and the kids believe that and that’s why we always defer. We want to give our defense a chance to go out and play.”
The Knights mixed things up a little bit as they took to the air. B.J. Gough’s only two passes went for touchdowns as he hooked up with Edwards (20-yard strike) and Michael Mabry (31-yard pass). Gough also accounted for a pair of rushing TDs as the Knights held a 48-0 halftime lead. Buckingham racked up 343 rushing yards as Edwards ran for a team-high 98 yards on four carries. Holman toted the ball eight times for 71 yards and a touchdown. Gough added 69 yards rushing, while Ragland, who got a chance to rest most of the game, finished with 38 yards on the ground.
“We’ve been on a great roll and this is what we’ve been working for all season,” said Edwards, who had his most productive outing of the season. “It’s been a great ride and I’m ready to continue it into the playoffs.”
Buckingham plays host to Martinsville on Friday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the playoffs.
