In the handshake line after Blue Ridge beat North Cross 51-20, a couple of assistant coaches for the Raiders started to good-naturedly give the Barons’ Malik Johnson hard time.
“Oh, now you want to limp,” they said as Johnson shuffled his way through the line.
Just minutes before he did anything but limp through the Barons’ make-up game against North Cross as he scored five touchdowns three different ways, with two coming on the ground, two more through the air and one on an interception return for a touchdown.
“He was a little banged up but Malik is Malik,” said Blue Ridge coach Tim Thomas. “He’s such a playmaker, he’s such a great kid and he’s so valuable for our program.”
Johnson opened the scoring for the Barons with a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Blue Ridge put North Cross in a deep early hole when the Barons blocked a punt on North Cross’ first possession and Jhalil Puryear scooped it up and scored. After a two-point conversion it was 14-0 Blue Ridge fast.
North Cross didn’t go away quietly though, pulling back within a score early in the second quarter. A flurry of action late in the first half included Nazir Hopson intercepting a tipped ball before he sprinted in from 30 yards out to make it 20-7 Blue Ridge with 4:28 left in the second quarter. After a Maurice Garrison touchdown on the ground for North Cross, Blue Ridge answered with Juan Mareco’s 16-yard catch on a tight end pop pass on fourth down from quarterback Justin Armwood to push the Barons back out to a 26-13 lead.
“I’m just focusing and reading the defense,” Armwood said. “I’ve got to give credit to my linemen who held their blocks and gave me time in the pocket.”
North Cross snuck in another score, this time on a catch and run by Nariq Bailey, to pull back within six before the break, but that was the last time the Raiders got on the board as Blue Ridge’s defense clamped down after the break. The Barons stymied North Cross in the second half, holding the Raiders scoreless after the break.
“We knew it was going to be a hard game from the get-go but (before) the second half, coach told us to man up and keep our head in the game,” Puryear said.
While the defense stiffened, Johnson was putting on a show. He ripped off a brilliant 64-yard run where he hit the breaks after reaching the sideline, bounced back inside and then turned it up for a touchdown. That score made it 34-20 Barons. A few minutes later, he caught a bobbled pass at the goal line for a 9-yard touchdown after Armwood drove the Barons down the field with a combination of quarterback draws and speed option plays. Johnson’s interception return early in the fourth quarter for a 50-yard touchdown put the game completely out of reach for the Raiders at 44-20 and he capped his massive night with an 11-yard touchdown with 4:45 left to finish off a clock-eating drive by the Barons.
The win gives Blue Ridge (5-1) its fourth-straight victory and gives them a chance to win three games in seven days if they can knock off Virginia Episcopal Saturday in Lynchburg at 2 p.m.
