North Cross weathered the storm and it wasn’t a small one. Blue Ridge got off to an explosive start, and sat pretty just moments from halftime. But the Raiders came up with a game changing play at the end of the second quarter to turn the tide. On the heels of a 35-7 run between the second and fourth quarters, North Cross came from behind to beat Blue Ridge 42-34.
“At the end of the half I told our kids that we played poorly offensively and were really fortunate to be down by seven,” said Raiders coach Stephan Alexander. “After that, give a ton of credit to this offensive line and our freshman running back.”
For the second straight week, the Barons were in a game that they lost just in the last few moments, but it was also a second straight week of turnovers and penalties that proved costly.
“Those two are killing us right now to where we’re the best players for the other team again,” said Barons coach Tim Thomas. “We have to get rid of that turnover bug. That’s a great team and I fret North Cross every year because they’re so well coached, disciplined. Obviously they’re unbeaten and in mid-season stride. We’re a good team too, but we need to put it all together.”
Early on, momentum was on the Blue Ridge sideline. After a 29-yard from Jamsion Harrison with 1:29 left in the first quarter and then a punt block returned by Tariq Gough for a 20-yard TD, it was quickly 14-0 for the Barons. And after North Cross got a sustained drive and a 10-yard touchdown run from Isaac Harrison, Blue Ridge answered by returning the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown as Harrison took it 70 yards to the house.
But late in the second, the game swung the other way. The Barons drove deep into Raider territory but an interception at the goalline resulted in a change of field position and Harrison was able to cash in a 5-yard rushing touchdown that was basically a 14-point swing the other way with the Barons going into the half up just 21-14.
“Turnovers in the red zone against a good team, you can’t do that,” Thomas said. “That was tough.”
The two teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter with Miles Lowman capping the opening drive of the half with a 5-yard pass. Blue Ridge got a 21-yard TD run from Harrison on its next drive to reclaim the lead at 28-21 with 5:53 left in the third. What followed though was three straight North Cross touchdowns as the turnover demon that plagued Blue Ridge last week reared its ugly head.
“Frankly, we’re lucky we had the poise and character to hang in there against team that’s bigger than we are and more athletic than us,” Alexander said. “It could have easily gone the other way. We took a big punch from them in that first half.”
Down 42-28, the Barons got a spark when quarterback Xavier Kane hit Josh Colon for a 10-yard TD pass. Blue Ridge forced a 3-and-out after that, but after a big passing play that put them at midfield, North Cross forced a fumble and then got the first down they needed to run out the clock.
For Blue Ridge, the five turnovers marred a 218-yard day on the ground and 166 passing yards. Harrison had 11 carries for 165 yards. Kane was 10-for-17 passing with 166 yards and nine carries for 57 yards. Colon had 71 yards receiving on three catches.
The story for the Raiders was obviously Harris. The freshman running back had 193 yards on the ground and four touchdowns. Lowman was 8-for-26 passing with 82 yards and two touchdowns.
Blue Ridge falls to 1-2 and will travel to Covenant on Thursday.
“It’s a short week and it’ll be a good challenge but we stayed healthy and we’ll have to have a short memory and get the kids fired up,” Thomas said.
