Blue Ridge’s season ends after being mauled by Daniel, 49-2
Blue Ridge finished 1-10 on the season after a first-round loss to Daniel.
Blue Ridge’s season came to a close on Friday night as the Tigers found themselves torn apart by Daniel, 49-2.
The Tigers finished the season with a 1-10 record overall.
“We’ve been able to move the ball pretty well on just about everybody this season,” said Blue Ridge head coach John Boggs. “And we’ve played some good teams. But against Daniel, we couldn’t move it at all. That was the most frustrating thing.”
The Lions stacked the box all game and shut down every gap. The game plan was simple: Daniel wasn’t going to let Blue Ridge star running back KB Henderson run all over them.
The plan worked. Henderson managed just 46 yards rushing on 24 carries, by far his lowest total yardage and average per carry this season. As a team, the Tigers came up with just 67 total yards of offense.
“They stuck every gap and made us throw the ball. We weren’t able to do that effectively, either, so we couldn’t keep them honest. We just couldn’t keep up,” said Boggs.
“We came in wanting to play our style and control the clock a little bit, but man, Daniel is just really good defensively. We couldn’t pick up first downs, couldn’t stay ahead of the down and distance. They had answers for everything we did.”
On offense, Daniel outgained Blue Ridge 355-67. The Tigers committed four turnovers to Daniel’s one.
After the Tiger defense held firm in the first quarter, trailing just 8-0 at the end of the frame, Daniel rattled off three second-quarter touchdowns to lead 29-0 at the half. The Lions put three more scores on the board in the third quarter to carry a 49-0 lead into the fourth.
The lone score for the Tigers came late in the fourth quarter when brothers Drew and Eli Smith combined for a tackle in the end zone to force a safety.
There wasn’t much they could do against the perennial powerhouse, a team many believe to be favorites to win the 3-A state championship. They’ve won two of the past three.
Boggs expressed gratitude to his players for sticking a tough year out.
“These kids stayed positive all year. They came to work every single Monday and treated each week like it was a brand new season,” said Boggs. “Even after some disappointing losses on Friday nights, they never came in hanging their heads. They were always ready to go.
“You hate having to call it a season because you have so many kids putting in the time and effort to try to make the year better. That’s what hurts the most about it.”