Lightning strikes as Rye Cove stuns Lord Botetourt

EMORY – Line up behind Ethan Lawson and keep moving those legs. That worked for Rye Cove quarterback Tyler Shupe, who scored from 12 yards out with 34 seconds remaining to lift the Eagles to a 12-9 lightning-delayed season opening game victory over Lord Botetourt on Saturday night at Emory & Henry University's Fred Selfe Stadium. "Leaving here I am just super proud of these kids and how they fought," Rye Cove head coach Gary Collier. "We learned a lot about them early on about when the times get tough who is going to step up. I couldn't be prouder of them and having that opportunity and finishing it there at the end." Rye Cove (1-0) avenged a 49-12 loss to Lord Botetourt last season, a campaign that ended with the Eagles playing in the Class 1 state championship game. "It means a whole lot to Rye Cove football," said Shupe, who threw for 93 yards, ran for 36 and scored the winning touchdown. "We came up here last year and we got beat pretty badly. Just coming out here and getting the win, it means a lot." Lord Botetourt (0-1), which was playing its first game under first-year head coach Nick Leftwich, managed just 127 yards on offense, while losing 109 yards on 13 penalties. They still led 9-6 in a game that started 1 1/2 hours late due to lightning and then had another delay in the fourth quarter. "We didn't play well. We shot ourselves in the foot all game long," Leftwich said. "We have got to be ready for anything. We have got to be ready to face adversity. This is on me, I didn't do a good enough job preparing my team so I will make sure I do better moving forward and we will be better moving forward." Rye Cove had 202 yards on offense, including 48 yards rushing and a touchdown with 4:29 left in the second quarter by Cole Barnette, who also had 28 yards receiving. Shupe showed what was to come, simply pushing his way for a 9-yard gain during that 11-play drive. Lord Botetourt finally got on the board with 22 seconds left in the third quarter when Shupe was called for intentional grounding in the end zone. Collier saw plenty of teaching moments that the Eagles will work on before hosting Southern Gap in their home opener on Sept. 4. "As a coach when you feel like you made a ton of mistakes and you come out with the W, you can improve on that," Collier said. "(Shupe) is one that needs to improve. I know a couple of passes he made, a couple of reads he didn't make correctly, but overall, that is why he is there. He is that leader, he is a senior, been there, been in big games. I have got all the confidence in the world with him." Lord Botetourt took advantage of good field position, with Gus Feeny, who led the Cavaliers with a 36 yards on the ground, gaining 44 yards on four carries to open the fourth quarter, including a 17-yard dash to the end zone for a 9-6 lead with 10:28 to play. Another lightning delay soon followed, giving the Eagles the opportunity regroup during the 30-minute wait to get back on the field. "That touchdown drive that they scored on we looked tired, I didn't think we were tired, but we weren't tackling well," Collier said. "That last lightning delay, we were able to go in there and make some adjustments." Coming out of the locker room, the Eagles turned the ball over on a bad snap, and the Cavaliers appeared to have scored on a long touchdown pass, but that play was nullified by penalty. "The defense played well, we only gave up 12 points." said Leftwich, who's Cavs got nine tackles from Rylen Wright and an interception from Jackson Crenshaw. "We have got to make plays offensively and again that is on me." Rye Cove got the ball back following a punt at their own 30-yard line with 3:29 left to play. While the Eagles aren't known for their passing attack, Shupe went to the air with completions of 14 and 12 yards to Barnette, and another 18 to Will Darnell to move the Eagles to the 12-yard line. Following a timeout Shupe ran with the ball behind Lawson, and didn't quit moving his legs for 12 yards until he was standing in the end zone. "We were told by coach, 'Hey, we are going to run counter right behind me' because it was wide open and Tyler just kept it going to get that touchdown," said the 6-foot-6, 297-pound Lawson, the West Virginia commit, who was doubled and triple-teamed and missed a few plays while dealing with what he called a bruised or sprained knee. "Tyler is a tough kid. He might be short, but he is tough. He always has been too." "I am pretty sure they carried me across the line there," added Shupe, with a smile. "Everybody went crazy, it was nice." Rye Cove's defense finished it off, with Steven Mullins and Will Darnell combining on a game-ending sack of Burton. Ben McElroy and Darnell had eight tackles each, and Darnell had two sacks. "That is a good football team. They are very athletic, they have got a good coach and they will be fine," Collier said. "We hope we win them all all the way through. "Excited about this group, and again, what I am excited about is we made a lot of mistakes that we can clean up and get better than we were tonight." Rye Cove 12, Lord Botetourt 9 RC&emsp;0&emsp;6&emsp;0&emsp;6&emsp;—&emsp;12 LB&emsp;0&emsp;0&emsp;2&emsp;7&emsp;—&emsp;9 Second quarter RC — Cole Barnette 1-run (kick blocked) Third quarter LB — SAFETY (intentional grounding in end zone) Fourth quarter LB — Gus Feeny 18 run (Braeden Harvey kick) RC — Tyler Shupe 12 run (kick failed)