Published: November 07, 2009 12:29 am      

Richwood goes undefeated

Lumberjacks roll past Gilmer County 68-26

RICHWOOD — At kickoff, Class A No. 1-rated Richwood was 48 minutes from a perfect season.

Less than two minutes later, the Lumberjacks were in the end zone, making a strong statement that they would not be denied.

Richwood reeled off eight first-half touchdowns Friday night en route to a 68-26 throttling of visiting Gilmer County.

“We wanted to come out and take care of business,” Richwood coach Jason Rogers said. “That was our goal, to put them away early.”

The victory gave Richwood (10-0) its first unbeaten season since 1953.

“Unbelievable!” Rogers said.

The Lumberjacks will also host a first-round playoff game next weekend. The opponent, date and time will be released by the WVSSAC office Sunday.

Richwood junior quarterback Sam Tindal scored four TDs in the first half, covering 47, 1, 30 and 51 yards.

Senior running back Dustin Brown contributed with three second-quarter TDs of 57, 33 and 12 yards, while senior defensive lineman Jacob Jones picked up a fumble and rambled 21 yards for a TD.

Richwood led 54-0 at halftime.

Brown ran for 311 yards on 21 carries, giving him 2,001 yards for the regular season.

“What was more amazing was he did it with two of our starting offensive linemen out,” Rogers said. “They filled in and got the job done.”

The Lumberjacks ran wild, gaining 609 yards on the ground, most coming in three quarters before Rogers elected to go to his bench with a healthy lead.

Tindal rushed for 155 yards in seven trips.

“We have a nice little one-two punch (in Brown and Tindal),” Rogers said. “If one’s not on, the other one is. When they’re both on fire, things like this happen.”

Richwood posted 28 first downs to Gilmer’s 10.

Josh Burton scored on two long TD runs covering 36 and 78 yards for the Titans (3-7) in the second half. He ended up with 155 yards on 12 attempts.

Jack Boley scored on a 7-yard run and Zach Bennett ran back a kickoff 79 yards to close out the scoring for Richwood.

— Email:

jworkman@register-herald.com