It was a first quarter that almost lasted longer than the other three combined. By the time Buckingham County ran five plays, it had James River in a 2-possession hole. Behind a pair of early interceptions and plenty of rushing yards and touchdowns from Leon Ragland and Kenneth Johnson, the sixth-seeded Knights cruised to a 63-24 win in the first round of the Division 2A West Region playoffs.
“I’ll tell you what — we’re front runners now — we get something going early and these boys rally around it,” said Buckingham coach Craig Gill. “It’s like it’s feeding time around here and they’re sharks.”
It took just three plays and a minute for the Knights to get on the board with the first of four Johnson touchdowns. The first quarter scoring spree continued moments later when Harold Stanton hauled in an interception and set up a 17-yard rushing TD from Ragland, this first of his three scores.
“We were prepared,” Gill said. “We came out in that cold, it was dark, 6:30 p.m. and I was just proud of the way these kids prepared and it showed tonight. My coaching staff did a great job with the game plan and the boys executed. This was great. I’m so happy for them because a lot of people gave up on us early when we lost to Appomattox and then Goochland.”
Another interception, this time from Ragland, Johnson cashed in a 51-yard touchdown scamper to make it 21-0. Ragland had a 10-yard TD run to make it 28-0, with the Knights having run just 11 plays on offense in eight minutes and change.
“It felt good knowing that I didn’t have to run the ball as much as I normally do,” Johnson said.
James River broke up the shutout on the next play from scrimmage on a 70-yard pass, but Buckingham responded with another 28-spot as Ragland broke a pair of long runs of 43 and 56 yards that set up a pair of short Johnson TDs, from seven and one yard out. Ragland’s third rushing TD made it 49-6 midway through the second quarter.
“Our line was great and I love ‘em,” Ragland said. “We’ve got some great athletes there they played great.”
Gill put in the second team offense in and that changed nothing as the Knights punched in another touchdown to inflate their lead to 56-6 going into the break.
With a insurmountable lead and a running clock on its side, Buckingham had little trouble resting its starters in the second half and cruising to the win to finish up its final game at home this year.
“(The younger guys) they’re stepping up,” Johnson said. “We had lots of guys graduate last year and everyone’s come in to do their jobs. That was our (the seniors’) last game at this stadium and so it meant a lot to come out and just give it our all.”
The Knights (8-3) will travel to face third seed Dan River (9-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. The Wildcats lone losses came in week three to Tunstall and week seven against Altavista. Dan River defeated 13th seed Glenvar 32-15 in its first round win.
