Early miscues Cavaliers' downfall in season opener

CHATHAM — Ball security wasn’t an issue during Chatham’s preseason and scrimmages, but the Cavaliers’ inability to hold onto the football led to their downfall in a 35-8 season-opening loss to Randolph-Henry on Friday night.

Chatham (0-1) fumbled the ball away four times in the first quarter — six times overall — and Randolph-Henry (2-0) made them pay dearly for it. The Statesmen scored their first 22 points off Chatham’s mishaps.

“That hurt us and we dug ourselves a hole,” Chatham coach Malon Dalton said.

None was more costly than the Cavailers’ fumble inside Randolph-Henry’s 5-yard line midway through the first quarter. Trailing 8-0 and on the verge of scoring, Chatham coughed up the ball on the 2-yard line. The ball popped into the air and into Todd Crawley’s hands. The Randolph-Henry defensive end returned the ball 98 yards for a touchdown, swinging the momentum heavily into the Statesmen’s favor while striking a deflating blow to the Cavaliers.

“I thought the turnovers were key,” Randolph-Henry coach Joe Freeland said. “They were right there knocking on the door and all of a sudden, instead of them scoring we scored and jumped out to a two-touchdown lead. That made a big difference.”

It seemed to be that kind of night for the Cavaliers, who had fumbled away their first play from scrimmage to start the game and had trouble fielding numerous punts and kickoffs.

Randolph-Henry took a 28-0 lead with 6:41 to play in the second quarter, but a big return and two costly penalties temporarily gave Chatham some fire. Cam McClellan returned the kickoff to the Statesmen’s 35-yard line and an unnecessary roughness call moved the Cavaliers 15 yards closer. Chatham
quarterback Preston Astin took the first snap 16 yards down the right side, and the Cavs picked up a few more yards thanks to a personal foul infraction.

Justin Adams finished it off with a 6-yard touchdown run up the middle to put Chatham on the board. His two-point conversion run cut the Randolph-Henry
lead to 28-8.

Chatham had one more golden opportunity to get closer before the end of the half. The Cavaliers used a 26-yard halfback pass from McClellan to Brent Shelton to get into the red zone, but they couldn’t get another first down and turned the ball over after failing to convert on fourth-and-2 with 34.7 seconds left.

‘We had a chance to score again and really make it a football game,” Dalton said. “But we weren’t able to get 2 yards for a first down.”

Chatham’s defense held Randolph-Henry in check for most of the second half. An 18-yard scoring run by Statesmen quarterback Josh Haskins accounted for the only touchdown after halftime.

The Cavaliers, however, couldn’t take advantage and struggled to get anything going on offense. They only crossed midfield once in the second half.

Chatham also had a fake punt run for a first down called back because of an illegal formation midway through the third quarter.

“Randolph-Henry did a good job up front,” Dalton said. “They hit us with quickness. … We just weren’t very sharp and that’s my fault. It comes down to being prepared and looking at the scrimmages we took some things for granted.”

Chatham will look to bounce back next Friday when the Cavaliers travel to Tunstall for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Randolph-Henry 35, Chatham 8
Randolph-Henry 14 14 7 0 - 35
Chatham 0 8 0 0 - 8
RH –Haskins 9 run (Haskins pass to St. John), 11:18
RH – Crawley 98 fumble return (Haskins run failed), 6:24
RH –Dailey 15 run (Haskins pass to Hurt), 11:52
RH – Haskins 3 run (Wiles kick failed), 6:41
C –Adams 6 run (Adams run), 3:16
RH – Haskins 18 run (Wiles kick), 0:04

Individual statistics
Rushing: R-H — Haskins 10-49, Goode 1-(-5), Stovall 6-30, Pleasant 7-(-4), Dailey 6-30, St. John 1-4, Brown 2-2, Pannell 1-(-4), Thompson 1-(-2), Team 3-(-6). C — Landoll 4-11, Adams 6-12, Walker 2-13, Clements 3-12, East 6-26, McClellan 6-(-15), Astin 4-7, Fitzgerald 1-4, Witcher 1-2.
Passing: R-H — Haskins 4-8-0 75. C — Astin 1-4-0 8, McClellan 2-5-1 38.
Receiving: R-H — Freeland 2-17, Hurt 2-58. C — Shelton 2-34, White 1-12..
Records: Randolph-Macon 2-0, Chatham 0-1.