The drive for five is alive.

 

Rashawn Woods and O'Shane Valentine hooked up for scoring passes of 11 and 5 yards and Tyler Martin booted two field goals to begin Bassett's quest to win their fifth consecutive Piedmont District title. The Bengals dominated Carroll County 28-7 on Friday evening in a season-opening non-PD matchup.

 

Woods, the reigning Timesland offensive player of the year, also rushed for 71 yards while Valentine gained 58 yards on just seven carries.

 

Because many of the Bengals' offensive starters hadn't yet played a varsity down, head coach Jay Gilbert had some worries that Bassett's inexperienced backfield and receivers would start out slow.

 

Woods and the new cast of Bengal ballers quickly disspelled that notion.

 

"Everything came together very quickly. We really clicked well from early on in the game," said Gilbert. "Everyone played together and played hard. We executed on both sides of the ball and got the job done."

 

Senior guard Andrew Miller kept Carroll County confused, racking up eight solo tackles, six assists and two stops for a loss. Michael Hodges was a force at inside linebacker with six tackles and six assists. Vershaun Norman also contributed heavily to a stout defensive display.

 

"They really had no answer for Andrew," Gilbert said of his aggressive defensive leader. "He really helped put pressure on their backfield and forced them to make some mistakes."

 

Woods completed nine of his 13 passes and looked impressive throwing from the shotgun snap. A stubborn offensive line kept the senior signal-caller from taking any hard shots from Carroll County defenders. Options and sweeps were regularly converted for first downs as the Bengals moved to 1-0 overall.

 

Martin hammered home both of his field goal attempts, a 29-yarder in the first quarter and 38 yards in the second stanza.

 

Dylan Caveness led Carroll County with 74 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

 

Bassett's home opener is Friday at Ed Bassett Stadium against Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry head coach Bob Gray is a former assistant football coach and head wrestling coach at Fieldale-Collinsville High School.

 

This Friday's game will be dedicated to the late Jerry Slaughter, former F-C administrator and state championship golf coach. Slaughter was recently inducted into the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame.

 

Story by: Chris Dollarhite

GAME AIRS MONDAY NIGHT AT 9PM