SPENCER, W.Va. — No. 2 Roane County held a high-powered Scott offense to six first downs as the Raiders advanced to the state semifinal round for the first time with a 21-0 victory.
“To date, this is the biggest win in school history,” said Roane County head coach Paul Burdette. “We have been in the quarterfinals three years and come up very short. We didn’t want that to happen again. The two times we had come up short, it was very short. We talked about finishing before the game — finish, finish, finish. What a wonderful night to do it with snow on the field. I have never played a snow game at Roane County High School before. It is a special night.”
The Raiders (12-0) held the Skyhawks (9-3) to under a hundred yards of total offense while forcing a pair of turnovers in the first half.
“We have practiced all year long against multiple fronts each and every day. Our guys were prepared for that and they were ready. Our guys up front have worked so hard all year long on both sides. Our defensive line brought pressure and we got after them. Not enough credit goes to those guys.
“Ball control and ball security was a big topic before the game and especially at halftime. We knew if we kept ahold of the ball and stayed in front of the chains, we knew we could probably chew the clock up the way we had done before.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Roane broke the stalemate early in the second quarter. Lane Watson’s eight-yard touchdown run gave Roane a 7-0 lead. Watson rushed for a game-high 95 yards. He capped the scoring late in the fourth quarter with a six-yard touchdown tote.
Cooper Greathouse gave the Raiders a two-score lead at halftime. He returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown.
“The pick-six was without a doubt the play of the game. Cooper has gotten better, better and better this year. That was a huge play to put us up by two touchdowns.”
Shay Harper went over the thousand-yard mark in rushing for the season during the fourth quarter.
Roane will host the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between No. 3 Independence and No. 6 Philip Barbour in the semifinal round next weekend.