Braylon Edwards hauled in three touchdown receptions on Friday night as Blue Ridge football ran away with a 47-18 victory over Union County.
The win brought the Tigers to 3-6 overall on the season, but 2-1 in Region 3-3A play, as Blue Ridge has now won back-to-back region games to close the regular season strong.
“We’re starting to play our best football at the most important time of the year,” said Blue Ridge head coach John Boggs. “That’s always big. These guys have learned a lot and grown from some of the trials we’ve been through throughout this season. It’s good to see it start to pay off.”
Edwards was the man of the hour on offense, hauling in three of Holden Powell’s four touchdown passes on the evening. He’s now racked up double-digit receiving touchdowns over the course of the season.
“When [the defense] gave me those one-on-one opportunities, I knew I had to take advantage of them,” said Edwards, who stands at 6-foot-4. “Holden and I have that connection. He knows how to find me.”
Early in the game, however, when the offense for the Tigers struggled to get going, it was an opportunistic Blue Ridge defense that brought some needed momentum to the Tiger sideline. Thomas Hammond came up with a huge pick-six near the end of the first half to give the Tigers a 27-6 advantage and put the game away.
Blue Ridge's defense came up with four turnovers for the game.
“We preach complementary football,” said Boggs. “Defense gets a stop or a turnover, and that sets the offense up to come back out here and perform. We got some huge plays early in the game from our defense that helped get our offense going.”
Blue Ridge now turns to an all-important regular season finale next Friday night — a home region clash vs. Christ Church. If the Tigers emerge victorious from that clash, they will lock up second place in the region and a home playoff game.
“It’s been a process to get to this point,” said Boggs. “But we don’t necessarily want to treat next week any differently than any other game on the schedule. We know the importance, but our mindset is that the most important game is always the next one. This just happens to be the next one on the schedule, against a good, well-coached Christ Church team.”
