SALEM – If anybody would be playing ball-control clock-killing offensive football late in the State Class 2 Championship involving Riverheads and Radford, it would be the steamroller rushing attack of the ground-bound Gladiators. Or so it would have seemed.

Yet here were the Bobcats eating up almost the entire fourth quarter at Salem Stadium Saturday with what may as well have been called a ball-control passing attack to put most of the finishing touches on an impressively dominating 39-21 victory Saturday afternoon.

It was the first football title for Radford (15-0) since the second of back-to-back titles for the Bobcats in 1972 in old Group AA in a three-classification system.

For Riverheads (13-2) it was the first year since it won no state football crown since 2015 when the school was in old 1A. The Gladiators’ last six titles in a seven-Championship run were in Class 1. This season was the program’s first in Class 2.

Depending on who you asked, Riverheads had plenty of support as the favorite in this matchup. Even so, the Bobcats were the no-doubt dominant team in the game that began in light rain and finished in temperate partly cloudy conditions.

“Total respect for your team,” said Riverheads’ best player Cayden Cook-Cash to Radford receiver Max Kanipe when it was over.

The differences in the game were Kanipe and Landen Clark, Radford’s brilliant quarterback and a Bobcats defense that had two immense 4th-and-1 defensive stops, one in each half, that changed the game.

The first stonewall job was late in the first quarter from the Bobcats 15. Cook-Cash, who was unstoppable in the previous two title games, was halted in his tracks by a swarming Bobcats defense. Eight plays later Clark was connecting with JD Grubb for a 10-Yard screen pass TD to give them their first lead 13-7.

The second big stop was early in the fourth quarter from the Radford 37. Cook-Cash was straightened between the tackles again. Radford was leading 32-21 at the time. That set the stage for the Bobcats’ final advance, Clark completing passes at will to move his team to the Riverheads 5.

A fumble stopped the march but the Gladiators, who to that point had not thrown a pass, did not have near the time they would have needed to stage an improbable comeback.

The last of three subsequent desperation Gladiators passes was picked off by Dawson Martin at the goal-line and he took one step into the end zone for the game-sealing touchdown.

“Those two fourth down stops were huge – huge,” Radford Coach Michael Crist said, “because they are so hard to stop. They’re good.”

Hard to stop, that was Radford’s versatile offense. Crist and his coaches knew that possessions would be pivotal because of Riverheads’ ability to hang on to the football for long stretches. Radford ended up with the upper hand in that regard and not by a little.

The 6-foot-3 218-pound senior Cook-Cash did his share with 196 yards and three scores on 34 bruising carries.

Clark, who was also terrific on defense, passed for 255 yards and four scores on 14-for-21 accuracy. Kanipe had nine catches for 226 yards and two TDs. Clark also connected with Luke Woodard for a score.

The 50-yard bomb to Kanipe 29 seconds before the break made it 25-14. Riverheads played from behind the rest of the way.

“Landen is such a talented player that other teams try to keep him honest and with the focus on him I can get open easier,” said Kanipe, who had 15 receptions in one game earlier this season. “Then I have three other outstanding receivers running routes beside me and it opens up the routes for me.”

Clark, who is committed to play football at the next level at Elon, and Kanipe have had a special connection all season

“It comes with practice and the offseason,” Clark said. “We’ve built the chemistry throughout the last two years.”

Clark added 100 rushing yards on 15 carries including a 9-yard touchdown. Most effective were tackle-busting QB draws with Clark reading the field like an interesting novel.

“Those were called plays,” he said.

For both success in the running and passing games Clark tipped his headgear to his blockers.

“Those guys worked their butts off.”

Take a bow Dawson Martin, Nolan Dalton, Daniel Neely, Jackson Wade, and Charlie Davis.

Davis also played middle linebacker and was right in the thick of it on the two crucial fourth down plays.

“Any big plays you make gets the crowd going and gets us going,” Davis said. “We feed off their energy and it gives us another level to play in.”

As for the architect of the plan, Crist, he joins his father David, the former Blacksburg Coach, as the only father-son pair to Coach a State Champion. The elder Crist won in 1977 and 1989.

“I coach because of my Dad,” the Radford Coach said. “That’s why I became a Coach. You want to be like your Dad, so that’s why I Coach.”

If that’s not touching enough for you, try this from Clark as he reflected on the visit the ’71 and 72 Bobcats Champs made to the current squad earlier this week.

“This is better for the community than it is for us [players],” he said. “That’s who we play for. These fans man have been here week in and week out for us. It was raining and look at all these people.

“The ’71 and ’72 teams are probably going to be more thrilled than we are.”

Videos Courtesy of Robert Anderson