Branyon helps Landrum run over Walhalla

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>LANDRUM |</strong> That's [player_tooltip player_id='1715570' first='JP' last='Branyon']. Branyon as in brahma, as in brahma bull.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Branyon is a sophomore from Landrum who's listed at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds and also listed as a tight end on offense. Unfortunately for the Cardinals' season-opening opponent, Walhalla, Branyon looked - and played - much bigger than 215 Friday night. And he never really lined up at tight end.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In an offense that Landrum calls a "gun T," Branyon unloaded on the Razorbacks as a running back Friday That's a position Branyon was forced to play due to injuries to others last season. He responded with 195 yards and had hoped to build off that this season. Well, mission accomplished as he raced past those numbers on opening night Friday. Branyon ran 27 times - nearly always North and South - bullying his way for 225 yards to lead the Cardinals to a 32-21 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I gotta give all the credit to my o-line because I can't do it without them. They made holes for me all night," Branyon said. "I just get to mosey on through and then run over some safeties and defensive backs and have some fun."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a game that was moved up an hour-and-a-half to try to beat the forecasted stormy weather and then had a two hour, 10 minute halftime thanks to that stormy weather, Landrum's offense came out rolling but a little too fired up. A couple of snaps high over the head of quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1817896' first='Ian' last='Patterson'] ended an promising opening drive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cardinals defense gave it right back to the offense two plays later though when [player_tooltip player_id='1817891' first='Trey' last='Nesbitt'] made a diving interception. There were no high snaps on the next drive, which Branyon capped with a 10-yard touchdown run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walhalla looked to answer on its next drive as the combination of new quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1822576' first='Rush' last='Harvey'] and wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1825163' first='Nick' last='Butler'] helped the Razorbacks reach the Landrum five-yard line. But on second-and-goal, Harvey's fourth pass to Butler on the drive didn't connect. Instead, Landrum's [player_tooltip player_id='1816588' first='Dallas' last='Collins'] jumped the screen pass and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown to help push the lead to 14-0.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A 10-play drive by Walhalla on its ensuing possession ended when the Cardinals' [player_tooltip player_id='1823428' first='Zeke' last='Poore'] came up with a sack for a 10-yard loss on third down. Poore then partially blocked the punt to help set up Landrum at its own 49. The Cardinals again turned a big momentum play into points five plays later when Patterson scored on a three-yard run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Zeke's a sophomore. JP's a sophomore. We just couldn't be more proud of these young guys," Landrum coach Mike Reid said. "We knew coming into tonight that we're going to be a run-heavy team and when you've got JP, you're going to feed him the ball."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walhalla's leading rusher from a year ago, [player_tooltip player_id='1820060' first='Essien' last='Nathan'], was on the sideline with his arm in a sling Friday. Meanwhile, the second back in the Razorbacks' rotation, [player_tooltip player_id='1820061' first='Braylon' last='Certain'], got hurt early on Friday playing middle linebacker. That left the rushing duties to [player_tooltip player_id='1823445' first='Latrevis' last='Lewis'] and he responded with a crucial 66-yard touchdown to help cut the lead to 20-7 at the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After the lengthy halftime break, Landrum was determined to just pound the ball on the soggy ground in the second half. That wet ball came flying free on the Cardinals second play though and Butler recovered. Three plays later, Butler hauled in a 50-yard touchdown pass to make it a one-score game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Landrum answered right back as a 32-yard run by Nesbit help set up a one-yard touchdown by Patterson to push the lead to 26-14.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cardinals looked to put things away in the fourth quarter after [player_tooltip player_id='1817894' first='Tanner' last='Gossett'] recovered a muffed punt late in the third quarter. On fourth-and-two from the Walhalla 22, linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1824841' first='James' last='Leslie'] dropped Patterson for a one-yard loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With momentum on their side, the Razorbacks got a 48-yard catch by Butler. That led to an eight-yard touchdown run by Lewis to cut the lead to 26-21 with 7:43 left to play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walhalla attempted an onside kick, but with the soaked turf the kicker's foot nearly whiffed on the football as it only went a yard. After three runs by Branyon got it down to the eight, Patterson kept for his third touchdown of the game to help seal it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After completing 3-of-4 passes in the first half for 49 yards, Patterson didn't put it in the air once in the second half. He finished with 121 yards rushing on 23 carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"After we went up in the locker room (at halftime), our coaches were like, 'It's wet boys. Throwing the ball is going to be tough right now,' " Branyon said. "So we just toted the rock."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lewis led Walhalla with 140 yards on 18 carries, while Butler finished with 151 yards on five receptions. [player_tooltip player_id='1771835' first='Caleb' last='Johnson'] had five catches for 50 yards also for the Razorbacks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1822470"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":2341573,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6a8928fead65b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">As [player_tooltip player_id='1715570' first='JP' last='Branyon'] said, he could not have had the eye-popping night he had without his offensive line Friday and Som was one of those leaders along that front. Som also came up with some key stops on the other side of the ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The offensive line's work helped the Cardinals snap a six-game losing streak dating back to last season, in which they started 3-1.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We're pretty good up front," Landrum coach Mike Reid said. "These guys have worked so hard this summer. The fruits of their labor really showed tonight. I'm just really excited for these guys because they've been through so much."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->