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The Landrum Cardinals (6-4, 4-1) spoiled Senior Night for the Blacksburg Wildcats (0-10, 0-6) by scoring 27 points in the third quarter on their way to a 62-40 Cardinal victory. 

 

The Cardinals have back-to-back wins on Senior Nights, as they head into the playoffs with the type of finish that can only be described as gutsy, considering they trailed the winless Wildcat team at one point, 19 to 7. It was clear that the entire Landrum sideline felt it in their collective gut and responded. 

 

The hard-fought victory should be good preparation for their first-round matchup against the Keenan Raiders (6-4, 4-2) out of Columbia, who come in on a four game win streak where they have outscored their opponents 194-62. 

 

Landrum fell behind early on the road on Friday night, but a Braden Mashtere touchdown and Colton Link’s 99-yard kickoff return pulled the Cards within 5 late in the 2nd quarter. A Ronnie Beleu pick six gave Landrum a 28-26 halftime lead. 

 

Blacksburg pulled out all the stops looking to pick up a victory, but the Landrum defense came up with big play after big play, including a Sam Doan fumble recovery and Andrew McPeters pick six. Dominique Whitesides and Ryan Bunleut helped to finish off Blacksburg drives with big hits. Colton Link crossed the 100-yard rushing mark in the 2nd half and the Cardinals finished off their regular season campaign with a 62-40 road win. 

 

Landrum, who is 4-1 at home and 2-3 on the road, hosts Keenan, who finished in 3rd place in AA Region 4, in a home playoff game on November 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Cardinal Stadium. Temperatures are expected to be in the high 50s. Fans should come out and support the Cardinals as they look to advance in the 2A playoffs.