Following last Monday's loss to Amelia County, there was some concern as to how Buckingham County High School's football team would react to the defeat with a short week to prepare for its homecoming tilt with Nottoway.

It turns out, there was no need to worry. Buckingham (4-1, 1-1 JRD) quickly regained its swagger and responded with a 54-19 victory last Friday in Buckingham.

“It's good to get back on the winning path,” said BCHS head coach Craig Gill. “We have not faced adversity like [the loss to Amelia] in a long time, and I wondered how we would react when we got hit square in the mouth. We didn't handle it well that night, but we emphasized team unity all week, and the kids focused and had a great game.

“Nottoway runs a flexbone that requires our defensive guys to play their assignments. They have a really impressive tailback that's as fast as anybody I've seen. If you make one mistake, he's gone, and I thought our defense did a great job containing him.”

Buckingham jumped ahead 13-0, before Nottoway (2-3, 1-1) cut the Knights' lead to 13-7 just before the half, however, Buckingham turned momentum squarely in its favor when senior quarterback Tarian Ayers hit speedster LA Briley on a screen pass, who streaked down the field for a 95-yard touchdown.

The score gave Buckingham a rather narrow 20-7 advantage lead at the break.

“I told the guys that how we started the second half would dictate how the rest of the night would go, and I was pleased to see us be able to take the ball downfield and score.”

Ayers scored one of his two rushing touchdowns to give Buckingham a commanding lead and put the game away.

“I was pleased with our offense, and how balanced our scheme was. We had over 400 yards with 226 on the ground and 182 passing.”

Ayers was 7-13 passing on the night for 182 yards, with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed 14 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

Briley caught four passes for 110 yards, including the 95-yard touchdown reception. Jesse Hickman had one catch for 38 yards and Cam Johnson had two catches for 34 yards and a touchdown reception.

Kenneth Johnson gained 58 yards on seven carries and scored a touchdown, while Kyree Koonce had 33 yards on seven carries. He also had a touchdown and a two-point conversion.

Defensively, Laysean Hearns led the Knights with 9.5 tackles (seven solo), a tackle for a loss and a sack.

Kenneth Johnson had six tackles (four solo) with a sack, while Devin Smith had five solo stops and a sack.