ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ

Rye Cove senior Will Rollins can’t wait to play ball.

“It is exciting,� Rollins said. “One last ride.�

It was a memorable first three years for Rollins, whose Eagles have won 31 games, including a Class 1 state semifinal appearance last season. Rye Cove led by 15 points in the fourth quarter, but Grayson County rallied to keep the Eagles from playing for the state championship.

Rye Cove, which finished 13-1 last season, remembers it well, but that was last year. A new season begins on Saturday when the Eagles “host� Class 3 Lord Botetourt at Emory & Henry University’s Fred Selfe Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

“We all just filed it away in our minds and just use it as motivation every week,� Rollins said.

As Rye Cove has improved as a football program, finding non-conference games has become an issue for the Eagles, which not only struggled to find a 10th game, but also managed to get just one preseason scrimmage.

“It was really tough to find people to play us,� Rye Cove head coach Gary Collier said. “We have had some coaches say we can’t give you any kind of competition type stuff, but a lot of this is your weeks don’t line up with everybody.�

Former Emory & Henry teammates, Lord Botetourt head coach Jamie Harless and Rye Cove assistant and former J.J. Kelly and St. Paul head coach B.I. Salyers, had an idea, and the Virginia High School League agreed to the plan.

“They talked back and forth and he was looking and they were looking, but our weeks didn’t match up,� Collier said. “We talked Week Zero. The VHSL let us do it, but they won’t let us start practice early so we are going to have to miss a week. As a coach that hurts a little bit, but we will be ready. It is part of it.�

Rye Cove has strengthened its non-conference schedule in recent years, adding Class 1 schools like Honaker, Chilhowie and Grundy. Up next is the Class 3 Cavaliers, which finished 9-4 last season, falling in the Region 3C championship game to William Byrd in two overtimes on their home field.

“We were playing some other teams that weren’t of that caliber so we don’t shy away,� Collier said. “Our kids will be ready to play that Saturday night. We know it is a tough task for us.

“They just reload, kind of like we try to do. We have some slots we have got to fill from last year’s graduation, but some kids have stepped up and we are looking pretty good in those spots right now.�

Rollins, whose uncle, Mark, also played at Emory & Henry, will fill two of those slots, running back and linebacker for the Eagles.

“I leave occasionally on kickoffs for rest, but that is about it,� Rollins said. “It is fun. It is extra experience on both sides.�

While Rye Cove has 12 seniors, having lost eight seniors, including seven that started on both sides of the ball last season, Collier said the Cavaliers lost 15 seniors, but return 18 players that were juniors last year.

“You can play with 22, but it ain’t like having 40 or 60 or like we are playing a 3A team that has three times as many kids to choose from,� Collier said.

Among those losses was quarterback Landon Lane, who is now part of the coaching staff, but Rollins likes what senior Jacob Jessee and junior Tyler Shupe can bring to the Eagles.

“They are stepping up. I like what I am seeing, they are really putting the work in,� he said. “They are both pretty athletic, they can both move.�

Rye Cove does return plenty of talent in other areas, including Carter Roach-Hodge and Rollins in the backfield, along with speedy backs like Cole Barnette, Blake Goins and Zach Lane running behind a big offensive led by Ethan Lawson and Cooper Bowen.

“We have got weapons everywhere, I think we will be good,� Rollins said. “No one guy takes the ball every time. We can spread it out and go wherever we need to go.�

Collier thinks the Rye Cove defense, which will be led by linebackers Rollins and Roach-Hodge, could be better than last season. Rollins is just glad to be out there, no matter who has the ball.

“As long as I am on the field,� Rollins said. “That is all that matters.�

Rollins wasn’t yet in high school when Rye Cove had to cancel its 2021 season at halftime of a game due to the lack of healthy players. That is no longer a problem, with the roster closing in on 50, and an avid fan base that can’t get enough of their Eagles.

“It has been amazing,� Rollins said. “I love it here, the fans are just amazing, the community is great, the coaches are great, the teammates are great, everything is good here.�

Rye Cove won’t play its first actual home game until Sept. 12 against Honaker, with Saturday’s game followed by one of two bye weeks the Eagles will have this season. That will be followed by a visit to Grundy in what will be the Golden Wave’s final season of existence before the Tigers visit Clinchport.

“I don’t like playing early and having two open weeks, but we had no choice when we couldn’t schedule anybody,� Collier said. “What hurts is we got permission to play a week early, but they wouldn’t give us permission to start early so we are losing a full week of full padded practices. We are losing a week, but we will be OK...�

Especially with players like Rollins, who knows that the Eagles will have plenty of fans cheering them on, no matter where they play.

“It is amazing. It is crazy how the fans just love to come out here every week. They are here early, right when the gates open they are flowing through so it is nice,� Rollins said. “They encourage us, they are ready for it to start back. They are excited, they want to be out here, they are just ready to see us keep winning.�

Last season’s disappointing end to the season still lingers at Rye Cove, but that is just a memory now.

“I think definitely we will step it up this year,� Rollins said. “I think we will be even better.�