The rain may have lost Carroll County quite a bit of revenue Friday night, but the Cavaliers will gladly trade that for what could be a season-turning upset of William Byrd.

Down 20-6 at the half, the Cavs ripped off 29 unanswered points and held on to beat the highly-regarded Terriers 35-26 on a drenched Tommy Thompson Field in Hillsville.

“Our hope was to come in here tonight and let the elements make a difference and I think they did. I think the elements made a difference, but our kids really played hard,” Carroll County head coach Tom Hale said of the decision to play despite the constant rain that led to many postponements in the region. “We got down 20-6 and we just didn’t give up. I am just real proud of them.”

William Byrd (2-3) came in to the game fresh off two outstanding performances in losses, a narrow 24-21 setback to Salem and a 49-34 loss to Brookville, the top-ranked team in Group AA. And while the rain may have taken away some of the Terriers’ speed, junior quarterback Derrick Palmer still ran for 279 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries. He also added a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown.

But it was special teams, not the rain, that turned this game around. Trailing 20-6 with under three minutes left in the first half, Carroll drove 73 yards in 12 plays before Mason King ended the half with a 29-yard field goal that trimmed the deficit to 20-9.

Momentum turned completely on the Cavs’ side to open the second half as Ulisis Moreno’s squib kickoff caromed off Chris Dooley’s chestpads, which Moreno recovered at midfield.

“I think the turning point was the end of the second quarter where we kicked that field goal when we went in and a couple of their real good kids were grabbing body parts. We knew right then that when we came back out good things were going to happen,” Hale said. “We weren’t trying to do that (onside kick), if just worked out our way. We planned to squib it because we didn’t want to kick it to (Palmer, who had returned a punt 95 yards for a score earlier in the game) because you could see what he could do.”

Carroll quarterback Blake Bowman capitalized on the onside kick three plays later, busting through a huge hole up the middle on a QB draw for a 39-yard touchdown. Cody Mabe ran in the 2-point conversion to trim the Byrd lead to 20-17.

Momentum was now fully on the Cavs side as Carroll’s defense, which gave up touchdowns on all three Byrd possessions in the first half, forced a three-and-out on the ensuing possession. Consecutive runs of 12, 34 and 16 yards by Brandon Huff, Dillon Caviness and Mabe led to Zack Surratt’s 5-yard touchdown, putting the Cavs ahead 23-20 midway through the third.

Carroll’s offense was starting to take control by this point en route to a 339-yard rushing performance. Mabe finished with 118 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, while Caviness added 96 yards on 11 rushes.

“We told them all week, ‘You moved the ball on them last year and they had one heck of a good football team, and you can do it again this year,’” Hale said. “The end of the second quarter and the whole second half, when we had the ball we got first downs and that was what we needed to do to keep them off the field. Our offensive line did a tremendous job tonight. Cody Mabe, my goodness, did he run hard.”

Byrd answered with a long drive, but Mabe ended the threat by sacking Palmer for a 9-yard loss on 4th and 13 at the Cavalier 33. Mabe was rewarded for his effort two plays later as he busted through a huge hole on a double reverse for a 55-yard touchdown run and a 29-20 Carroll lead.

With three minutes remaining and Byrd threatening to score at the Carroll 12, the Cavalier defense came up with perhaps the biggest, and most comical, play of the game. Rolling out of the pocket, Palmer was sacked and fumbled. Matt Fink, a 6-0, 225-pound defensive lineman, picked up the loose ball and rumbled and stumbled 76 yards before running out of gas at the Terriers’ 4. The near touchdown provided Fink’s teammates with a good chuckle after the game.

“Somebody said something about getting him an oxygen mask and putting it in his locker,” Drew McCraw joked. “I just wished he could have scored. It happened to me last year and I didn’t score, so I know how he felt.”

Fink admittedly was spent after the long fumble return.

“I was wore out after that. All I saw was the ball and I scooped it and hoped for the best,” Fink said. “There was a wall behind me and I still couldn’t score because I am so slow.”

It didn’t matter as Surratt did the honors two plays later, scoring from four yards out for the game-clincher.

Mabe credited the offensive line for paving the way for a huge night for the Cavalier ground game.

“Drew McCraw, James Lanning, Mickey Quesenberry and Jason Bolen, they blocked excellent. They blocked the linebackers, especially number 11 (all-state linebacker Tyler Snow), and opened the middle plays wide open every time,” Mabe said.

Byrd added a touchdown with 26 seconds left, but Carroll recovered the onside kick to seal the deal.

After an 0-3 start, Carroll County (2-3, 0-1 SWD) has now won two in a row and has a world of confidence as it closes out the season with five straight district games beginning this Friday with a home date with Abingdon.

“Had we lost this game and gone to 1-4 it was going to be tough the rest of the way out. I don’t think the kids would have given up on purpose, but they have been playing so hard. They played hard tonight and if we would have somehow not come out victorious tonight it would have been hard to get these kids up and going,” Hale said. “This win right now is great for our program. We beat a heck of a football team tonight.”

After the game, the Cavalier locker room was buzzing with a renewed outlook on the season.

“We have a big boost of confidence right now,” Fink said.

Added McCraw, “I am cloud nine right now. Everybody in that locker room is to beat a team like that. For us this means that our district hopes are still alive. We are 0-1 in the district, but we open our district next week with Abingdon and it is a new season right now. We just put 35 points on a team that played with Brookville last week and Brookville is the top-ranked team in Double A.”

William Byrd 14 6 0 6 — 26

Carroll County 6 3 20 6 — 35

First Quarter

CC — Mabe 17 run (kick failed)

WB — Palmer 35 run (Palmer run)

WB — Palmer 95 punt return (run failed)

Second Quarter

WB — Palmer 19 run (run failed)

CC — King 29 field goal

Third quarter

CC — Bowman 39 run (Mabe run)

CC — Surratt 5 run (kick failed)

CC — Mabe 55 run (run failed)

Fourth Quarter

CC — Surratt 4 run (kick failed)

WB — Palmer 5 run (run failed)

Team Statistics

WB CC

First Downs 17 15

Rushes-Yards 49-294 39-331

Passing 2-7-0 1-5-0

Passing Yards 46 30

Fumbles-Lost 3-3 0-0

Penalties-Yards 6-50 2-10

Possession 26:42 21:18

Individual Statistics

William Byrd

RUSHING — Palmer 41-279, Snow 3-8, Hurt 4-5, Wallace 1-2.

PASSING — Palmer 2-7-0 46 yds.

RECEIVING — Wallace 1-30, Fuquay 1-16.

Carroll County

RUSHING — Mabe 9-118, Caviness 11-96, Bowman 6-54, Surratt 10-49, Huff 2-16, Team 1-minus 2.

PASSING — Bowman 1-5-0 30 yds.

RECEIVING — Lanning 1-30.