PM Prevails In Rivalry Tilt

Blues Win Third Straight Opener Over Wildats

Last Friday night’s high school football opener certainly lived up to its billing.

It had all the markings of a local rivalry: stingy, hard-hitting defenses, heightened emotions, low-scoring. And in the end, Parry McCluer did just enough to pull out the victory, taking a 21-11 win over Rockbridge County on Bobby Williams Field in Buena Vista.

“The first win means a lot,” said Parry McCluer head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough, whose team won its third straight in the series. “It sets the tone for the rest of the season, in my opinion.”

The tone for Friday’s contest was set early as the defenses dominated the first quarter. The Wildcats were forced to punt on their three possessions of the period, while the Blues lost a fumble and punted the ball away on their first two tries.

However, Rockbridge County had a chance to dent the scoreboard first. After the PM fumble, which gave the Wildcats possession at the PM 49yard line, RCHS was assessed one of its eight penalties in the game, and a third-down pass from freshman quarterback Taylan Tyree that would have given Rockbridge County a first down deep in Parry McCluer territory was dropped, forcing the Wildcats to punt the ball away.

“We certainly missed a few opportunities early, but offense always takes a little longer than defense,” said RCHS head coach Zack Rhodenizer. “If we hit on even one of those, I think the momentum and pace of the game would have certainly been leaning more in our direction.”

It was indeed a frustrating offensive night for the Wildcats, at least early in the contest. Rockbridge County finished the game with 160 yards of total offense, with 44 of those yards coming on a fourth-quarter TD drive that provided the final margin. Prior to that, RCHS mustered only 112 yards and just four first downs.

“The big thing was that I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage,” Brockenbrough explained. “That allowed us to read our keys and gave our linebackers a chance.”

That quartet all had big nights for the Blues. Parker Snider in the middle led the way with 12 total tackles, including one and a half tackles for loss. Jacob Shafer chipped in with eight tackles, while Kyle Smals and Jordan Brockenbrough, playing a hybrid position, which sometimes included snaps as a linebacker, were in on six tackles apiece.

“PM’s guys always play tough, which is a credit to them,” Rhodenizer said. “As the game went on, our kids played with an increased sense of urgency, and we were fortunate enough to execute later on in the game.”

Parry McCluer’s offense was the first to get untracked, embarking on a 70-yard TD drive that put the Blues on the scoreboard first. Quarterback Nathan Glass sparked the rally, picking up 30 yards on a bootleg run, and after two straight Shafer carries, the Wildcats were whistled for a personal foul penalty that placed the ball at the RCHS 13-yard line. Four plays later, Glass converted another bootleg play into a 7-yard touchdown run, and while the extra point kick was no good, the Blues had a 6-0 lead with 1:17 remaining in the first quarter.

“We kind of set up the [first] bootleg play,” Brockenbrough said, “and it worked out. We needed a big play. They defended the second one well; it was just a matter of who was going to make the best play.”

The defensive penalty during the drive was one of eight violations whistled against the Wildcats in the first half for a total of 80 yards. Parry McCluer committed six penalties for 60 yards in the game.

“There is never an excuse for deadball penalties, and that is a point of emphasis every day for us, not just after they happen,” Rhodenizer said. “I know a rivalry game carries with it some heightened emotions, but it’s hard to compete at a high level when you are giving away yards after the whistle. Field position is critical in every game, and those penalties made for tougher sledding than it needed to be.”

The Wildcats immediately responded to the PM touchdown with their best drive of the first half. Marshall Earhart dashed for 23 yards on two carries to open the drive and move the ball deep into Parry McCluer territory. An 11-yard jaunt by Eli Sorrells then moved the ball to the PM seven. Snider dropped Tyree for a 7-yard loss on the next play, however, and Rockbridge County had to settle for a 25-yard field goal from Aiden Meyers that cut the PM lead to 6-3 with 9:16 left until halftime.

The offensive outburst continued on Parry McCluer’s ensuing drive as the Blues took off on one of their patented, timeconsuming marches. The drive covered 74 yards in 16 plays and ate up nearly eight minutes of the second-quarter clock.

It almost ended early, however. The Blues faced third-andfour at their own 32-yard line when Glass dropped back to pass and faced heavy pressure from the RCHS defense. After a mad scramble, he tossed to Shafer, who had gotten behind the defense, for a 32-yard gain and a first down at the Rockbridge County 36.

The Blues, who were a perfect 4-for-4 on fourth down tries, converted twice on fourth down in the drive, both on Glass runs. Shafer got the TD on a 1-yard dive, and when he ran in the two-point conversion, the Blues took a 14-3 advantage into intermission.

Parry McCluer had a couple of opportunities to put the game away in the third quarter, but penalties and fumbles thwarted those efforts.

Receiving the opening kickoff to start the third quarter, the Blues drove all the way to the Rockbridge County 28-yard line. But on first down from there, PM fumbled the snap and was called for holding, forcing a punt.

Later in the quarter, the Blues got all the way to the Wildcat four before a lost fumble ended that scoring chance. The Blues fumbled six times in the contest, losing two of them.

“Ball security was bad,” said Brockenbrough. “That’s something we take pride in; we can’t have that. If we don’t put the ball on the ground, maybe we could have ended this one early.”

“Our defense played tough and kept us in it, which is a credit to both the kids and the defensive coaches,” said Rhodenizer.

After recovering that fumble, the Wildcats were able to get out of the shadow of their own goal line when Earhart bulled his way for a first down to the RCHS 14. On third down after that, however, Parry McCluer’s Timber Thomas sacked Tyree for a 2-yard loss, and Quentin Rosser’s short punt return set the Blues up at the RCHS 35-yard line.

Shafer ripped off 12 yards on first down from there, and his 11yard burst moved the ball to the Rockbridge 10. The Blues then converted on fourth down again, with Glass bulling his way into the end zone from four yards out. Rosser’s extra-point kick gave Parry McCluer a 21-3 lead with 8:32 left in the contest.

Shafer led all rushers in the game with 94 yards on 22 carries and was one of three Parry Mc-Cluer runners to gain 60 or more yards on the ground. Snider finished with 63 yards on 14 tries, while Glass ran for 60 yards on seven attempts. The Blues finished the game with 211 rushing yards.

The Wildcats were paced by Tyree, who rushed for 34 yards on 11 attempts. Earhart carried six times for 30 yards in the game.

Rockbridge County responded to the PM TD with their only touchdown drive of the game. Three big third-down conversions kept that drive alive. First, on third-and-10, Tyree dashed for 14 yards, and a PM personal foul penalty moved the ball to the Blues’ 30-yard line. Then, Tyree passed to Earhart for a 15-yard gain on third-and-14, and finally Tyree got just enough to keep the drive alive on third-and-six, moving the ball to the PM 4-yard line.

Andrew Kelly did the honors, bulling into the end zone for the score. He also ran in the twopoint conversion, and the Wildcats cut their deficit to 21-11 with 5:12 remaining.

The Blues all but sealed the victory when Snider picked up a first down on the next possession to keep the drive alive and allow Parry McCluer to chew up more than four minutes of game clock. Rosser ended it when he intercepted a Tyree pass at the buzzer.

The Wildcats, 0-1 for the third straight year, will play their home opener Friday night when they entertain Turner Ashby.

“Big take aways for us this week center around controlling what we can control and continuing to perfect our offensive operation,” said Rhodenizer, who made his debut as RCHS coach against Parry McCluer. “The team showed improvement in many areas, and we want to focus on building those goals towards greater success.”

Meanwhile the Blues, 1-0, will be back at home Friday, taking on Page County.

“The big thing is we have to avoid the hangover,” said Brockenbrough, who is in his third season and saw the Blues lose game two a year ago. “And we have to improve ball handling. We have to put more points on the board if we are going to win football games.

Both games will kick off at 7 p.m.

RC 0 3 0 8 11 PM 6 8 0 7 21 First Quarter PM – Glass 7 run (kick failed) Second Quarter RC – Meyers 25 FG PM – Shafer 1 run (Shafter run) Fourth Quarter PM – Glass 4 run (Rosser kick) RC – Kelly 4 run (Kelly run) RUSHING – RC –Tyree 11-34, Earhart 6-30, Sorrells 4-17, Kelly 6-15, Dorey 1-10, Meyers 1-4. Totals: 29-110. PM – Shafer 22-94, Snider 14-63, Glass 7-60, Team 2-(-2), Brockenbrough 4-(-4). Totals: 48-211.

PASSING – RC – Tyree, 6-15-0-50-1. PM – Glass 3-11-043-0.

RECEIVING – RC – Dorey 3-32, Earhart 1-15, Meyers 1-3, Sorrells 1-0. Totals: 6-50.

PM – Shafer 1-32, Z. Dunn 1-6, Coleman 1-5. Totals: 3-43.