Wildcats Routed By TA

Knights Grab Big Early Lead, Cruise To 44-6 Win

Turner Ashby capitalized on tremendous field position throughout the first half, jumping out to a big early lead and cruising past the Rockbridge County High School football team 44-6 in Lexington on Friday.

Zachary Grove completed 9-of-11 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns to pace TA (2-0). All of his damage came across the first two quarters as the Knights led 38-0 at the break, going on to spoil the home opener for their former Valley District rival Wildcats (0-2).

Andrew Kelly rushed for 88 yards on 19 carries for RC, and he scored the ’Cats’ lone touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Four of TA’s first five drives started in Wildcat territory, and an injury-depleted RC team was unable to keep the Knights at bay on the short field.

“Field position’s everything in football,” RC head coach Zack Rhodenizer said. “When you play a good program, you’ve got to play your best; you can’t beat yourself.”

The Wildcats got off to a positive start, with Kelly rushing for gains of eight, seven and five yards on the first three plays from scrimmage. But a bad snap stifled any early momentum and forced the first of six straight punts from Tyler Woods.

TA proceeded to march down the field on a 7-play, 58-yard scoring drive, going in front for good on Grove’s 29-yard TD toss to Mason Mantz. A missed extra point made it 6-0 with 5:44 to play in the first quarter.

Then things started to snowball. The Knights’ next four series all started on the plus side of midfield – including two inside the RC 30-yard line – and they all culminated in touchdowns. David Bondaruk’s 7-yard run and a 20-yard dash from Ethan Farrish stretched the visitors’ cushion to 19-0 by the end of the opening frame.

While the Wildcats never turned the ball over, a combination of three-andouts and a tough night in net punting – TA’s Cooper Smith had punt returns of 30 and 34 yards in the first half – kept putting the RC defense in a tight spot. The Knights cashed in again early in the second stanza, when Grove’s 20-yard pass to Devin Smiley and Gavin Knopp’s extra point pushed the margin to 26-0 with 8:25 to go.

“We work special teams a lot, but you know, when you’ve got guys in different spots – we had a few injuries this week – they played their hearts out, but it’s just not the same as having your regular guy,” Rhodenizer said. “On the special teams front, we got our punts off, but we were a little under duress, and we weren’t able to get quite the yardage we were hoping for.”

Following another RC three-and-out, Colton Pence’s 11-yard touchdown plunge extended TA’s lead to 32-0 at the 4:44 mark of the second quarter. Later in the period, David Breneman punched the ball in from six yards out, capping off a 4-play, 67-yard series – the Knights’ longest drive by yardage in the game – and completing the 38-0 halftime advantage.

TA opened the second half with another scoring possession, and Brennan Batman’s 5-yard TD run with 6:37 left in the third quarter made it 44-0.

The Wildcats responded with their lone touchdown drive of the night. Kelly amassed 66 of his rushing yards on 10 totes on the series, and his 1-yard touchdown run with 9:15 remaining in the fourth got RC on the board.

Pence led TA with 63 yards on just six carries, while Farrish notched 44 yards on five attempts and Batman finished with 10 rushes for 37 yards. Mantz caught four passes for 52 yards, and Smiley added three receptions for 32 yards.

Taylan Tyree completed 4-of-9 passes for 44 yards for RC, and Aiden Meyers caught two of those balls for 37 yards. Overall, though, TA limited the Wildcats to just 108 yards of total offense – 72 of which came on RC’s second-half scoring drive.

Facing one of its toughest opponents of the regular season – the Knights went 12-1 in 2024, advancing to the Region 3C championship game – was always going to be a tall order. Despite the big early deficit, Rhodenizer was pleased with his team’s effort throughout the night.

“They played as fast as they could, as hard as they could, and they did everything we asked them to do. As a football coach, I can’t ask for anything more than that,” the first-year head coach said. “When you have a down week with injuries, and the kids come out and still play hard, that says a lot about who they are as people.”

RC will open up Shenandoah District action with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Staunton on Friday.

TA 19 19 6 0 44 RC 0 0 0 6 6 First Quarter TA – Mantz 29 pass from Grove (kick failed) TA – Bondaruk 7 run (run failed) TA – Farrish 20 run (Knopp kick) Second Quarter TA – Smiley 20 pass from Grove (Knopp kick) TA – Pence 11 run (kick blocked) TA – Breneman 6 run (kick failed) Third Quarter TA – Batman 5 run (kick blocked) Fourth Quarter RC – Kelly 1 run (kick failed) First downs Rushes-yards Passing yards Comp-Att-Int Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards

TA RC

14 6

29-199 29-64 160 44

12-15-0 4-9-0 1-0 1-0

10-85 8-70 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – TA, Pence 6-63, Farrish 5-44, Batman 10-37, Jennings 4-30, Bondaruk 2-17, Breneman 1-6, Smiley 1-2. RC, Kelly 19-88, Brown1-(-4), Tyree 8-(-6), Team 1-(-14).

PASSING – TA, Grove 9-11-0 124, C. Jennings 3-4-0 36. RC,Tyree 4-9-0 44.

RECEIVING – TA, Mantz 4-52, Smiley 3-32, G. Jennings 1-21, Simmers 1-19, Harper 1-17,Wood 1-15, Williams 1-4. RC, Meyers 2-37, Looney 1-8, Kelly 1-(-1).