Friday, Sept. 12 -- Staunton fended off the Rockbridge County High School football team to earn a hard-fought 14-7 victory in the Shenandoah District opener for both squads at Winston Wine Memorial Stadium.
Taiden Combs' 74-yard touchdown pass to Luc Geffrard early in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the Storm (3-0) claimed the win in a defensive slugfest against the Wildcats (0-3).
Combs completed 10-of-17 passes for 166 yards, with Geffrard snagging four of those tosses for an even 100 yards. But RC bottled up Staunton's running game, limiting the Storm to just 94 yards on 33 attempts. Leon Woodard led the way with 11 carries for 35 yards and a touchdown.
Staunton was even more impressive on the stop side, yielding a paltry 56 yards of total offense and holding the Wildcats without a first down until the fourth quarter. Grayden Brown paced RC with 39 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts, all of which came in the second half.
Woodard's 6-yard scoring run capped off a 7-play, 66-yard scoring drive, and Geffrard's extra point put the Storm in front 7-0 with 9:35 to play in the second quarter. That margin held through the end of the half, and the 'Cats entered the intermission with minus-2 yards of total offense.
The Wildcat defense kept the visitors in the game for most of the night, but Combs' swing pass to Geffrard finally broke RC down. After scampering 74 yards up the left sideline, Geffrard added the point-after to make it 14-0 with 10:44 to play.
But the 'Cats had an answer. Eli Sorrells' 51-yard return on the ensuing kickoff set RC up at the Staunton 40-yard line. With Brown stepping in for starting quarterback Taylan Tyree -- who had departed the game on the previous series due to injury -- the Wildcats cashed in on the excellent field position, and Brown's 5-yard scoring run got RC on the board at the 6:23 mark. Aiden Meyers' extra point trimmed the margin down to 14-7.
The RC defense got another stop, including a key pass breakup from Ethan Farrish on third-and-17. But despite starting their next drive near midfield with 4:31 remaining, the Wildcats seemed to run out of steam, and a fourth-down stop from the Storm essentially iced the game.
RC will return home to face Waynesboro next Friday, Sept. 19, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
