A valiant effort to come back from a 28-7 halftime deficit fell short for the Rockbridge County High School football team, which suffered a 28-21 home loss to Shenandoah District rival Waynesboro on Friday night at Prasnicki-Ross Field at Veterans Stadium in Lexington.
The Wildcats (0-4 overall, 0-2 district) scored on their first drive, but Waynesboro (2-2, 1-1) capitalized on three turnovers and scored four touchdowns in the first half.
After a 37-yard pass from RC senior quarterback Grayden Brown to Aiden Meyers on the first drive, Brown made short runs to get the Wildcats to the Waynesboro 1-yard line, and Marshall Earhart made a plunge to the end zone with about four-and-a-half minutes into the game. Meyers then converted an extra-point kick to put RC up 7-0.
The Little Giants responded with a series of runs and then a 26-yard pass from quarterback Caiden Turner to Casey Breeden. Nashawn Mickens scored from there, and a PAT by Nicholas Rosas tied the game 7-7 with 3:25 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Breeden intercepted Brown and ran the ball back to the RC 40-yard line. The Little Giants moved the ball down the field, and Ethan Newsome made a 22-yard run to the end zone. A PAT by Rosas gave Waynesboro a 14-7 lead with 6:04 left in the first half. Three minutes later, Breeden intercepted Brown again and ran the ball back about 40 yards for a TD, with another PAT by Rosas extended the visitors’ lead to 21-7.
On the Wildcats’ next drive, Brown was sacked and fumbled the ball, and Waynesboro recovered it at the RC 37-yard line. Several runs by the Little Giants led to a 12-yard TD run by Jared Culmer, and the PAT by Rosas extended the Little Giants’ lead to 28-7 with 44.4 seconds left in the first half.
The Wildcats made adjustments at halftime and played better offensively and defensively. After holding the Little Giants back on the first drive of the second half, the Wildcats blocked a punt, and Andrew Kelly recovered it at the Waynesboro 22-yard line. Earhart then ran the ball twice to set up Kelly for a 6-yard TD run. Kelly then made a two-point conversion run to cut Waynesboro’s lead to 28-15 with 7:45 left in the third quarter.
After the teams traded possessions, Kelly scored on a 6-yard run with 4:59 left in the game to trim the Little Giants’ lead to 28-21.
The Wildcats then stopped the Little Giants on a three-and-out and got the ball back at their own 31-yard line. Several runs by RC and a Waynesboro facemask penalty got the Wildcats to the Waynesboro 34-yard line, but Breeden again intercepted Brown, and the Little Giants took a knee to end the game.
The Wildcats will continue district action at Stuarts Draft (3-1, 2-0) next Friday at 7 p.m.
For the full story, photos and stats, with a prediction for next week, please see our Sept. 24 newspaper.
