Shorthanded Wildcats Fall To 0-7
Suffering its first shutout loss of the season, the Rockbridge County High School football team fell at Wilson Memorial 52-0 in Shenandoah District action on Friday night in Fishersville.
The Green Hornets (5-1 overall, 4-0 district), who have shut out their last three opponents, led 35-0 after the first quarter, scoring on their first five possessions, and were up 49-0 at halftime. WM got an impressive performance from quarterback Keyvon Jones. The senior signal caller, who only played in the first half because of the Hornets’ large lead, rushed for 63 yards and two touchdowns on three carries and completed 4-of-5 passes for 63 yards and a 32yard TD.
The Hornets dominated the Wildcats (0-7, 0-4), who were missing six key players due to injuries, in nearly every aspect of the game. WM racked up 323 total yards of offense, 260 on the ground and 63 in the air, while holding RC to just 75 yards, 55 passing and 20 running.
In their homecoming game, the Hornets wasted no time getting going, scoring just 54 seconds into the game when Jones rushed for a 46-yard TD. Maddox Woods, who converted all seven of his extra-point kick attempts, put WM up 7-0.
WM stopped the Wildcats in their own territory on RC’s first drive, and the Hornets made a series of runs that ended with a 1-yard TD run by Matthew Sisk, as WM took a 14-0 lead just over four minutes into the game.
On WM’s next drive, Sisk scored again on a 15-yard run, and the Hornets led 21-0 with 6:14 left in the first quarter.
After RC got the ball, the Wildcats earned their only first down of the first half when freshman quarterback Taylan Tyree made a 17-yard run. The Wildcats got into WM territory, but the Hornet defense forced a turnover on downs. For the game, the Wildcats earned just three first downs, while WM had 16.
The Hornets scored again on their next drive, with Jones completing a 32-yard TD pass to Nolan Deaver, giving WM a 28-0 lead with 1:11 left in the first quarter. Deaver led all receivers with three catches for 49 yards.
Just eight seconds later, WM scored again when Preston Deese recovered an RC fumble on the kickoff return and ran the ball back 15 yards for a TD, extending WM’s lead to 35-0. Deese led all players with 69 rushing yards on nine carries.
WM kept it going in the second quarter, as Ainsley McAllister ran for a 5-yard TD with 10:23 left in the first half, making it 42-0. After stopping the Wildcats again, the Hornets extended their lead to 49-0 when Jones ran for a 14-yard TD with 5:47 left in the first half.
On the Wildcats’ next possession, Tyree was hit and went down with a concussion, and sophomore quarterback Carson Fridley replaced him for the rest of the game. The Wildcats ended the first half by getting the ball near midfield.
Because WM’s lead was 35 points or more, the teams played the entire second half with a running clock, when both teams got in a lot of their reserves.
RC’s first drive was promising, as Fridley completed a 28-yard pass to Andrew Kelly to get the Wildcats to their own 44-yard line. Fridley then made a 10-yard run to put RC in WM territory, but WM’s Brayden Welch then intercepted Fridley at the Green Hornet 29-yard line.
Fridley led RC with 12 rushing yards on three carries and completed 3-of-5 passes for 36 yards. Prior to exiting the game, Tyree rushed for seven yards on eight carries and completed 4-of-8 passes for 19 yards. Kelly led RC’s receivers with four catches for 48 yards.
On their next possession, Hornets milked the clock and gradually advanced the ball down the field, getting to the RC 3-yard line before the Wildcat defense stopped them from scoring a TD. On fourth-and-3, With WM facing fourth-and-3, Woods kicked a 20-yard field goal for the only points of the second half with 7:52 left in the game.
Reviewing his team’s effort, RC head coach Zack Rhodenizer said, “When you’re injured and you try to put together a plan, you’ve got guys playing as hard as they can, doing the best that they can, but you’re shorthanded. You do the best that you can. Some games, you just don’t have all the guys.”
Rhodenizer noted that freshman William Wallen was one of the younger guys who stepped up, playing the second half at center. “He did a great job, came in and made good snaps,” said the firstyear RC coach.
Playing well defensively for the Wildcats was sophomore linebacker Asher Wells, who made five solo tackles and had five tackle assists.
WM is tied with Alleghany (6-0, 4-0) for first place in the Shenandoah District. The two teams will face off on Friday at Alleghany.
“Wilson’s rolling right now,” said Rhodenizer. “Defensively, they’re doing a good job this year, but the side effect of this was we got to play a lot of our guys. I’m pretty sure everybody touched the field on varsity.”
Proud of his team, WM head coach Ryan Byrd said, “It was a team effort. Everybody got in. Our goal was to have another shutout, and I was proud of the younger guys, who are always on the scout team. They’re not getting out to play every Friday night. They got a chance.”
The Wildcats will continue district action with their homecoming game against Riverheads (3-3, 2-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Looking ahead to the contest against a storied program that won seven consecutive state titles from 2016-22, Rhodenizer said the Wildcats would try to put together a good game plan. “I think they’re a good program,” he said. “They’ve got a great identity. We know they’re gonna come out and run the ball, and we’ve got to do the best we can to simulate their offense in practice.”
RC 0 0000 WM 35 14 0 3 52 No scoring
Fourth Quarter WM – Woods 20 FG First Quarter WM – Jones 46 run (Woods kick) WM – Sisk 1 run (Woods kick) WM – Sisk 15 run (Woods kick) WM – Deaver 32 pass from Jones (Woods kick) WM – Deese 15 fumble recovery (Woods kick) Second Quarter WM – McAllister 5 run (Woods kick) WM – Jones 14 run (Woods kick) Third Quarter
RC WM
First downs 3 16 Rushes-yards 18-20 31-260 Passing yards 55 63 Comp-Att-Int 7-13-1 4-7-0 Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties-yards 9-65 4-35
INDIVIDUALSTATISTICS RUSHING – RC, Fridley 3-12, Tyree 8-7, Kelly 6-5, Woods 1-(- 4). WM, Deese 9-69, Jones 3-63, Sisk 5-46, McAllister 6-44, Van Devander 6-34, Kindig 2-4.
PASSING – RC, Fridley 3-5-1 36, Tyree 4-8-0 19. WM, Jones 4-5-0 63, Kindig 0-2-0 0.
RECEIVING – RC, Kelly 4-48, Hoke 1-4, Looney 1-2, Dorey 1-1. WM, Deaver 3-49, Rodgers 1-14.
RC HEAD coach Zack Rhodenizer (center) talks to his players, including Wildcat senior Aiden Meyers (4). (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
WILDCAT SENIOR running back Andrew Kelly takes the ball down the field. Kelly led RC with four catches for 48 yards, but, as the victim of several tackles for loss, he was held to five rushing yards on six carries. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
