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Gladiators Slay ‘Cats RC Gridders Fall To 0-8 On Homecoming
Battling to the end to avoid a shutout, the Rockbridge County High School football team fell to Riverheads 41-6 in the Wildcats’ homecoming game on Friday night at Prasnicki- Ross Field at Veterans Stadium in Lexington.
As the clock expired, RC senior running back Andrew Kelly ran for a 4-yard touchdown to get some points on the scoreboard for the Wildcats (0-8 overall, 0-6 district). The Wildcats set up the TD run on the previous play when freshman quarterback Taylan Tyree completed a 34-yard pass to senior wide receiver Aiden Meyers.
Proud of his team’s effort, a week after the Wildcats suffered a 52-0 road loss to district leader Wilson Memorial (6-1, 5-0), RC head coach Zack Rhodenizer said, “They don’t have any quit in them. We [coaches] challenged them at halftime. We said, ‘Look, we are where we are. We’re not gonna make excuses for injuries. We’re gonna play with who we’ve got.’” Rhodenizer said that, after facing a 21-0 halftime deficit to Riverheads (4-3, 3-2), he and his assistant coaches asked the Wildcats to play with some fire, and they did. “The ball didn’t go our way, but they kept fighting all the way to the end,” said the first-year RC coach. “Right there at the end, we got a good little execution down the field and were able to put some points on the board, which was a good way to end the night.”
For the night, Kelly rushed for 70 yards on 16 carries, caught three passes for 17 yards, and also got the Wildcats in good field position with his kick returns. Defensively, Kelly forced the Gladiators’ only turnover, intercepting Riverheads quarterback Kendal Edwards early in the second half.
Assessing Kelly’s progress in his first year playing varsity football, Rhodenizer recalled how he recruited him after watching some of the Wildcats’ boys lacrosse games in the spring. Kelly is a highscoring midfielder for the boys lacrosse team. “Andrew’s one of the guys that we went out and recruited pretty hard in the offseason,” said Rhodenizer. “I’m not a big lacrosse guy, but I watched quite a few lacrosse games to try to get him to come out, and we’re glad he did.”
“He runs hard, he does everything we ask, and he’s a smart football player,” added Rhodenizer. “He asks questions. It’s evident that he watches film. He wants to do a good job, and I think his teammates and his coaches respect him for that.”
Earlier in the game, Riverheads scored on its first drive, with Jackson Fitzgerald making a 17-yard TD run. An extra-point kick by Bryan Lopez-Rojas put the Gladiators up 7-0 just under four minutes into the game.
The Wildcats made it into Riverheads territory in the first quarter, getting to the Gladiator 36-yard line on a 30-yard pass from Tyree to Joseph Dorey, who then made a 13-yard run to get RC to the Riverheads 23.
It was a quality game for Dorey, as the senior wide receiver led RC with 45 yards on two catches and also rushed for 59 yards on four carries.
Dorey’s offensive progress didn’t lead to a score, though. After sacking Tyree twice, the Gladiators got the ball back and scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Edwards with 8:42 left in the first half, and another PAT by Lopez-Rojas extended the Gladiators’ lead to 14-0. Riverheads scored again when Rylan Payne made a 2-yard run to the end zone, and the PAT by Lopez-Rojas stretched the Riverheads lead to 21-0 with 2:07 left in the first half.
During the halftime ceremony, RC’s homecoming court was introduced, and Caleb Robinson, a senior lineman for the Wildcats, was named homecoming king. Senior Mackenzie McCormick, who plays volleyball for the Wildcats, was crowned queen.
Although Kelly’s interception in the third quarter didn’t lead to a Wildcat score, it delayed Riverheads from continuing to add to its lead. Kelly got his interception on a ball that was in the air for longer than most. “I just saw it, and I was like, I’ve got to go get that,” said Kelly.
The Gladiators scored again when Fitzgerald ran it in from 22 yards out to make it 27-0 with 4:57 left in the quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Skyler Shiflett intercepted Tyree and ran the ball back to the RC 17-yard line. Several players later, Shiflett scored on a 3-yard TD run, and a PAT by Jonah Williams stretched the Gladiators’ lead to 34-0.
Riverheads scored once more, on a 43-yard TD run by Spencer Simpson, and Williams converted the PAT to make it 41-0 with 7:15 left in the game.
The home team wasn’t done fighting, though, making a series of passes and runs to set up Kelly’s TD.
Praising his team for battling hard throughout the game and especially at the end, Kelly said, “We’ve got a lot of guys hurt. We’ve got a lot of young guys out here. They gave it their all, all night long. They blocked for me. … They opened up holes.”
Although Kelly and Dorey had success running the ball and Meyers made two catches for 44 yards, the Gladiators dominated the night with their running game. Riverheads racked up 360 rushing yards while holding RC to 124 yards. Fitzgerald led all players with 126 rushing and two TDs on 12 carries, while Shiflett carried the ball 10 times for 77 yards. Also stepping up for Riverheads were Simpson with 56 yards on two totes and McCauley with 48 yards on seven carries.
The Wildcats held Riverheads to just five passing yards, while Tyree had a solid passing game, completing 8-of-16 passes with one interception for 114 yards.
The Wildcats continue district action on Friday when they play at Fort Defiance (3-4, 2-3) at 7 p.m. It will be the Wildcats’ final road game before they have a bye next week, and they’ll conclude the season at home against district rival Alleghany (6-1, 4-1) on Friday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m.
RHS 7 14 13 7 41 RC 0 0 0 6 6 First Quarter RHS – Fitzgerald 17 run (Lopez-Rojas kick) Second Quarter RHS – Edwards 1 run (Lopez-Rojas kick) RHS – Payne 2 run (Lopez-Rojas kick) Third Quarter RHS – Fitzgerald 22 run (kick failed) RHS – Shiflett 3 run (Williams kick) Fourth Quarter RHS – McCauley 43 run (Williams kick) RC – Kelly 4 run RHS RC
First downs 17 14 Rushes-yards 45-360 36-124 Passing yards 5 114 Comp-Att-Int 1-2-1 8-16-1 Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-yards 5-40 4-45
INDIVIDUALSTATISTICS RUSHING – RHS, Fitzgerald 12-126, Shiflett 10-77, Simpson 2-56, McCauley 7-48, Payne 4-24, Miller 3-24,Woods 3-4, Edwards 4-1. RC, Kelly 16-70, Dorey 4-59, Meyers 1-11, Looney 1-(-2),Tyree 14-(-14).
PASSING – RHS, Edwards 1-2-1 5. RC,Tyree 8-16-1 114. RECEIVING – RHS, McCauley 1-5. RC, Dorey 2-45, Meyers 2-44, Kelly 3-17, Looney 1-8.
ABOVE, RC senior lineman Xavier Flowers (left) and sophomore linebacker Shayde Tomlin team up to tackle a Riverheads player while Wildcat senior Andrew Kelly (far right) watches. Kelly stepped up both offensively and defensively. As a running back, he led the Wildcats with 70 rushing yards on 16 carries and scored RC’s only touchdown as the clock expired.As a defensive back, Kelly forced the Gladiators’ only turnover, making an interception early in the second half.ATUPPER LEFT, Wildcat freshman quarterbackTaylanTyree breaks away from defenders. Tyree was held to minus-14 rushing yards on 14 carries, but he completed 8-of-16 passes with one interception for 114 yards. AT LOWER LEFT, Tomlin extends his left arm to take down Riverheads running back Jackson Fitzgerald, who led all players with 126 rushing yards and two TDs on 12 carries. Approaching to help out is Kelly (10). (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photos)
