Rockets Zoom Past Blues

Rockets Zoom Past Blues Turnovers, Injuries Plague PM As Craig Remains Unbeaten

Craig County High School’s football team extended one streak and ended another when it paid a visit to Pioneer District rival Parry McCluer last Friday night.

The Rockets took advantage of a depleted PM roster and three more PM turnovers to control the clock and the ball, extending their unbeaten mark to 7-0 this season (2-0 in the Pioneer District) and snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Fighting Blues (4-4 overall, 0-2 district), putting a damper on PM’s homecoming festivities with a 33-6 victory in Buena Vista.

“We’re banged up,” said PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough, whose team played without its top two rushers and two starting offensive linemen Friday night. “The turnovers don’t help, but we’re awfully young in some key places right now.”

The first two drives set the tone for this one. After the Blues were forced to punt on their opening possession, a boot by PM’s Nathan Glass pinned the Rockets at their own 6-yard line. Though Craig did manage to move away from their own end zone, a holding penalty set up what should have been third-and-14 at the Craig 17-yard line. However, before the ball was even set, the Blues incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, giving Craig a first down at the 32-yard line.

From there, the Rockets methodically marched down the field to take the lead, with Carter Calfee plunging in from two yards out with just 25 seconds remaining in the opening period. In total, the drive covered 94 yards in 17 plays, with the Rockets converting on third down four times, including conversions of third and 10 at the PM 44 and third and nine at the 30, and consuming 9:40 of the first-quarter clock.

“You can’t make a big mistake like that,” Brockenbrough said of the penalty. “Our goal was to stop them on their first drive. Nobody had done that to them all year. We had them backed up, and if we had held them on that first drive it might have made a difference.”

That was the theme of the contest. Craig County held the ball for over 29 minutes in the game and was 6-for-8 on third down conversions. The Rockets ran 30 of their 53 plays in the first half and held the ball for nearly 17 of the first 24 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Blues – playing without leading rushers Jacob Shafer, who missed his third straight game with an injury, and Parker Snider, who left Friday’s game midway through the first quarter, along with starting offensive linemen Kaedin Conner and Tyler Chittum – repeatedly hurt themselves offensively. PM managed just 112 yards on the ground and failed to score a rushing touchdown for just the second time this season.

It’s not as if the Blues didn’t have their chances, though. Despite the limited possessions, PM twice moved deep into Craig territory in the first half, only to have those drives end in turnovers.

Early in the second period, PM converted on fourth-and-3 to move the ball to the Craig 32, but the next play was an interception to end that threat. With just over three minutes left before halftime, the Blues drove inside the Rocket 10, only to fumble away that scoring chance.

“That fumble really hurt,” said the PM coach. “That seems to be the story of our last three games.”

After the fumble, Craig County, aided by a 50-yard run from Jerry Smith, lit up the scoreboard again when Noah Paxton passed to Caleb Cregger for an 11-yard TD and a 12-0 lead at intermission.

After halftime, when PM seniors Kaelyn Roberts and Levi Hepler were crowned homecoming queen and king, the Blues could not have asked for a better start. The PM defense forced a punt to open the third quarter, and the shanked kick gave the Blues possession at their own 48-yard line. However, another interception, the 10th in the last five games for the Blues, ended that drive at the Craig County 31-yard line.

Then the Rockets blew the game wide open. On the first play after the turnover, Calfee raced 49 yards for a TD, and Smith scored on

Second Quarter CC – Cregger 11 pass from Paxton (kick failed) Third Quarter CC – Calfee 49 run (Cregger kick) Fourth Quarter CC – Smith 20 run (Cregger kick) CC – Smith 20 run (Cregger kick) PM – Rosser 38 pass from Glass (pass failed) a pair of 20-yard runs to give the visitors a 33-0 lead with just 7:44 remaining in the contest.

The Blues avoided the shutout when Glass completed a 38-yard TD pass to Quentin Rosser with 6:40 left.

Glass led the Blues in rushing with 68 yards on 13 carries, and he completed nine of 19 passes for 104 yards, the touchdown, and two interceptions. Rosser caught four of those balls for 67 yards.

The Rockets, who ground out 387 rushing yards with their singlewing offense, were paced by Calfee, who finished with 195 yards on 28 carries. Smith ended up with 149 yards on only nine tries for Craig County.

The Blues, now sitting sixth in the Region 1C standings, will take this Friday off for the bye week with a chance to recuperate from their second straight loss and a spate of injuries. They return to action on Halloween night when they play host to Bath County (4-2, 1-0) in the final home game of the regular season at 7 p.m.

“We need that bye week to get healthy,” Brockenbrough said. “I’m looking forward to sitting down with the kids and evaluat

CC 6 6 7 14 33 PM 0 0 0 6 6

First Quarter

CC – Calfee 2 run (kick failed)

CC PM

Rushes-yards 50-387 30-112 Passing yards 24 104 Comp-Att-Int 2-3-0 9-19-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – CC, Calfee 28-195, J. Smith 9-149, B. Smith 1-33, Paxton 8-24, Team 4-(-14). PM, Glass 13-68, Coleman 8-30, Brockenbrough 6-9, Thomas 1-4, Snider 1-1, Z. Dunn 1-0.

PASSING – CC, Paxton 2-2-0 24, B. Smith 0-1-0 0. PM, Glass 9-19-2 104. RECEIVING – CC, Doniphan 1-13, Cregger 1-11. PM, Rosser 4-67, Thomas 2-14, Brockenbrough 1-11, Z. Dunn 1-7, Smals 1-5.