The Parry McCluer High School football team officially has some momentum heading into the Region 1C playoffs.
With Nathan Glass scoring four touchdowns and Jacob Shafer adding more than 200 yards rushing and a score, the Fighting Blues (6-4 overall, 2-2 district) won their second straight game last Friday night in Elliston, rolling past host Eastern Montgomery 48-22 to close out the regular season.
“Friday night ended up being a good night,” said PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough. “We got a slow start, but we made a few adjustments at halftime.”
The victory put the Blues in sixth place in the Region 1C points standings. The Blues will open the postseason Friday night when they travel to third-seeded Grayson County (6-4) for a quarterfinal game.
“They’re a good football team,” Brockenbrough said of the upcoming playoff opponent. “They’re the defending Region C champs. But it’s definitely a winnable game.”
Friday’s regular-season finale ended up being a comfortable win for the Blues, but things got a little tight at one point. PM did jump out to an 18-0 lead, thanks to three of Glass’s four TDs, but then they fell victim to the big play again.
The Mustangs (1-9, 0-4) closed the first half when quarterback Chase Bierman tossed to a wideopen Marshall Tate for a 61-yard scoring strike. Eastern Montgomery then opened the third quarter with Biermann passing to Kellan Stewart for 48 yards and a score to cut the PM advantage to 18-14 with 9:53 on the clock.
“I didn’t think we wouldn’t be able to score,” Brockenbrough said. “They hit us with something we hadn’t seen all year long. I told [our players], ‘Let’s go put one in the house in two or three plays and get this thing over with.’” And that’s exactly what the Blues did. PM not only scored after the ensuing kickoff, needing only 50 seconds for Shafer to pound in a 5-yard TD run, but the Blues also tallied scores on their next three possessions after the Eastern Montgomery touchdown to put the game away.
After Shafer’s touchdown, the PM defense forced a three-andout for the Mustangs. Brody Coleman then capped a 68-yard drive with an eight-yard plunge, with Jordan Brockenbrough running in the two-point conversion. Glass scored his fourth TD of the night with a 66-yard sprint with 8:51 to play in the game, and when Quentin Rosser converted the extra-point kick, the PM lead had exploded to 41-14.
With two runs of more than 50 yards, Shafer finished the game with a career-high 214 rushing yards on just 12 carries. Glass tallied 120 yards on only seven tries, and with 10 different ball carriers in the game, the Blues pounded out a whopping 481 yards on the ground in the contest.
“We just have been going back to the basics,” said the PM coach. “When we got healthy, we went over our blocking techniques. [Shafer] had quality carries, and we had some designed runs for [Glass].”
For EM, Bierman completed 13 of his 23 passes for 259 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Stewart hauled in five of those passes for 103 yards. However, the Mustangs managed only 29 yards on the ground in 19 tries.
“Our run game is great,” Coach Brockenbrough said. “We’re shutting the run down, but people have found a weakness in the secondary. We’re going to simplify things this week.”
The Blues completed their scoring when Isaiah Gilbert posted a 23-yard TD run. Bierman ran in a 5-yard score in the waning seconds to provide the final margin.
The Blues will take the trip to Independence this Friday for their 14th straight playoff appearance and their first-ever meeting against Grayson County. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
“We have to have ball control and control the clock,” Brockenbrough explained. “We have to play physical, smash-mouth football. We control our own destiny from this point forward.”
“I think we have a pretty good football team right now; we’re pretty healthy,” the PM coach continued. “We have to play good football, and I think we’ll be all right. I’m excited about the opportunity. I think we’re ready.”
FIGHTING BLUE junior running back Parker Snider looks for a route to run while an Eastern Montgomery player tries to tackle him. Snider rushed for 43 yards on eight carries. (Ronnie Coffey photo)
