Rockbridge County (0-1) at Turner Ashby (1-0) WHEN: 7 p.m. on Friday WHERE: Sam Ritchie Stadium at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater LAST YEAR: Turner Ashby dominated the Wildcats with a 44-6 win in Lexington. The Knights, who went 9-2 last fall and made it to the Region 3C semifinals before falling to Heritage, capitalized on great field position throughout the first half against the Wildcats. TA quarterback Zachary Grove completed 9-of-11 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns, doing it all in the first half. The Knights led 38-0 at halftime and added one more TD in the second half. Andrew Kelly rushed for 88 yards on 19 carries for RC, including the Wildcats’ lone TD early in the first quarter.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS: Grove graduated in the spring, but Colt Jennings had an impressive first varsity start last Friday for TA, completed 12-of-17 passes for 237 yards and four TDs and rushing for 47 yards on eight carriers in the Knights’ 41-6 home win over Fort Defiance. Jennings connected with a variety of receivers in the opener. The Knights also got a big game from Ethan Farrish, who rushed for 73 yards on four carries. TA’s defense stepped up throughout the game, and the Knights look to be a force to be reckoned with in Region 3C again.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Last Friday’s season opener was a rough start for the Wildcats, who suffered a 36-14 home loss to local rival Parry McCluer. The Wildcats have lost four offensive linemen to injury over the last two weeks, so they’ll need some of the less experienced players to step up. Pat Looney showed his senior leadership, scoring both of the Wildcats’ TDs, on a 66-yard kickoff return and on a 23-yard TD pass reception from sophomore quarterback Taylan Tyree. Another senior, Carson Fridley, had a solid running game, leading the Wildcats with 29 yards on four carriers, but the Wildcats are going to need more players to step up to make progress this season.
THE NEWS- GAZETTE’S PICK: After a tough opener, the Wildcats’ road only gets tougher. We expect they’ll have trouble containing Jennings and the rest of the Knights’ offense, and it’ll be a true test before the Wildcats start Shenandoah District play next Friday, Sept. 11 when they play host to Staunton. We think Tyree will have success getting the ball to Looney, but the Knights will have too many weapons for the Wildcats. We see TA dealing the Wildcats a 49-14 loss.
Parry McCluer (1-0) at Page County (0-1) WHEN: 7 p.m. on Friday WHERE: Panther Stadium in Shenandoah LAST YEAR: PM scored on a school-record 95-yard pass and broke open a close game with a pair of touch-
, page A12 downs late in the first half to defeat the Panthers, 46-12, in Buena Vista. Behind the 206-yard rushing effort of Braxton Petit, Page County kept it close early, but the Blues ground out 328 rushing yards of their own and piled up over 500 total yards to improve to 3-0 against Page County.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Page County, which posted a 2-8 record a year ago, opened the season with a 22-0 loss to Rocktown. The Panthers’ “Beast” offense, a modified version of the single-wing with tight line splits and a downhill mentality, went three-and-out in its first possession of that game, and though it showed potential to move the football, never really threatened. Petit returns to the backfield for the Panthers, as does Logan Richards, who rushed for 67 yards in last season’s game. While that offense has potential to get rolling, the Page County defense continues to be porous, surrendering yards and points at a high rate over the last several seasons.
SCOUTING THE BLUES: The Blues did lose a pair of f umbles in its 36-14 victory over Rockbridge County in the opener last week, but other than that, PM hardly looked like a team playing its first game of the season. Led by Parker Snider’s 126 yards rushing and Brody Coleman’s three touchdowns, including one on the first play of the game, PM churned out nearly 400 yards on the ground against the Wildcats and stormed out to a 20-0 lead to start the contest. Defensively, the Blues held RC to just seven first downs, none in the first 18 minutes of the second half and only 115 yards of total offense, thanks in part to Snider’s 14 tackles and two quarterback sacks from Kyle Smals.
THE NEWS-GAZETTE’S PICK: With a true three-headed monster in the backfield – fullback Thomas Conner scored a TD last Friday as well – the Blues should post another monster night on the ground against Page County. The defense will be key, particularly up front where the Panthers boast a big offensive line. The Panthers did find some success early in last year’s contest – and might do the same early Friday night – but look for the Blues to tame that “Beast” this year while putting up big offensive numbers for the second straight week, posting a 42-6 victory.
