In a competitive Shenandoah District opener, the Rockbridge County High School football team saw its second-half comeback fall short, as Staunton dealt the Wildcats a 16-8 home loss on Friday night at Prasnicki-Ross Field at Veterans Stadium in Lexington.
Staunton improved to 3-0, while the Wildcats fell to 0-3 after their closest game of the season.
With strong running on their first drive, the Wildcats got to the Staunton 14-yard line before turning the ball over on downs on an incomplete pass. After a scoreless first quarter, Staunton’s Luc Geffrard intercepted RC sophomore quarterback Taylan Tyree on a fourth-and-21 pass and returned the ball 90 yards for a touchdown. An extra-point kick by Thomas Hutchinson gave the story a 7-0 lead with 10:12 left in the first half.
Led by Carson Fridley, the Wildcats had success running the ball before turning it over on downs at the Staunton 27. The Storm gradually got the ball down the field, and a 38-yard run by Braxton Covert set Staunton up for a 33-yard field goal by Hutchinson as the first half concluded, extending the Storm lead to 10-0 at intermission.
At the start of the second half, an RC penalty helped Staunton get into the red zone, and quarterback Kayden Organ made a 19-yard TD pass to Covert to stretch the Storm lead to 16-0 just 1:01 into the third quarter.
Penalties hurt the Wildcats on their next drive, and Staunton got the ball back. On the Storm’s next drive, Fridley got the home crowd excited when he intercepted Organ and sprinted away from Staunton players for a 60-yard TD. Fridley then ran for a two-point conversion to cut Staunton’s lead to 16-8 with 31.1 seconds left in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, RC made another interception, with Maliq Corbin picking off Organ and returning the ball to the RC 46. However, penalties hurt the Wildcats again, and Staunton milked the clock on its next drive. The Wildcats had one more possession, but they weren’t able to get the ball past midfield, and the Storm ran the ball and milked the clock for the final minutes of the game.
The Wildcats will continue district action next Friday at 7 p.m. at Waynesboro (0-3 overall, 0-1 district).
For the full story, photos, stats and a prediction for next week, please see our Sept. 16 newspaper.
