Storm Hold Off ‘Cats Fridley Snares Pick Six, But 13 Penalties Hurt RC
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.
The game was looking winnable for the Wildcats when they cut a 16-0 deficit to 16-8 in the third quarter, but penalties spoiled the Wildcats’ final possession. For the game, the Wildcats committed 13 penalties, mostly on offside calls, for a total of 90 penalty yards. The Storm lost 50 yards on eight penalties.
Frustrated by the penalties, RC head coach Zack Rhodenizer said, “We cannot beat ourselves. The kids worked hard this week. I thought we had a good game plan coming in, but false starts, personal fouls, lack of focus in those little moments add up.”
The RC coach said he did see some progress from his team, which was coming off a 43-0 road loss to Turner Ashby a week earlier, following a 36-14 home loss to Parry McCluer in the season opener on Aug. 28. “We saw some positive things,” said Rhodenizer. “We moved the ball on offense, got some stops on defense.
Before the game, the crowd honored first responders on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
With strong running on their first possession, the Wildcats drove 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 Storm a 7-0 lead with 10:12 left in the first half.
It was a tough game for Tyree, who completed just 3-of-14 passes for 29 yards, with the interception.
Led by Carson Fridley, the Wildcats had success running the ball again 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 completed a 19-yard TD pass to Co- vert to stretch the Storm advantage to 16-0 just 1:01 into the third quarter. For the game, Organ completed 13-of-17 passes with two interceptions for 102 yards. Covert led Staunton’s receivers with two catches for 32 yards.
AFTER MAKING an interception early in the fourth quarter, RC senior Maliq Corbin returns the ball to midfield while teammates Parker Zollman (61) and Sarge Culton (55) run down the field. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
WILDCAT JUNIOR Carson Fridley (6) takes the ball down the field after making an interception while Staunton’s Luc Geffrard (20) tries to stop him and RC’s Harvey Presnell (2) watches. Fridley ran the ball back 60 yards for a touchdown and also made a two-point conversion run. For the game, he rushed for 27 yards on five carries. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
Penalties hurt the Wildcats on their next possession, 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 in half, 16-8, with 31.1 seconds left in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, RC had another interception, with Maliq Corbin picking off Organ and returning the ball to the RC 46. However, penalties again hurt the Wildcats, stymying this possession. The Wildcats had one more opportunity, but they weren’t able to get the ball past midfield. The Storm ran the ball and milked the clock for the final minutes of the game.
Both teams had success running the ball, with Staunton rushing for 112 yards and RC gaining 97 yards on the ground. Covert led the Storm with 53 rushing yards on five carries, while Nazeriah Stuart rushed for 45 yards on nine carries. Jhordane Campbell paced the Wildcats with 38 rushing yards on 10 totes, while Fridley ran for 27 yards on five carries.
The Wildcats had solid tackling from Asher Wells, Finn D’Antonio, Cole Hartless and William Wallen.
RC will continue district action on Friday at 7 p.m. at Waynesboro (0-3 overall, 0-1 district). Last year, the Wildcats came up just short against Waynesboro, 28-21, in Lexington.
Optimistic about the Wildcats’ chances, Rhodenizer said, “Every game, we want to go into it and prepare to win. Now we’re in district play, so everything matters. We’ll just have to put our heads down and work on Monday.”
SHS 0 10 6 0 16 RC 0 0 8 0 8 First Quarter No scoring
Second Quarter SHS – Geffrard 90 interception return (Hutchinson kick) SHS – Hutchinson 33 FG Third Quarter SHS – Covert 19 pass from Organ (kick failed) RC – Fridley 60 interception return (Fridley run) Fourth Quarter No scoring
SHS RC
First downs 13 7 Rushes-yards 20-112 39-97 Passing yards 02 29 Comp-Att-Int 13-17-2 3-14-1 Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0 Penalties-yards 8-50 13-90
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – SHS, Covert 5-53, N. Stuart 9-45, Wilson 1-4, Ford 1-3, Geffrard 1-3, Organ 2-2, T. Stuart 1-2. RC, Campbell 10-38, Fridley 5-27, J. Corbin 11-16, Presnell 3-14, Tyree 9-4, Whitlock 1-(-2).
PASSING – SHS, Organ 13-17-2 102. RC, Tyree 3-14-1 29. RECEIVING – SHS, Covert 2-32, T. Stuart 2-23, Johnson 3-22, Wilson 1-12, Geffrard 2-8, J. Stuart 1-4, Hartless 1-3, N. Stuart1-(2). RC, Presnell 1-18, Wells 1-10, Campbell 1-1.
