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The Parry McCluer High School football team suffered a 48-8 loss in its homecoming game against Altavista in nondistrict action on Friday night at Bobby Williams Field in Buena Vista.
The two teams came in with identical records, both 5-2 overall, but the Colonels had a suffocating defense that held PM to just 71 total offensive yards, split nearly even between the air and ground. Quarterback Jordan Pippin and teammates Ladainian Stone and Rosser Farmer were the triple threat for an Altavista offense that produced 389 total yards, with 382 coming on the ground.
The Colonels took an early 12-0 lead in the first quarter. Stone did most of the work to get the ball down the field and set the Colonels up for first-and-goal. He took the snap from the 2-yard line and rolled straight into the end zone with 8:25 left in the first quarter. Stone received the handoff to go for a two-point attempt but was swallowed up by the Blues’ defense, keeping the score at 6-0.
Farmer came up with the second TD for Altavista at firstand- goal from the nine-yard line. He found a lane down the left side and stetched the Colonels lead to 12-0 with 3:46 left in the quarter. The Colonels went for two again but failed, dropping the ball off the snap.
JJ Jones scored the final TD of the first quarter to put the Blues on the scoreboard. PM sophomore quarterback Nathan Glass got the ball to Jones, who darted 36 yards into the end zone, with no one close to catching up with him. Jackson Brockenbrough, who came off a big rushing game the previous week, ran for a two-point conversion, cutting Altavista’s lead to 12-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter remained scoreless, with each team exchanging fumbles early on.
Pippin faked a handoff to Stone during Altavista’s first drive of the second quarter. He found an opening down the middle into the end zone, but flags went down before he got in, and the ball was placed back at the 45-yard line for second down. Pippin then handed off to Stone, who fumbled the ball, and PM fell on it to take over.
After only making a couple short gains, PM fumbled off a snap. Altavista came up with it to start driving where they left off.
The Blues held strong at the end of the half and forced Pippin to go for a fourth-and-11 play at the 16-yard line. He sent the ball to Farmer who was wide-open on the far side, but he dropped the ball while toggling it just inches before stepping into the end zone. With 1:48 remaining in the quarter, the Blues couldn’t make any headway to the opposite end before the clock ticked down for the half.
During the halftime ceremony, the homecoming court was introduced. Parker Camden, a fullback and linebacker for the PM football team, was named homecoming king, while Addisen Roberts was crowned as queen.
An eerie fog enveloped the field during the second half, settling and skewing sight. Regardless, Altavista hit the gas, while PM was stumped.
“We played a really good first half,” said PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough. “I think we had a lot of distractions. Homecoming, it’s hard to rebound when you’ve got guys moving in and out, and you know, it’s hard to coach them up.”
Farmer scored twice for the Colonels, on runs of four and 80 yards, with Ja’Corion Davis and Stone respectively adding two points to each of his touchdowns. For the night, Stone led all players with 138 rushing yards on 13 carries, while Farmer had 119 rushing yards on eight totes. Going into the fourth quarter, Altavista led 28-8.
The Blues put up a good fight against the Colonels on defense in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough. After PM forced Altavista to a fourth-and-2 play from the 38-yard-line, Stone got the handoff and moved right along the far sideline for another touchdown. It was Davis again for the two-point conversion run, putting the Colonels up 36-8 with 9:07 left in the game.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Glass completed a long pass to Jones that put the Blues in Altavista territory at the 45yard line. However, the Colonels defense answered back, driving Glass all the way back to the PM 23-yard line. The Blues were forced to attempt a third-and-40 play.
Jones was down on the field after the play and did not return to the game after walking himself to the sideline. For the game, Jones led PM with 30 rushing yards on eight carries, while Jackson Brockenbrough rushed for 27 yards on 14 totes.
Glass also walked himself off the field after remaining on the grass following a hard sack by the Colonels’ defense. Glass was replaced by Aaron Pruett at quarterback for the remaining 7:05 minutes of the game.
On the next drive for Altavista, Pippin kept the ball himself and soared into the end zone on a 35-yard run. The Blues stopped the two-point attempt to keep the score at 42-8 with 6:57 left.
With just under three minutes left, the Blues were forced to fourth-and-13 and were lined up to punt the ball away. Senior Landon Catlett didn’t receive a clean snap and was forced to run the ball. He barely made any gain, leaving the Colonels in a good position to score once more.
Davis, who had only scored during two-point conversions so far, scored his own touchdown weaving into the blues endzone after receiving a handoff. The two-point conversion run attempt was no good, leaving the final score at 48-8.
Leading PM’s defense was Cole Chittum with eight tackles, while Camden, Shaiden Ratcliffe, Rayshan Richardson and Jacob Shafer each made seven tackles.
The Blues (1-1 district) will return to Pioneer District action when they play host to undefeated Bath County (8-0 overall, 2-0 district) for their final home game of the regular season on Friday at 7 p.m. Before the game, the Blues will honor their nine seniors.
Looking ahead, Coach Brockenbrough said, “We don’t really have anybody hurt – [just] banged up a little bit – but we’ve just got to get back to the grindstone and get it done.”
AHS 12 0 16 20 48
PM 8 0 0 0 8
First Quarter AHS – Stone 2 run (run failed) AHS – Farmer 9 run (run failed) PM – Jones 36 run (Jackson Brockenbrough run) Second Quarter No scoring
Third Quarter AHS – Farmer 4 run (Davis run) AHS – Farmer 80 run (Stone pass from Pippin) Fourth Quarter AHS – Stone 38 run (Davis run) AHS – Pippin 35 run (run failed) AHS – Davis 26 run (run failed) AHS PM
First downs 16 6 Rushes-yards 43-382 35-36 Passing yards 7 35 Comp-Att-Int 1-7-0 4-14-0 Fumbles-lost 3-1 3-1 Penalties-yards 8-60 7-65 Time of possession 24:11 23:49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – AHS, Stone 13-138, Farmer 8-119, Pippin 15-90, Davis 5-31, Harmon 1-2, Team 1-2. PM, Jones 8-30, Jackson Brockenbrough 14-27, Jordan Brockenborugh 2-5, Dunn 1-1, Snider 2-1, Shafer 3-0, Team 1-(-1), Catlett 1-(-7), Glass 3-(-20).
PASSING – AHS, Pippin 1-6-0 7, Stone 0-1-0 0. PM, Glass 4-14-0 35.
RECEIVING –AHS, Farmer 1-7. PM, Jones 2-29, Camden 2-6.
