.jpg)
Bath County maintained its perfect record with a 55-0 romp over Parry McCluer High School in a Pioneer District football matchup in Buena Vista on Friday.
James Campbell rushed for 143 yards and three touchdowns, and he threw for three more scores as the Chargers dominated from start to finish, improving to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the Pioneer. The win sets up a district championship battle in Hot Springs this Friday, when Bath plays host to Narrows (7-2 overall, 3-0 district).
Nathan Glass completed 9-of-17 passes for 90 yards for the Fighting Blues (5-4, 1-2), but he was intercepted twice on the night.
Two early turnovers put PM behind the eight ball. The Blues fumbled inside their own 30-yard line on each of their first two possessions, leading to two quick TDs for Bath. Campbell’s 29-yard TD run and his 10-yard scoring pass to Braiden Mabe, combined with a pair of extra-point boots from Andrew Turner, put the Chargers up 14-0 with 6:49 remaining in the first quarter.
“You turn the football over, and you ain’t going to win a football game,” PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough said. “You’ve got to win the turnover ratio.”
The Blues had a window to get back into the game on their third series, sustaining a 12-play drive that advanced the ball deep into Bath territory. On fourth-and-6 at the Chargers’ 27-yard line, Glass raced down to the goal line, but a holding penalty negated the run. The Blues would end up turning the ball over on downs after an incompletion on fourth-and-16.
“We had an opportunity down here, and we scored,” Brockenbrough said. “We got a holding penalty right there on their sideline. I think that was a turning point in the game.”
After Bath punted and the Blues again failed on a fourth-down conversion, the Chargers struck again. Campbell’s 33-yard run took the ball down to the PM 27, and – following a holding penalty – the Bath quarterback linked up with Luke Turner for a 35-yard TD that made it 21-0 at the 7:42 mark of the second period.
An unsportsmanlike conduct flag on the Chargers following the score and Jayden Richardson’s 19-yard kickoff return combined to set PM up at the Bath 34-yard line. But an intentional grounding penalty on third down pushed the Blues into fourth-and-23. For the third straight possession, PM would turn the ball over on downs on the Chargers’ side of midfield.
“We’d make a good play or two here, and then we would get a bad penalty or something,” Brockenbrough said. “We’d cleaned that up, and then the penalty bug shocked us again tonight.”
Bath zoomed back down the field, adding to its advantage when Campbell found the end zone from seven yards out for a 27-0 halftime lead.
The second half started with more of the same, as Campbell finished off an 11-play, 70-yard scoring march with his third rushing touchdown, this time on a 2-yard plunge. The Bath QB’s twopoint conversion pass to Bransen Gordon made it 35-0.
After Cooper Lowry picked off Glass at the PM 21-yard line, Andrew Turner punched the ball in on a 10-yard TD for a 42-0 advantage late in the third quarter.
The Chargers put together another lengthy scoring drive early in the final frame, culminating with Campbell’s second 35-yard scoring strike to Luke Turner with 5:25 to play. Mabe then intercepted Glass and returned the ball 16 yards to paydirt to provide the final margin.
Jackson Brockenbrough caught three passes for 39 yards for the Blues, and he also led PM with 35 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Campbell’s 143 rushing yards came on 17 attempts, while he completed 6-of-14 passes for an even 100 yards. Ethan Bryant notched 61 yards on just three totes for Bath.
The loss spoiled senior night for the Blues’ nine-player class of Richardson, Parker Camden, Landon Catlett, Payton Cauley, Anthony Gonzales, JJ Jones, Zack Mook, Aaron Pruett and Shaiden Ratcliffe. But despite back-to-back home defeats against Altavista and Bath, Brockenbrough believes his team has already exceeded external expectations this fall.
“These seniors, I was lucky enough to be part of [their careers] during my first year as head football coach. They play hard,” Brockenbrough said. “I’m not making excuses, but at the end of the day, we’ve got a long ways to go. Nobody expected us to be 5-2, 5-3, now 5-4. The future’s bright for us here.”
And the Blues have a chance to clinch a winning record when they travel to Pioneer foe Eastern Montgomery to close out the regular season this weekend.
“We need to win next week,” Brockenbrough said. “We’ll put a lot of emphasis into making sure, when we go to Eastern Montgomery next week, that we’re very prepared.”
The Blues and the Mustangs will kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday in Elliston.
