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The Rockbridge County High School football team suffered a 55-0 loss to undefeated Valley District rival Turner Ashby in the Wildcats’ final home game of the season on Friday night at Prasnicki-Ross Field in Lexington.
The Wildcats (0-9 overall, 0-5 district) committed four turnovers – three interceptions and a fumble – with the Knights (9-0, 5-0) scoring twice on pick-sixes.
TA scored four TDs in the first quarter to take a 28-0 lead and added three more TDs in the second quarter to go up 49-0 at halftime. Because the Knights’ lead was 35 points or more, the teams played the entire second half with a running clock, and TA scored the only TD of the half on a 4-yard run by Christian Lash with 1:25 left in the third quarter. TA used mostly reserves in the second half.
Running back Beau Baylor ran for 60 yards and two TDs for the Knights, while quarterback Micah Shank ran for a 36-yard TD and threw a 9-yard TD pass to Joe Amlacher. For the game, Shank completed 5-of-8 passes for 45 yards and rushed for 46 yards on three carries.
Before the game, the Wildcats honored their nine seniors: Caiden Cavazos, Caden Culp, Simone Emore, Daniel Grimm, John Lindberg, Ryan Maxwell, Ben Pitsenbarger, Josiah Saunders and Stephen Wells. “To be honest, it’s a great group of kids,” said RC head coach Martin Cox.
Cox, in his second year of coaching the Wildcats, noted that only three of the seniors played significant minutes before this season. “The other ones are on the field giving it everything they’ve got,” he added.
Despite his team’s record, Cox said he is happy that none of his players have given up. “We’re 0-9 now,” he said. “I don’t have any kids who have quit the team yet, and definitely none of the seniors, so there’s nothing bad I can say about them.”
Early on in last Friday’s game, it was clear that it would be similar to the previous Friday, when the Wildcats lost 64-6 at Spotswood. The Knights will challenge Spotswood (8-1, 5-0) for the Valley District title when the two teams face off on Friday at 7 p.m.
After stopping the Wildcats on RC’s first possession, the Knights scored on their first drive, with several runs leading to a 10-yard TD run by Baylor. Solomon Kisembo’s extrapoint kick put TA up 7-0 just under two minutes into the game.
The Knights’ defense got them the ball back quickly, and TA scored on a 36-yard run by Shank with 8:05 left in the first quarter. A two-point conversion run by Lash extended the Knights’ lead to 15-0.
Two minutes later, TA’s Levi Napotnik intercepted RC junior quarterback Jayden Layman at the TA 30-yard line and ran the ball back 70 yards for a TD to stretch the Knights’ lead to 21-0.
RC committed another turnover on its next drive, as Layman fumbled the ball, and TA’s Colton McDorman recovered it at the 50-yard line. On the next play, Baylor ran from midfield to the end zone, and Kisembo’s PAT gave TA a 28-0 lead with 3:45 left in the first quarter.
The Knights carried the momentum into the second quarter, scoring on a 9-yard pass from Shank to Joe Amlacher. Kisembo’s PAT extended TA’s lead to 35-0 with 7:58 left in the first half. TA scored again with 2:28 left in the half when Brooks Bowman ran for a 3-yard TD, and Kisembo’s PAT made it 42-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, RC’s Aiden Meyers made a long return to the Wildcats’ 37-yard line. However, Layman was intercepted again, this time by TA’s Justin Spence, who ran the ball back 60 yards for a TD. Kisembo’s PAT stretched TA’s lead to 49-0 with 1:19 left in the first half.
It was a rough game for Layman, who completed just 1-of-10 passes for 15 yards. Emore made the lone catch.
The Wildcats earned just one first down in the first half, late in the first quarter, and four in the entire game. TA earned 10 first downs in the game.
In the third quarter, TA made a series of short runs to set Lash up for his 4-yard run for the final TD of the game.
The Wildcats moved the ball better in the fourth quarter, with Gabriel Wade making strong runs to get it to the TA 19-yard line. Josiah Saunders got RC two yards closer, but Layman was sacked for a loss of nine yards, and TA regain possession.
Freshman Elijah Watkins stepped in for Layman in the final minutes of the game, but his one pass attempt was intercepted by Lash, and TA took a knee to end the game.
Impressed by the Knights, Cox said, “They’re the best team in the district for a reason. They’re a great team.”
TA racked up 220 rushing yards, with six players rushing for at least 20 yards each, while holding the Wildcats to 67 rushing yards. Wade led RC with 37 rushing yards on eight carries, while Saunders rushed for 18 yards on four totes.
The Wildcats had trouble tackling the Knights all night, although Culp, Meyers and Brady Edwards got in some good tackles.
RC did have a cleaner penalty game than TA, as the Wildcats committed three penalties for 30 yards, while the Knights committed five penalties for 60 yards.
The Wildcats will conclude the season with a district game at William Monroe (4-5, 2-3) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Hoping for his team to finish strong, Cox said, “We’ve just got to try to get better every day, do what we can, close this thing out.”
TA 28 21 6 0 55 RC 0 0 0 0 0 First Quarter TA – Baylor 10 run (Kisembo kick) TA – Shank 36 run (Lash run) TA – Napotnick 36 interception return (Kisembo kick)
TA – Baylor 50 run (Kisembo kick) Second Quarter TA – Amlacher 9 pass from Shank (Kisembo kick) TA – Bowman 3 run (Kisembo kick) TA – Spence interception return (Kisembo kick) Third Quarter TA – Lash 4 run (Kisembo kick) Fourth Quarter No scoring
TA RC
First downs 10 4 Rushes-yards 31-220 29-67 Passing yards 46 15 Comp-Att-Int 6-9-0 1-11-3 Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1 Penalties-yards 5-60 3-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – TA, Baylor 2-60, Shank 3-46, Morton 11-43, Kelley 6-24, Lash 7-22, Matthews 1-21, Grove 1-4. RC, Wade 8-37, Saunders 4-18, Grimm 5-12, Layman 6-(-3), Meyers 6-(-3).
PASSING – TA, Shank 5-8-0 45, Grove 1-1-0 1. RC, Layman 1-10-2 15, Watkins 0-1-1 0.
RECEIVING – TA, Seifert 1-17, Jennings 1-13, Amlacher 2-10, Matthews 2-6. RC, Emore 1-15.
