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The Parry McCluer High School football season came to an end with a 45-20 road loss to George Wythe in the Region 1C quarterfinals on Friday night in Wytheville.
It was the second year in a row for GW to beat PM in the regional quarterfinals in Wytheville. Last year, the Maroons won 41-22.
The Maroons were the Class 1 state runners-up last year, falling 49-27 to seven-time defending state champion Riverheads.
Against the sixth-seeded Fighting Blues (6-5), the third-seeded Maroons (8-3) scored three touchdowns in the first quarter to take a 21-0 lead and added a fourth early in the second quarter to go up 28-0. The sixth-seeded Fighting Blues (6-5) then started battling back, as senior JJ Jones scored two of his three TDs before halftime, on a 64-yard run and on a 37-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Nathan Glass.
It was an impressive night for Jones, who caught eight passes for 162 yards and rushed for 94 yards on nine carries.
Praising Jones, a transfer from Rockbridge County who hadn’t played organized football since middle school, PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough said, “Some of the people across the river wanted to get my man and say we didn’t do things right. That’s taking a shot at JJ. JJ Jones is a great kid. He comes from a great family background, and what he did for this football team is unbelievable.” Early in the game, it was all GW. After stopping the Blues on their first possession, the Maroons scored on their first drive when quarterback Tandom Smith made it into the end zone on a 6-yard run just three-and-a-half minutes into the game. Thomas Mitchell made the extra-point kick to put GW up 7-0. Mitchell converted all six of his extra-point attempts.
Smith had a big night, rushing for three TDs and tossing a 49-yard TD pass. He completed 6-of-15 passes for 108 yards and rushed for 99 yards on 10 carries.
The Maroons stopped the Blues again and got the ball back at midfield after PM’s punt. On the first play of GW’s next drive, Smith connected with Luke Clarke deep in PM territory for a 49-yard TD strike, extending the Maroons’ lead to 14-0 with 6:17 left in the first quarter.
On their next possession, the Blues had a series of runs and passes to advance the ball to the GW 13-yard line. Facing fourthand- 13, PM’s Aaron Pruett attempted a 30-yard field goal, but it was blocked by the Maroons. GW’s Treyvon Rainey scooped up the ball and ran it back 87 yards into the end zone. The PAT kick stretched the Maroons’ lead to 21-0 with 1:52 left in the first quarter.
The Maroons scored again when Smith made a 21-yard run to give his team a 28-0 lead with 8:08 left in the half.
PM finally got its offense going on its next drive. After two short runs by Jackson Brockenbrough, Jones sprinted away from GW’sdefenders for a 64-yard TD. A two-point conversion pass attempt failed, leaving the score at 28-6 with 6:51 left in the first half.
GW responded with a series of runs to set up Treyvon Rainey for a 5-yard TD jaunt, putting the Maroons up 35-6 with 2:50 left in the half.
After the teams traded possessions, the Blues got the ball back and, facing third-and-16, Glass completed a 37-yard TD pass to Jones with two seconds left in the first half. Jones’s two-point conversion run attempt failed, leaving the Blues trailing 35-12 going into halftime.
After the Blues held the Maroons in their own territory on the first possession of the second half, GW punted. However, PM fumbled the ball, and the Maroons recovered it at the PM 32-yard line.
The Blues’ defense stopped GW to get the ball back, but PM had three incomplete passes on its next possession. Neither team got into the end zone in the third quarter, but GW scored when Mitchell made a 28-yard field goal to extend the Maroons’ lead to 38-12 with 3:37 left in the period.
With 19 seconds left in the third quarter, Glass threw the only interception of the game, with Rainey catching the ball and going down at the GW 18-yard line.
The Blues stopped GW on that possession, but the Maroons would score once more when Smith ran for a 16-yard TD, and the PAT put GW up 45-12 with 7:26 left in the game.
On PM’ next drive, Glass completed a 17-yard pass to Shaiden Ratcliffe and then passed to Jones, who sprinted away from defenders for a 61-yard TD. PM freshman Thomas Conner then ran for a twopoint conversion with 5:40 left.
It was the last completion in an impressive freshman year for Glass, who had 17 TD passes this fall to rank high among the Blues’ all-time leadings for single-season passing TDs. For the game, Glass completed 12-of-23 passes with one interception for 193 yards.
GW got some of its reserves into the game in the final minutes, and neither team threatened to score.
In the second half, GW’s defense made things difficult for PM, with three sacks and an interception.
In the Region 1C semifinals this Friday, the Maroons will play host to seventh-seeded Fort Chiswell (56), which pulled off a 48-19 upset of second-seeded Narrows (8-3) in the quarterfinals.
Against PM, the Maroons got the upper hand in the running game, rushing for 230 yards, compared to PM’s 160 yards on the ground. In addition to Smith, Treyvon Rainey stepped up with 44 rushing yards on 13 carries, and Caleb Campbell had 43 rushing yards on five totes. Other than Jones, PM’s leading rushers were Pruett with 43 yards on five carries and Jackson Brockenbrough with 22 yards on nine totes.
Coach Brockenbrough praised Pruett, one of the Blues’ seniors, for an outstanding career. “He’s played hard every game in anything he’s ever done,” said Brockenbrough. “He is not replaceable.”
Pleased with his team’s effort after a rough start to the game, Brockenbrough said, “We got down early. We fought back and played hard. All I ask of this football team is, if we go play like we’re capable of playing, we’ll shock some people. I think, [after] we got through the first quarter, we figured out we could play a little bit.”
“At the end of the day, we had a lot going against us before we got here,” added Brockenbrough. “We had some kids banged up, and we had some really young freshmen step up to the plate and play hard.”
The Blues look back on an upand- down season that consisted of several big wins, including a 56-14 rout of Rockbridge County in the season opener, and have high hopes for the future.
Under the direction of Brockenbrough in his first year as head coach, the Blues improved from last year, when they went 4-7.
The Blues will miss their nine seniors: Jones, Pruett, Ratcliffe, Parker Camden, Landon Catlett, Payton Cauley, Anthony Gonzales, Zack Mook and Jayden Richardson.
Although the seniors were valuable to the Blues, Brockenbrough is confident in the returning players and how they can help PM keep improving in the coming years.
PM
GW
21 14 3 7 45 First Quarter
GW – Smith 12 run (Mitchell kick)
GW – Clarke 49 pass from Smith (Mitchell kick) GW – T. Rainey 87 return of blocked field goal attempt (Mitchell kick)
Second Quarter
GW
– Smith 21 run (Mitchell kick) PM – Jones 64 run (pass failed) GW – T. Rainey 5 run (Mitchell kick) PM – Jones 37 pass from Glass (run failed) Third Quarter GW – Mitchell 28 FG Fourth Quarter GW – Smith 16 run (Mitchell kick) PM – Jones 61 pass from Glass (Mitchell kick)
PM GW
First downs 7 11 Rushes-yards 30-160 38-230 Passing yards 193 108 Comp-Att-Int 12-23-1 6-15-0 Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0 Penalties-yards 1-5 3-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – PM, Jones 9-94, Pruett 5-43, Jackson Brockenbrough 9-22, Glass 4-8, Ratcliffe 1-2. Team 2-(-9). GW, Smith 10-99, T. Rainey 13-44, Campbell 5-43, Bralley 3-24, Rivens 3-15, B. Rainey 1-10, Charles 1-6, Huff 1-(-2), Team 1-(-9).
PASSING
– PM, Glass 12-23-1 193. GW, 6-15-0
108.
RECEIVING – PM, Jones 8-162, Ratcliffe 1-17, Pruett 2-16, Jackson Brockenbrough 1-(-2).
