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Led by three touchdown passes from quarterback Nathan Glass, the Parry McCluer High School football team earned a 33-16 road win over local rival Rockbridge County in the season opener on Friday night at Prasnicki-Ross Field at Veterans Stadium in Lexington.
In the 22 times the two schools have met, the Fighting Blues, who beat the Wildcats 56-14 last year in Buena Vista, have won 10 times, while RC has won 12 times.
PM got its offense going earlier, scoring two touchdowns in the first six minutes of the game. Glass, a junior, threw a 38-yard TD pass to Jacob Schafer just over three minutes into the game, and Sean O’Connor made the extra-point kick to give the Blues a 7-0 lead. PM’s Braden Conley then recovered a Wildcat fumble on the RC 38-yard line, and the Blues worked their way toward the end zone before Glass threw a 5-yard TD pass to Parker Snider to extend PM’s lead to 13-0 with 6:33 left in the quarter.
After the teams traded possessions, RC’s Gabe Wade intercepted Glass at the PM 10-yard line. The Wildcats got within three yards of the end zone before an illegal procedure penalty pushed them back five yards. Facing fourth-and-8, the Wildcats went to Aiden Meyers, who made a 25-yard field goal to cut PM’s lead to 13-3 with 1:09 left in the quarter.
The Blues went to their running game on their next drive, with Shafer and Jackson Brockenbrough carrying the ball down the field. PM ended the drive with a 1-yard TD run by Brockenbrough, and Glass threw a two-point conversion pass to Thomas Conner to extend PM’s lead to 21-3 with 9:47 left in the first half.
On the Wildcats’ next drive, Elijah Fox and Eli Sorrels made a series of runs to set up senior quarterback Jayden Lyman for a 30-yard TD pass to Sorrells with 5:52 left, and a PAT by Meyers cut PM’s lead to 21-10.
The Blues responded with a 79-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard TD run by Brockenbrough, stretching PM’s lead to 27-10 with 2:24 left in the first half.
The only scoring in the third quarter was from the Wildcats. Gaining yards from penalties and runs by Pat Looney, the Wildcats scored when Wade made a 10-yard TD run to trim PM’s lead to 27-16 with 6:03 left in the quarter.
PM’s defense wouldn’t allow any more scoring, however, and the Blues sealed the win with a 17-yard TD pass from Glass to Jase Barger with 2:40 left in the game.
On the next play, Jonavan Dunn intercepted RC sophomore backup quarterback Elijah Watkins at the Wildcats’ 30-yard line, and the Blues milked the clock for the remainder of the game.
Both teams will play away next Friday at 7 p.m., with the Blues taking on Prince Edward County (0-1) in Farmville and the Wildcats facing Staunton (0-1) in Gypsy Hill Park.
For the full story, photos and stats from the opener, with predictions for next week, please see our Sept. 4 newspaper.
