.jpg)
Blues Hurt By Turnovers, Defensive Struggles
Despite leading after the first quarter and making an impressive comeback from a 46-24 deficit, the Parry McCluer High School football team suffered a 46-38 road loss to Prince Edward County on Friday night in Farmville.
The Fighting Blues (1-1) entered the game fresh off a season-opening victory at Rockbridge County a week earlier, but they faced a challenging team in the Eagles (1-1).
The two teams had not previously met, and this game was added to the schedule due to Cumberland County, PM’ s originally scheduled opponent, canceling its varsity season.
PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough was proud of his team’s effort, but he acknowledged the need for improvement, especially after turnovers and penalties disrupted their rhythm.
“We didn’t get outplayed Friday night,” said Brockenbrough. “Nobody wins a football game with that many turnovers.”
The PM coach said his team “stopped themselves” and will focus on cleaning up their tactical issues this week in practice.
The Fighting Blues started strong, with junior quarterback Nathan Glass leading an efficient offense.
PE quarterback Hy’keim Wynn connected with Dylan Watkins for a 7-yard touchdown, and Wynn’s extra-point kick gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead. Soon after that, Glass rushed for a 10-yard score, and a two-point conversion run by Jackson Brockenbrough gave PM an 8-7 lead heading into the second quarter.
Wynn made a 4-yard TD run to give PE a 12-8 lead, but the Blues responded by scoring on a 16-yard run by Jackson Brockenbrough, who then made another two-point conversion run to put PM up by a score of 16-12. The Eagles retook the lead with a 40-yard TD run by Clevante Watkins, giving PE a 19-16 halftime advantage.
Watkins was a standout for PE in the second half, scoring on a 37yard TD pass from Wynn and later returning a fumble 90 yards for another score, giving the Eagles a 34-16 lead. Jackson Brockenbrough scored PM’s only TD of the third quarter on a 4-yard run and then made a two-point conversion run to cut the Eagles’ lead to 34-24. Despite a strong rushing perfor- mance from Brockenbrough, who led PM with 152 yards and three TDs on 29 carries, PM couldn’t regain control. Also making a big contribution to PM’s running game was Jacob Shafer, who rushed for 97 yards on 12 carries.
The Blues took a hard hit when Glass was horse-collared in the third quarter, sending him to the sidelines with a possible concussion. On the night, Glass completed 3-of-9 passes for 35 yards and rushed for 71 yards and the TD on six carries. Sophomore quarterback Kyle Smals replaced Glass and did an admirable job, completing 4-of-9 passes with one interception for 53 yards and a TD.
A late-game push by PE, with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Wynn to Woodford in the fourth quarter, gave the Eagles a 46-24 lead in the fourth quarter. The Blues weren’t done fighting, though, as they scored a TD on a 21-yard pass completion from Smals to Peyton Montgomery to cut PE’s lead to 46-30. PM added one more TD, on a 4-yard TD run by Jackson Brockenbrough, who made the two-point conversion run to trim the deficit to eight points. Time ran out, however, before the Blues could complete their comeback.
The Blues dominated on the ground with 387 rushing yards to 126 for PE, but costly turnovers and penalties gave the Eagles the opportunities they needed to pull ahead.
“Offensively, we did what we needed to do, despite the turnovers,” said Coach Brockenbrough. “Defensively, we didn’t line up correctly, and we’ll need to fix those assignments.”
Leading the Blues with 14 tackles was Parker Snider, while Jase Barger made nine tackles, Shafer had eight, and Jackson Brockenbrough had six.
After starting the season with two road games, the Fighting Blues will be home for their next four games at Bobby Williams Field, looking to rebound from the loss and resume their strong start to the season. In a nondistrict game on Friday at 7 p.m., they’ll play host to longtime rival James River (1-1), hoping to avenge last year’s 41-15 loss to the Knights.
“We know we have our hands full Friday night,” said Coach Brockenbrough. “But I think James River knows they have their hands full, too.”
