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Early Turnover Touchdowns Pivotal In Home Opener
Breaking a 20-year drought of home wins against the Knights, the Parry Mc-Cluer High School football team earned a 34-7 victory over James River on Friday night at Bobby Williams Field in Buena Vista.
It was the first home game for the Fighting Blues, who improved to 2-1.
Junior quarterback Nathan Glass led the Fighting Blues, completing 5-of-5 passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns and also running for a TD.
The Blues, coming off a tough 46-38 road loss to Prince Edward County a week earlier, jumped out to an 18-0 lead in the first quarter.
Jacob Shafer scored PM’s first TD on a 10-yard pass from Glass. On the third offensive play by James River (1-2), PM’s Javion Dunn intercepted a pass and returned it 35 yards for a TD to extend PM’s lead to 12-0.
PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough said Dunn’s pick-six was the play he was most excited about.
“And four plays later, we get a fumble for an 84-yard touchdown by Jase Barger,” said Brockenbrough. “Huge to put us up 18-0. Those two plays were pivotal in the game.”
The two plays proved critical in helping the Blues get a comfortable advantage in front of an electric home crowd.
PM scored one TD in the second quarter when Glass ran it in from 1 yard out. Glass then made a two-point conversion pass to Parker Snider to extend the Blues’ lead to 26-0.
The Knights struggled to find their rhythm early, but they got on the board in the second half. Running back Gavin Binns led the Knights’ offense with 97 yards on 13 carries, including a 27-yard TD run in the third quarter. An extrapoint kick by Konner Myers cut PM’s lead to 26-7.
The Blues scored the final TD of the game in the fourth quarter on a 17-yard pass from Glass to Snider, and Barger then made a two-point conversion run to put icing on the cake.
PM racked up 185 yards of offense while holding JR to 152 total offensive yards, 99 rushing and 53 passing. The Blues had 110 rushing yards, led by Jackson Brockenbrough with 83 yards on 21 carries and Glass with 18 yards on 11 carries.
Defensively, Snider led the Blues with seven tackle assists and three solo tackles, while Shafer had three solo tackles and three tackle assists, Bobby Crowe had five tackle assists.
Adding an extra layer of intensity to Friday’s matchup was the long-standing connection between Coach Brockenbrough and JR head coach Tim Jennings.
“Coach Jennings is a friend of mine” said Brockenbrough. “We went to high school and played football together.” Jennings is a 1997 PM graduate and Brockenbrough graduated in 1998.
“We knew that they were a good football team, but we knew if we could go out and play physical and not turn the ball over, and if we did force some stuff and take a risk, we’d be all right,” said Brock- enbrough.
ABOVE AT LEFT, PM senior running back Jase Barger lifts up junior running back Jacob Shafer to celebrate after Shafer scored the Blues’ first touchdown on a 10yard pass from Nathan Glass. Shafer led PM’s receivers with three catches for 35 yards. ABOVE, AT RIGHT, Fighting Blues Jacob Shafer takes the ball down the field, leaving James River’s Efraim Echavarria (50) trailing BELOW, PM junior quarterback Nathan Glass looks for a teammate to pass to as senior running back Jackson Brockenbrough (24) signals that he’s open. Glass completed 5-of-5 passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a TD. . (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photos)
For PM, the victory is a major confidence boost. Brockenbrough highlighted his athletes’ passion as a meaningful force in bouncing back from the loss to Prince Edward County.
“We don’t have a lot of athletes,” said Brockenbrough. “But what we do have is we got some kids that just flat-out play hard.”
While the loss to Prince Edward found the Blues searching for momentum, the triumph over rival JR could be a turning point in their season. After two decades of falling short against the Knights at home, the win offers the Blues a sense of redemption.
PM’s next three games will also be at home. Prior to an upcoming bye week, the Blues will play host to Stonewall Jackson (1-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.
JR 0 0 7 0 7 PM 18 8 0 8 34 First Quarter PM – Shafer 10 pass from Glass (kick failed) PM – J. Dunn 35 interception return (run failed) PM – Barger 84 fumble return (run failed) Second Quarter PM – Glass 1 run (Snider pass from Glass) Third Quarter JR – Binns 27 run (Myers kick) Fourth Quarter PM – Snider 17 pass from Glass (Barger run) JR PM
First downs 8 12 Rushes-yards 24-99 45-110 Passing yards 53 75 Comp-Att-Int 5-9-2 5-5-0 Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1 Penalties-yards 2-25 5-50 Time of possession 16:33 31:27
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS (not available for JR) RUSHING – PM, Ja. Brockenbrough 21-83, Glass 11-18, Shafer 5-8, Barger 5-2, Coleman 1-2, Team 1-(-1), J. Dunn 1-(-2).
PASSING – PM, Glass 5-5-0 75. RECEIVING –PM, Shafer 3-35, Montgomery 1-23, Snider 1-17.
WITH PLENTY of running room and the blocking of quarterback Nathan Glass, PM’s Jase Barger takes the ball into the red zone, on his way to a touchdown on an 84-yard fumble return. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
