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Unable to come back from a 23-0 second-quarter deficit, the Rockbridge County High School football team suffered a 44-20 home loss to Blacksburg on Friday night at Prasnicki-Ross Field at Veterans Stadium in Lexington.
The Wildcats (0-4) struggled all night to stop Blacksburg sophomore running back Jaxon Keys, who rushed for four touchdowns and caught a TD pass.
Keys scored the first TD on a 1-yard run with 4:54 left in the first quarter, and a two-point conversion run by quarterback Sam Szefc gave the Bruins (2-2) an 8-0 lead. With 19.8 seconds left in the quarter, Keys scored on a 3-yard run, and Szefc then made a two-point conversion pass to make it 16-0.
In the second quarter, Keys made a 39-yard run to the end zone, and an extra-point kick by Ethan Lowdermilk extended Blacksburg’s lead to 23-0 with 4:26 left in the first half.
The Wildcats responded with a 51-yard TD run by senior Jayden Layman, cutting the Bruins’ lead to 23-6 with 3:05 left in the first half.
At halftime, the Wildcats honored the members of their inaugural Hall of Fame class, who will be inducted at a banquet on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the RC gym. The inductees, who walked to midfield to be recognized are football player and wrestler Patrick Bannon (Class of 2007), volleyball player Kaitlin McFaddin (2006), the late football player Stephen “Chase” Prasnicki (2006), girls basketball and lacrosse player Lauren Prasnicki (2010), and boys tennis player Wray Sherman (2001).
The third quarter was scoreless until a minute left when Keys made a series of runs before Szefc threw a 2-yard TD pass to him, and a PAT by Lowdermilk extended Blacksburg’s lead to 30-6.
After the teams traded possessions, the Wildcats scored when sophomore quarterback Elijah Watkins passed to Layman, who sprinted away from defenders for a 76-yard TD with 6:31 left in the game. Junior running back Marshall Earhart then made a two-point conversion run to trim the Bruins’ lead to 30-14.
Blacksburg responded with a 53-yard TD run by Keys, and a PAT by Lowdermilk stretched PM’s lead to 37-14 with 4:44 left. Three minutes later, after stopping the Wildcats, the Bruins scored again when Isaiah Lewis made a 31-yard TD run, and Lowdermilk’s PAT extended Blacksburg’s lead to 44-14.
RC responded with one more TD before the game ended. Watkins made a 25-yard pass to Joseph Dorey to set Earhart up for a 5-yard run, with the help of a block from freshman running back Asher Wells, with 27.8 seconds left. After RC’s two-point conversion run attempt failed, Blacksburg ended the game after the kickoff by taking a knee.
The Wildcats will begin Valley District action next Friday when they play at Broadway (2-2) at 7 p.m.
For the full story, photos and stats, with a prediction for next week, please see our Sept. 25 newspaper.
