Bruins Maul Wildcats

Bruins Maul Wildcats RC Can’t Stop Blacksburg Running Back Keys

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 running back Jaxon Keys, who rushed for four touchdowns and caught a TD pass. The 5-foot-10-inch, 168pound sophomore led all players with 266 rushing yards on 34 carries. “This was a coming-out party for him,” said Blacksburg head coach Zack Leonard. “He had a great night.”

As a team, the Bruins racked up 331 rushing yards while holding the Wildcats to 142.

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 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.

The Wildcats didn’t get a first down until early in the second quarter, but the Bruins stopped them in RC territory on that possession. Later in the quarter, Keys broke free for a 39-yard run into 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.

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 twopoint conversion run to trim the Bruins’ lead to 30-14.

RC head coach Martin Cox gave Layman credit for stepping up with the two TDs on a tough night for the Wildcats. Layman led RC with 74 rushing yards on eight carries before taking a hard hit late in the fourth quarter, but he was able to walk to the sideline under his own power. “He played a very good game,” said Cox.

Blacksburg responded with a 53-yard TD run by Keys, and a PAT by Lowdermilk stretched the Bruins’ lead to 37-14 with 4:44 left. Three minutes later, after stopping the Wildcats, the Bruins scored again when Isaiah Lewis ran it in from 31 yards out, and Lowdermilk’s PAT extended Blacksburg’s lead to 44-14.

RC responded with one more TD before the game ended. Watkins completed 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 did get an improved performance from sophomore quarterback Elijah Watkins in his second start. Watkins completed 6-of-16 passes for 133 yards and a TD. For Blacksburg, Szefc completed 8-of-16 passes for 76 yards. Nathaniel Means led the Bruins’ receivers with two catches for 28 yards.

Other than Layman, RC’s top rushers were Pat Looney with 42 yards on 11 carries and Earhart with 21 yards on eight totes. When Keys took a break from carrying the ball for Blacksburg, Lewis rushed for 38 yards on six carries, and Luke Mann ran the ball five times for 25 yards.

Among the Wildcats making tackles were Elijah Fox, Andrew Hughes, Price Lunsford, Caleb Robinson and Gabe Wade.

Coach Leonard was pleased with his team’s effort, as the Bruins moved to 7-0 all-time against the Wildcats. Leonard said it was a notable improvement from last year’s game in Blacksburg, when the Bruins defeated RC 38-20, with the Wildcats scoring all of their points in the fourth quarter.

“The most important thing for us tonight is, we came out and we executed,” said Leonard. “We played a good game against them last year, but we were sloppy. We had some players make some big plays, but we didn’t play together as a team, and that’s what I challenged our guys this week with. I said, ‘I want to come out, and I want to play good football, and the rest will take care of itself,’ and they really embraced that and had a good night.”

On the other side, Cox acknowledged that Blacksburg is a tough team, but the Wildcats will move forward. “We didn’t play well enough,” said Cox. “We’ve got to keep getting better.”

The Wildcats will begin Valley District action on Friday when they play at Broadway (2-2) at 7 p.m.