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Parry McCluer (5-3) at Bath County (8-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. on Friday WHERE: Bath County High School in Hot Springs LASTYEAR: The Blues suffered a 55-0 loss to Bath County in their final home game of the season. Both teams entered the game with the same records they have now. Bath’s star quarterback, Wyatt Campbell, rushed for 143 yards and three touchdowns, and he threw for 100 yards and three more scores. Two early turnovers by PM led to two quick TDs for the Chargers, who led 14-0 after the first quarter and extended their advantage to 27-0 by halftime. Bath racked up 344 total yards of offense while holding PM to 170 yards. Jackson Brockenbrough led PM with 35 rushing yards, and Nathan Glass passed for 90 yards, but he was intercepted twice, with the Chargers returning one interception for a TD. The Chargers would face Narrows for the district title game the following week, with Narrows winning 47-19. PM, Bath and Narrows all lost in the Region 1C quarterfinals.
THE SCOOP: The Blues are coming off a 57-0 road loss to Altavista last Friday, one of the top Class 1 teams in the state, while the Chargers have blown out all of their opponents, cruising to a 62-13 road win over Craig County last Friday. Against Craig, Campbell, now a senior, ran for three TDs and completed three TD passes. He passed for 162 yards and rushed for 84 yards. Luke Turner had two TD catches, and Braiden Mabe caught four passes for 113 yards and a TD.
THE NEWS-GAZETTE’S PICK: T he Blues h ave b een strong much of this season, but, like with Altavista, they face a daunting rival in Bath County. We expect a competitive game, with improvement from the Blues, but we see Bath dealing PM a 48-35 loss.
Rockbridge County (1-7) at Turner Ashby (8-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. on Friday WHERE: Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater LAST YEAR: In their final home game of the season, the Wildcats suffered a 55-0 loss to Turner Ashby. The Wildcats committed four turnovers, on three interceptions and a fumble, with the Knights scoring twice on interceptions. TA scored four touchdowns in the first quarter to take a 28-0 lead before adding three more TDs in the second quarter to go into halftime up 49-0. Running back Beau Baylor ran for 60 yards and two TDs for the Knights, while quarterback Micah Shank ran for a 36-yard TD and threw a 9-yard TD pass to Joe Amlacher. Gabe Wade led RC with 37 rushing yards. TA ended the regular season as the runner- up to Spotswood in the Valley District, but the Knights beat Spotswood in the Region 3C semifinals before falling to Liberty Christian Academy in the regional championship game.
THE SCOOP: This will be the final road game of the season for the Wildcats, and it looks to be as challenging a game as they’ve had all season. The Wildcats are coming off a 40-0 home loss to Spotswood, while the Knights remain undefeated. In their 55-0 win at Harrisonburg last Friday, the Knights got an impressive performance from Baylor, who rushed for 87 yards and scored three TDs, two on runs and one on a 63-yard punt return.
THE NEWS-GAZETTE’S PICK: The Knights are looking forward to a showdown against Spotswood for the district title next week, but we expect them to focus on the Wildcats this week. We see the Wildcats playing hard, but the Knights, who haven’t allowed more than 13 points in any games this season, should dominate on both sides of the ball. We expect the Knights to deal RC a 49-7 loss.
