Bath Rolls Over Blues, 63-6

Bath Rolls Over Blues, 63-6 Undefeated Chargers Overwhelm PM

The Parry McCluer High School football team suffered a 63-6 road loss to undefeated Bath County in Hot Springs on Friday night in Hot Springs.

It was a tough game for the Fighting Blues (5-4 overall, 1-2 district), as they found themselves away from home for the third week in a row. The Blues started out the game like normal, trying to establish a run focused offense but quickly found themselves falling behind quickly against the fast-paced offense of the Chargers (8-0, 3-0).

PM opened the game up with two straight threeand- outs, forcing the Blues to punt the ball from deep in their own territory. This allowed the Chargers to capitalize and score two touchdowns on the ground. Bath quarterback Wyatt Campbell scored the first TD and running back Ethan Bryant scored the second, putting the Blues down 0-14 with four minutes left in the first quarter.

On PM’s next drive, running back Parker Snider broke through the Charger defense for a 16-yard gain, giving the Blues a first down for the first time in the game. PM struggled to capitalize and found itself facing fourth-and-16 on its own 36-yard line. The Blues went for it on fourth down, hoping to catch Bath off guard, but senior quarterback Jase Barger’s pass sailed over his wide-open receiver, Snider. It took the Chargers only three plays to increase their lead to three scores, putting the Blues down 0-21. Barger was starting in place of junior quarterback Nathan Glass, who was injured in the Blues’ 57-0 road loss to Altavista a week earlier.

The second quarter of play started out just as challenging for PM. The Chargers were able to score two more TDs in just over three minutes as the Blues found themselves further down, 0-35. PM switched up its offensive game plan for the rest of the game, deciding to pass the ball first, instead of trying to run it.

The change in PM’s game plan did prove to be effective. Barger hit running back Jacob Shafer on two straight passes, moving the ball to the ten yard line on the second pass, which Shafer had taken 40 yards.

On third-and-goal, Barger stood poised in the pocket and fired a 10-yard strike to receiver Jonovan Dunn in the middle of the end zone for the Blues’ first score of the game. After a blocked PAT attempt, PM narrowed the Chargers lead 6-42. Bath managed to score a TD with just one second remaining on the clock to finish off the first half of the game, extending its lead to 49-6 at the halftime break.

The Chargers scored on their first possession of the second half, as Campbell hit tight end Braiden Mabe on a quick slant, which he took for a 5-yard score.

PM came out running the ball in the second half. Barger took the ball himself and ran 33 yards up the field to give the Blues possession deep in Chargers territory. However, PM’s struggles continued, as they fumbled the ball on the next play, ending a chance to score points.

PM’s defense did step up in the second half. The Blues were able to contain much of the Chargers’ offense and held the Chargers to just two scores for the rest of the game, only surrendering one TD in each of the two final quarters of play.

The Blues ended up losing the game 3-63 for their fourth loss of the season and second lopsided loss in back-to-back weeks. Despite the final score, it was a hard fought match for the Blues, as they continued to fight despite the final score.

“Basically what it boils down to is that they showed up tonight,” said PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough of the Chargers. “Bath County played a really good football game—and hats off to Jase Barger, [who] played a good football game for us.”

“There really isn’t much more positive I can say,” added Brockenbrough.

Barger completed 8-of-22 passes for 155 yards. Shafer led the team with four catches for 126 yards. Barger led the Blues in rushing, carrying the ball seven times for 41 yards.

For Bath, Campbell led all players with 201 rushing yards and completed 7-of-14 passes for 110 yards. Bath’s big win sets up a showdown with Narrows this Friday for the Pioneer District title.

With the hope of improving their playoff seeding, the Blues will conclude the regular season when they play host to district rival Eastern Montgomery (1-9, 0-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bobby Williams Field in Buena Vista. Before the game, the Blues will honor their five seniors.

PM 0 6 0 0 6 BC 21 28 7 7 63 First Quarter BC – Turner 22 run (Mabe Kick) BC – Bryant 15 run (Mabe Kick) BC – Campbell 30 run (Mabe Kick) Second Quarter BC – Mabe 39 pass from Campbell (Mabe Kick) BC – Campbell 46 run (Mabe Kick) BC – Mabe 40 pass from Campbell (Mabe Kick) PM – J. Dunn 10 pass from Barger (kick blocked) BC – Bryant 15 pass from Campbell (Mabe Kick) Third Quarter BC – Mabe 5 pass from Campbell (Mabe Kick) Fourth Quarter

BC – Boguess 7 run (Mabe Kick)

PM BC

First downs 6 19 Rushes-yards 20-57 30-397 Passing yards 155 110 Comp-Att-Int 8-22-1 7-14-0 Fumbles-lost 3-2 9-1 Penalties-yards 5-45 12-90

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – PM, Barger 7-41, Snider 3-18, Ja. Brockenbrough 6-5, Shafer 4-(-7). BC, Campebll 10-201, Bryant 10-116, Turner 3-41, Woodson 1-18, Boguess 1-7, St. Clair 3-6, Lowry 2-5 PASSING – PM, Berger 8-22-1 155. BC, Campbell 7-14-0 110.

RECEIVING –PM, Shafer 4-126, Julian 1-12, J. Dunn 2-9, Snider 1-8. BC, Mabe 3-89, Bryant 1-15, Ingram 3-6.