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Long Pick Six Just Before Halftime Jumpstarts Rout
After a couple of lopsided defeats the previous two weeks, the Parry McCluer High School football team needed a jolt as they prepared to enter the Region 1C playoffs.
And they got a big one at the end of the second quarter on Friday night in Buena Vista when Zavion Dunn returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown to help jumpstart the Blues. PM (6-4 overall, 2-2 district) rolled after that, collecting a 48-0 victory over Pioneer District rival Eastern Montgomery (1-9, 0-4) in the 2024 regular-season finale.
“We really needed something to put a little fire back in us,” PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough said of the victory, which he hopes will provide some momentum heading into the postseason this Friday night. “We took a couple of beatings the last two weeks.” The previous two weeks, the Blues had lost to undefeated teams away from home, 57-0 on Oct. 25 at Altavista and 48-0 on Nov. 1 at Bath County.
The Blues opened up a 15-0 lead at the end of the first period, with a pair of touchdowns from Jackson Brockenbrough and a safety when a long snap on an Eastern Montgomery punt sailed through the end zone. But the second quarter saw PM bogged down again. In that period, the Blues mustered only 39 yards of offense; at the same time, PM piled up 62 yards worth of penalties.
The biggest of those violations were back-to-back unsportsmanlike conduct fouls that resulted in a player ejection and allowed the Mustangs to move all the way to the PM 12-yard line. That’s when Dunn provided his spark, stepping in front of a Chase Bierman pass, juggling and securing it at the 10 and racing untouched to the end zone as time expired in the first half to give the Blues a 21-0 advantage at intermission.
“We were having some emotional battles; we were focused on other things,” said Coach Brockenbrough. “With a young team you get that. That interception helped us big time.”
Dunn’s interception was part of a stellar night for the PM defensive unit. Jonovan Dunn and Jacob Shafer also had interceptions, with Shafer’s return of 93 yards at the end of the game preserving the shutout. The Blues also recovered three fumbles in the game for a total of six takeaways. They held Eastern Montgomery to only 72 yards of total offense – 43 of those coming on a long pass play late in the final quarter.
“For the last couple of weeks, we have been preaching about being disciplined and not over-pursuing,” Brockenbrough explained. “If we can do that, we can be effective and efficient.”
To go along with his interception, Shafer also recorded six solo tackles and assisted on five others. Braden Conley recorded a sack and a half, was in on 2.5 tackles for loss, forced two fumbles and recovered both of them.
The second half belonged entirely to PM. Starting with Shafer’s 30-yard TD run and Sean O’Connor’s extra-point kick, the Blues scored on all four of their second-half possessions. Jackson Brockenbrough added his third TD of the game with a 4-yard run with 4:31 remaining in the third period. In the fourth quarter, Braden Conley and Parker Snider both found the end zone from three yards out to provide the final margin of victory.
“They got a pretty good halftime speech,” Coach Brockenbrough joked. “We had to move some personnel around a little bit. We went back to basics. We went back and did what Parry McCluer does so well.”
While the Blues completed just one of nine passes in the contest, the running game provided more than enough offense as PM ground out 271 yards on 39 attempts, with the Mustangs getting just 79 yards of offense, 23 rushing and 56 passing. Shafer led the way with 95 yards on only eight tries, while Jackson Brockenbrough finished with 90 yards on 15 carries, and Snider ran the ball four times for 40 yards.
Before the game, the Blues honored their five seniors: Conley, O’Connor, Jase Barger, Jackson Brockenbrough and Peyton Montgomery.
With last Friday’s win, the Blues entered the Region 1C playoffs as the fifth seed. PM will hit the road for the Region 1C quarterfinals, traveling to Pioneer District rival Narrows (5-4, 3-1) on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
“We’ve got a pretty good opportunity Friday,” Brockenbrough said as his team prepares to face the Green Wave, which defeated the Blues 35-14 back on Oct. 11 at PM. “We feel like we let that one get away from us.
“We cannot give up three long balls, and we have to control the line of scrimmage,” the PM coach continued. “If we can control the football, I think we’ll be all right.”
EM 0 0 0 0 0
PM 15 6 14 13 48
First Quarter PM – Ja. Brockenbrough 4 run (O’Connor kick) PM – Safety PM – Ja. Brockenbrough 7 run (kick blocked) Second Quarter PM – Z. Dunn 90 interception return (pass failed) Third Quarter PM – Shafer 30 run (O’Connor kick) PM – Ja. Brockenbrough 4 run (O’Connor kick) Fourth Quarter PM – Conley 3 run (O’Connor kick) PM – Snider 3 run (kick blocked) EM PM
First downs 8 15 Rushes-yards 16-23 39-271 Passing yards 56 22 Comp-Att-Int 3-14-3 1-9-1 Fumbles-lost 3-3 4-0 Penalties-yards 6-54 11-13 Time of possession 23:15 24:45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS (not available for EM) RUSHING – PM, Shafer 8-95, Ja. Brockenbrough 15-90, Snider 4-40, J. Dunn 2-17, Barger 5-11, Conley 3-11, Montgomery 1-9, Team 1-(-2).
PASSING – PM, Barger 1-7-1 22, Smals 0-2-0 0. RECEIVING –PM, Snider 1-22.
