<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0dwTfO_1GxbKC3g00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0dwTfO_1GxbKC3g00" width="1140" height="647" ><figcaption>RC JUNIOR wide receiver Harvey Presnell moves forward with the ball while Alleghany defensive end Levi Elmore (50) tries to tackle him. Presnell scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass and led the Wildcats’ receivers with six catches for 47 yards. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)</figcaption></figure>RC Football Goes Winless For Second Straight YearThe Rockbridge County High School football team concluded its season with a 34-12 road loss to Shenandoah District rival Alleghany on Friday night at Casey Field in Covington.With the loss, the Wildcats completed their second consecutive winless season, going 0-10 overall and 0-8 district. Dating back to the start of last fall, the Wildcats have lost 20 games in a row.Alleghany (5-5 overall, 4-4 district), which came up short of making the Region 3C playoffs, had a monster running game from Buddy Leisure-White, who led all players with 225 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries. Leisure-White broke the single-season record for Alleghany, finishing his junior year with 1,825 yards. As a team, the Cougars racked up 304 rushing yards, with 11 different players carrying the ball, while holding the Wildcats to minus-4 yards.On the first drive of the game, the Wildcats advanced the ball near midfield before turning the ball over on downs.RC got the ball back when lineman Culton Reilly recovered on Alleghany fumble at the RC 23-yard line, but the Wildcats made little progress on offense before punting. After making a series of runs and a pass, the Cougars scored on a 3-yard TD run by Colten Jack with 2:57 left in the first quarter, and an extra-point kick by Mason Hale made it 7-0.Just over two minutes into the second quarter, Alleghany’s Bronson Shinault intercepted RC junior quarterback Carson Fridley at the Alleghany 39. On the next play, Leisure-White bolted away from defenders for a 61-yard TD run. Reilley blocked the PAT kick, leaving Alleghany’s lead at 13-0 with 9:15 left in the first half.After sacking Fridley and getting the ball back, the Cougars scored again, this time on a 31-yard run by Leisure-White to extend their lead to 19-0 with 6:47 left in the first half. Alleghany would score once more in the half, as quarterback Talyn Eliott made a 1-yard TD run with 1:04 left, and Hale converted the PAT to make it 26-0 with 1:04 left before intermission. RC’s Harvey Presnell intercepted Elliott with less than 20 seconds left in the first half, but the Wildcats were pushed back five yards due to a penalty and then stopped at their own 34-yard line.Reviewing his team’s first-half performance, RC head coach Zack Rhodenizer said, “We had some miscues in the first half that we thought we could correct in the second half.”Rhodenizer said he and his assistant coaches challenged their players “to come out and play at the level that we expect them to play at, and they did. It wasn’t a bunch of twos they were playing with in the third quarter. They were playing with Alleghany’s ones, and Alleghany’s got a good football team.”On the first play of the second half, Leisure-White sprinted away from defenders for a 73-yard TD, and he then ran for a two-point conversion to extend Alleghany’s lead to 34-0 just 20 seconds into the third quarter. However, that would be the end of the Cougars’ scoring for the night.Neither team could produce any more scoring in the third quarter, but the Wildcats got their offense going late in the fourth quarter. After forcing a turnover on downs deep in Alleghany territory, the Wildcats got on the scoreboard when Fridley completed a 25-yard TD pass to Presnell. An attempted two-point conversion run failed, leaving the score at 34-6 with 3:34 left in the game.Alleghany fumbled the ball on its next drive, and the Wildcats recovered it at the Alleghany 18. An 8-yard pass from Fridley to Presnell advanced RC to the Alleghany 10, and a five-yard penalty on the Cougars put the Wildcats five yards from the end zone. From there, Fridley connected with Maliq Corbin on a 5-yard TD pass with 33 seconds left. The PAT missed, leaving the final score at 34-12.After scoring the second TD of his career, Corbin, who made four catches for 47 yards, said, “It felt good to score my last touchdown ever in high school football.”For the game, Fridley completed 10-of-20 passes with two interceptions for 92 yards. Presnell led the Wildcats’ receivers with four catches for 47 yards.On the other side, Elliott completed 5-of-8 passes for 46 yards, with Jack leading Alleghany’s receivers with two catches for 21 yards.Fridley was making just his second start at quarterback after sophomore quarterback Taylan Tyree broke his ankle in the Wildcats’ 62-20 road loss to Riverheads on Oct. 16. “It was challenging stepping up when you need to, but I did what I could to help this team, tried my best,” said Fridley. “Everyone else tried their best. They did what they could.”Praising Fridley, Rhodenizer said, “Quarterback is an incredibly challenging position. Not to take anything away from other systems, but we’re running a pro-style quarterback-centric offense, and we ask him to make reads and check plays at the line, and that takes reps, and it takes time. You’ve got to be a special kid to be able to play quarterback. To step in and go from wide receiver to quarterback and play two full games against good opponents is a testament to how hard he works and how much he cares about his team.”The Wildcats will graduate seven seniors: Corbin, John Clements, Finn D’Antonio, Piercen Knick, Pat Looney, Brenden Staley and Cam Whitlock.Rhodenizer, concluding his second year as RC’s head coach, was optimistic about the younger players returning, led by Presnell, a junior, and sophomores Reilley, Tyree, Hudson Pugh, William Wallen and Asher Wells. He also noted that the Maury River Middle School team finished third in the district.The RC coach said the main goal for the team is “to lift in the offseason. We’ve got to eat. We’ve got to get bigger. And that’s every football program’s goal. We’re not unique in that, and especially in the Shenandoah District, where they run the ball 76 percent of the time, and you’ve got to be able to have the bodies to win the war, the one-on-one battle in the trenches.”RC 0 0 0 12 12AHS 7 19 8 9 34First Quarter AHS – Jack 3 run (Hale kick) Second Quarter AHS – Leisure-White 61 run (kick blocked) AHS – Leisure-White 31 run (pass failed) AHS – Elliott 1 run (Hale kick) Third Quarter AHS – Leisure-White 73 run (Leisure-White run) Fourth Quarter RC – Presnell 25 pass from Fridley (run failed) RC – Maliq Corbin 5 pass form Fridley (kick failed) RC AHS Rushes-yards 26-(-4) 32-304 Passing yards 92 46 Comp-Att-Int 10-20-2 5-8-0INDIVIDUALSTATISTICS RUSHING – RC, Fridley 14-6, Campbell 5-3, Clements 1-0,Team 1-(3), Marquis Corbin 5-(-10).AHS, Leisure-White 11-225, Phillips 1-23, Jack 3-18, Team 2-12, Rice 2-9, Greene 1-7, Gonzalez 2-5, Kenney 1-5, Richmond 1-3, Elliott 3-1, Stull 1-(-1),Wheeler 4-(-3), PASSING – RC, Fridley 10-20-2 92.AHS, Elliott 5-8-0 46. RECEIVING – RC, Presnell 6-47, Maliq Corbin 4-45,.AHS, Jack 2-21, Greene 2-18, Kirby 1-7.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1KHLzT_1GxbKC3g00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1KHLzT_1GxbKC3g00" width="768" height="790" ><figcaption>WILDCAT SOPHOMORE defensive lineman Asher Wells (23) and junior linebacker Marquis Corbin work with a teammate to tackle Alleghany running back Buddy Leisure-White, who led all players with 225 rushing yards and three TDs. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0RDDpc_1GxbKC3g00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0RDDpc_1GxbKC3g00" width="1067" height="1084" ><figcaption>RC HEAD coach Zack Rhodenizer (right) bumps fists with sophomore lineman Ethan Armstrong. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)</figcaption></figure></div></body>

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The Rockbridge County High School football team concluded its season with a 34-12 road loss to Shenandoah District rival Alleghany on Friday night at Casey Field in Covington. With the loss, the Wildcats completed their second consecutive winless season, going 0-10 overall and 0-8 district. Dating back to the start of last fall, the Wildcats have lost 20 games in a row.

Cougars Drop ‘Cats, 34-12

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The Rockbridge County High School football team concluded its season with a 34-12 road loss to Shenandoah District rival Alleghany on Friday night at Casey

Cougars Drop ‘Cats, 34-12

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