The Shadow
For the second year in a row, the Staunton Storm (1-0) opened their football season with a victory over the Covington Cougars (0-2) following their 40-7 victory at Boodie Albert Stadium on Friday night.
Senior Walker Darby, once again was a problem for the Cougars defense as he was difficult to solve. In last years game, Darby threw for 216 yards while completing 11 of his 22 passes and had three touchdown passes. This past Friday, Darby used his legs more than his arm. Darby ran for 76 yards on the ground on just five carries and had two rushing touchdowns. In the passing game, Darby completed six of his eight passes for 100 yards and also threw two touchdown passes. Darby finished with four total touchdowns.
The win for the Storm was their new head coach Mike Bell’s first with the team. Bell took over the team after Jake Phillips left after several years with the program to take over the same position at Bath County High School. For Bell, he spent the previous 15 seasons as the Storm’s junior varsity head coach. He also received a shower from the team’s water jug after closing seconds of the game ticked away.
For the Cougars, Desmond Jordan threw for over 100 yards in the air along with a touchdown pass. In the running game, the Cougars were led by Neeko Jeter who rushed for 82 yards on the ground on 17 carries. Meanwhile, Purcel Turner had the Cougars lone touchdown coming on a 36 yard touchdown pass from Jordan.
Despite the wide margin scoring difference, the Cougars weren’t far behind in overall yardage. The Storm finished with just 41 more yards than the Cougars, 293-252.
Following a scoreless first quarter, the Storm opened the second quarter taking just seconds off the clock after Braylen Fields ran the ball in from three yards out. Following the extra point, the Storm took a 7-0 lead.
The Cougars didn’t take long to respond. On the team’s next drive and a few plays into the drive, Jordan connected with Turner from 36 yards out. The made extra point by the Cougars tied the game at 7-7.
That would be the last time the Cougars would score as the Storm would go to score 33 unanswered points. Darby would continue the second quarter scoring for the Storm by rushing for a touchdown and connected with Kayden Jackson for a 44 yard touchdown pass.
The Storm went into halftime leading 21-7.
In the second half, Darby opened the third quarter with a 24-yard quarterback scramble. Later in the third quarter, Darby connected with Thomas Chisley on a 10-yard lob pass for the touchdown. The Storm led 34-7 after three quarters.
The Cougars will look to put their first two games past them as they prepare for this Friday’s game for the last time with the Alleghany Mountaineers in the final Brackman Cup Game at Mountaineer Field. The Cougars have won the last four meetings.
————————–
Team Qtr/Score Final
SHS 0 21 13 6 40
CHS 0 7 0 0 7
SCORING PLAYS:
Second Quarter – Fields 3yd rush, EP good – SHS 7, CHS 0
Second Quarter – Turner 36yd pass from Jordan, EP good – SHS 7, CHS 7
Second Quarter – Darby 1yd rush, EP good – SHS 14, CHS 7
Second Quarter – Jackson 44yd pass from Darby, EP good – SHS 21, CHS 7
Third Quarter – Darby 24yd run, EP no good – SHS 27, CHS 7
Third Quarter – Chisley 10yd pass from Darby, EP good – SHS 33, CHS 7
Fourth Quarter – Maliq McCauley 17yd run, EP no good – SHS 40, CHS 7
