The Alleghany Mountaineers (6-5) season came to an unfortunate end on Thursday to the Appomattox County Raiders (8-3), 40-12 in the first round of the Class 2, Region C playoffs.
Despite a quiet no scoring first quarter, where the Raiders had several offensive penalties and even fumbled on the first play of the game, the defense of the Raiders stepped up to contain of the Mountaineers offense and held them to no points in the first half.
The Mountaineers fumbled the ball three times in the first half.
The Raiders scored nine points in the second quarter behind a 2-yard touchdown run from Gray Peterson and a 27-yard field goal from Mario Rubio.
The Raiders came out in the second half with more of the same to go up 17-0 following a Peterson’s second touchdown, this time from a yard out. Daniel Bradley would increase the Raiders lead as he converted the 2pt attempt.
With just over eight minutes left in the third quarter, the Mountaineers finally got something going as Dalton Griffith returned the kickoff 95 yards to the end zone. A failed extra point kept the game at 17-6.
The Raiders stopped any Mountaineers momentum from happening as Peterson who already had two rushing touchdowns threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to extend the Raiders lead to 25-6. Peterson also converted the 2pt attempt.
Ahead 19 points entering the fourth quarter, the Raiders put the game away at the start of the fourth quarter following a De’Montay Fleshman 13-yard touchdown run. Rubi’s extra point extended the Raiders lead to 32-6.
After the Mountaineers touched the ball on the kickoff return, the Raiders recovered the ball and took over. On the following play Peterson would throw an interception to Griffith. However, the Mountaineers would fumble the ball on their next possession which caused the ball to go into the end zone for a safety as the Raiders took a 34-6 lead.
With short field, Peterson threw his second touchdown pass of the game, this time to Regan Conroy from 26-yards out. The extra point was missed by Rubio as the Raiders kept a 40-6 lead with just under five minutes left in the game.
The Mountaineers on their next possession would score one last time, this time from Garrett Via who scored from a yard out for his 25th rushing touchdown of the season. The 2pt attempt failed for the Mountaineers.
Despite the loss, Via who already broke the single season AHS school record for touchdowns, also broke the record for a single season for rushing yards following his 148-yard performance against the Raiders. Bryan Hamm had the single season record since 1986. Via finished the season with 1,816 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns, both records the will never be broken in Mountaineer history.
Moose Clayton, Brenden Porterfield, and Maddox Crance, each had fumble recoveries for the Mountaineers, while Clayton also had a paid of sacks on defense.
Leading the way for the Raiders was Peterson who passed for 189 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 103 yards and two scoring runs. Fleshman led the Raiders receivers with four receptions for 73 yards and also had a touchdown run.
The #4 seeded Raiders will now play the top overall seed in the region, the Radford Bobcats.
————————
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.