The Shadow
DAMASCUS – When you get to this point in the season you must take care of the football.
Saturday, the Bath County Chargers football team did the exact opposite of that as they turned the ball over five times in falling to the Holston Cavaliers, 30-7, in the Region C championship game.
Bath County fumbled the ball three times in the first half with their first setting up the Cavaliers first score of the day.
The fumble came after quarterback Michael Robertson coverted a 4th-and-1 from the Holston 49 on a fake punt run all the way down to the Cavaliers 30 yard line.
Three plays later, a group of Holston defenders knocked the ball loose from Derek Brinkley on 4th-and-short and the Cavaliers recovered the first of four BC fumbles on the day.
It took the Cavaliers eight plays to march 79 yards to paydirt.
Quarterback John Pratt hooked up with Micah Thomas for 27 yards to convert a 3rd-and-nine. Pratt hit Dillon DeArmond on a wide receiver screen two plays later and DeArmond raced 40 yards for the score. The kick failed and the Cavs led 6-0 with 2:59 left in the opening quarter.
Holston (11-1) drove down to the Bath County one-yard line on their next possession but the BC defense stiffened with J.P. Plecker and Dillon Fry posting back-to-back sacks to force the Cavaliers to turn the ball over on downs.
Plecker carried for nine yards on first down before Robertson hooked up with Dana Richmond for 31 yards to move the chains to the Holston 40-yard line.
On the ensuing play, the Chargers ran an option around the right side but Fry was popped by Holston cornerback Jeffrey Bramlett and the ball came loose and the Cavaliers took over at the BC 41.
Seven plays later, it was Pratt punching it in from one-yard out and Bramlett’s pass to DeArmond for two points increased the Cavaliers’ lead to 14-0 with 3:36 to play in the first half.
Holston nearly increased their lead to 17-0 before the half but Bramlett’s 38 yard field goal attempt was wide right and the Cavs led 14-0 at the half.
The Chargers got the ball to start the second half and Richmond’s 21-yard burst on second down moved the ball to the BC 48. The Chargers got the ball into Cavaliers territory before fumbling and giving the ball back to the high-powered Holston offense.
Holston drove the ball into Chargers territory but was forced to punt after going three-and-out, their first three-and-out since the opening drive of the game.
Punter Jordan Blevins 32-yard punt pinned the Chargers at their own five-yard line to start their next drive.
Plecker was stopped for no gain on first down. Robertson was stopped for a two-yard loss on second down and on third down, the Cavaliers defense gobbled up Robertson for a three-yard loss in the end zone resulting in a safety to increase Holston’s lead to 16-0 with 7:07 left in the third quarter.
Tyler Harris returned the ensuing free kick 20 yards to the Bath County 44 and 10 plays later it was Pratt hooking up with Bramlett on a 14-yard swing pass for his second scoring strike of the day to increase the Cavaliers lead to 23-0.
Holston upped their lead to 30-0 early in the fourth quarter when Pratt scored on a 20-yard scamper.
The Chargers finally got on the board with 19 seconds remaining in the game when Robertson hooked up with Xavier Smothers for a 26-yard scoring strike. Brinkley’s kick made it 30-7 and the Cavaliers ran the clock out on the next play to secure their second straight Region C championship.
“We just got outplayed today,” said Bath County coach Will Fields, who saw his team round out the season with an 8-5 record. “The turnovers were just a product of that. They played better than we did today. They are a good team.
“It was a complete contrast to styles from last week to this week,” added Fields. “I thought we handled the physical part of the game. I think their athletes outplayed our athletes today and they deserved to win. They are a good football team.”
Holston advances to the Group A, Division 1 semifinals to play J.I. Burton (10-2), a 21-14 winner over Clintwood Saturday in the Region D championship.
Pratt completed 11 of 19 passes for 206 yards and two scores, while leadind the Cavaliers on the ground with 55 yards and two scores on 17 carries.
Richmond led the Chargers on the ground with 52 yards on 12 totes. Robertson completed seven of 17 passes for 103 yards and a score and an interception.
Ten Bath County seniors suited up in their BC fooball uniforms for the final time. Robertson, Plecker, Richmond, Dustin Bratton, Eric Woodzell, Chris Wright, Josh Feury Kory Shifflett, Alex Dressler and Ryan Newmarker all played their final football game as members of the Bath County football team.
