The Shadow
Redemption.
It’s the one thing very few high school football teams get a chance at throughout the course of their season.
But the Bath County Chargers get that chance Friday night when they travel to Elliston to take on Eastern Montgomery in the Region C, Division 1 semifinals.
The Mustangs knocked off the Chargers, 52-27, in the season opener for both teams.
Quarterback Shawn Christian accounted for six touchdowns on the night – three rushing, two passing and an interception return – to lead the
Mustangs to victory.
Christian completed 16 of 22 throws for 248 yards and tossed two scoring strikes – one to receiver Brad Wooten, who also found the end zone three times in the win.
“We’ve kind of had it in the back of our minds that we may get another crack at this team and now the time is here,” said Bath County coach Will Fields. “They are a good football team that can put points on the board.
The best way to counter that is to take care of the football and keep it out of their hands.
“We didn’t do that in the season opener,” added Fields. “We had four turnovers that gave them a short field and they capitalized. That’s what
all great football teams do.”
East Mont (8-2) has put up 60 or more points in a game three times this season and has scored 40 or more points in six of 10 games. The Mustangs average 41 points a game.
“They are a team that likes to spread you out and create space for their playmakers,” said Fields. “In the opener we hadn’t really seen any teams who run the spread. We’ve seen it three or four times now so I think we should be prepared for it this go around.
“We’re also a better football team than we were then,” added Fields.
“The key to Friday night for us will be execution. If we hit our blocks and make tackles upon first contact then I think we’ll be OK.”
Bath County (7-4) is coming off a 48-7 thrashing of Narrows last week in Hot Springs and is making their ninth playoff appearance in the last 10 years.
Quarterback Michael Robertson has completed 83 of 158 pass attempts on the year for 1,174 yards and 12 touchdowns but has 10 picks to go along with it.
Receiver/running back Dillon Fry leads the area in scoring with 86 points. Fry has seven receiving and seven rushing touchdowns on the season.
Fry leads the Chargers in receiving with 28 receptions for 615 yards. Dana Richmond leads Bath County on the ground with 553 yards and two touchdowns on 60 carries.
The Mustangs’ two losses this season were to Radford (44-8) and Floyd County (27-12).
