The Shadow
Shenandoah, Va– The Bath County Chargers made the long trip to Page County Friday, Sept. 6 in hopes of capitalizing on the momentum gained from their impressive home field win against the Stonewall Generals last Friday, August 30th. Page County panthers were looking to start off their season well against the Chargers after a disappointing one win and nine losses finish last season.
The first couple of possessions started off slow for both teams as Page was stuffed at the line for no yardage and was forced to punt. On their first offensive series, Bath began moving the ball until a false start and holding penalty pinned them in a deep fourth-and-18 situation forcing the Chargers to punt.
The Panthers were plagued most of the game by a stout Bath defense that never really let them get going, forcing them into a lot of punting situations. The Panthers quickly went four-and-out after Bath punted to them forcing the Panthers into punting after an incomplete pass brought up fourth-and-18.
It did not take long for Bath to find its groove as superman Wyatt Campbell took the Panther punt 40 yards to the house for Bath’s first score of the evening, putting the Chargers up 7-0.
The Panthers, hoping to make something happen, ran the bath kickoff back to the 50-yard line, but their offense was again forced to give the ball back to the Chargers. Campbell wasted little time getting his team back into the endzone as on a second down he launched the ball down field to the sure-handed Cooper Lowry as he ran in for a 77-yard touchdown, putting the Bath lead at 14 points. The first quarter scoring wasn’t complete until Ethan Bryant of Bath ran the ball for a 19-yard touchdown making the first quarter score 20-0, all Bath County.
Page started the second quarter hoping to be able to find some kind of answer to turn the game in their favor, but Wyatt Campbell would have none of it, taking his second Page County punt all the way back for a touchdown. Page County spent the rest of the first half gaining little to no yardage and punting usually without and first downs. The Chargers, “unfortunately for the Panthers,” weren’t done scoring in the first half as Campbell found Turner in the endzone for a 20-yard touchdown making it a 34-point lead for the Chargers. Then, with two minutes until halftime, Campbell, running off a great block from his line, went 52 yards and into the endzone. Bath County went into the locker room in full control of the game at halftime leading 41-0.
The second half was a little better for the Page County Panthers. They got the ball moving with a couple of impressive, completed passes and ran for decent gains, but they would never find the endzone. Bath drove the ball downfield methodically in the third and Ethan Bryant would run it in 17 yards for a touchdown. Bath County’s defense was a force to be reckoned with the whole game and none more so than when Bath’s Cooper Lowry took the handoff away from Page County’s quarterback in the third quarter and ran it back over 50 yards for the Chargers last score of the night, making the final score Bath 55 and Page 0.
Bath will be in action again on Friday the 13th at home against Richwood. The game will start at 7:00PM, so come on out and cheer on the Chargers as they go for win number three.
