The Shadow
Hot Springs, Va. – With the first official day of Fall happening a few days ago, its presence was felt last night in Hot Springs.
The temperature at the start of the game was a crisp 62 degrees.
For the Bath County Chargers, they picked a cool (night) game for their first game back on the football field.
The last time the team was on the field for game action was back on August 27th when they lost 22-0 to the Covington Cougars
On that day against the Cougars, it was a start time of 92 degrees. A big difference compared to last night for the Chargers.
What a difference four weeks make.
For the Chargers, its been a rocky start to its season.
The team had its week two game against the Allegany Mountaineers be postponed. That game will be made up on Tuesday, November 2nd.
Meanwhile while the high school was moved to all virtual learning and all other extracurricular activities were stopped as well.
Then the following week (week three) the team had their bye week, and in week four, their game was postponed as well due to Mountain View (Quicksburg) not being able to field enough players and eventually canceling the rest of their season.
Needless to say it’s been a roller coaster.
Last night didn’t help matters as the team was down two players stemming from the altercation that took place against the Cougars in August.
It was a rough one for the Chargers who were routed by the Buffalo Gap Bison 54-0 in the teams home open at Carl F. Williams Stadium in a non-conference game.
For the Chargers, just being able to get on the football field was a plus.
While the Chargers did lose by a lot, the team never quit and kept playing until that final whistle was called.
The Bison out of the Shenandoah District, elected to receive the ball to open the game.
On their first drive, you could tell this might be a long one for the Chargers.
On the kickoff return, the Bison returned from their own 15 yard line to their 47 yard line for 32 yard return.
Seven plays later, the Bison put their first points of the game on the scoreboard on a rushing touchdown from Bryce Hildebrand. The touchdown was followed by a made extra point, which put the Bison in front 7-0.
With the Chargers starting quarterback out, the team had to turn to freshman quarterback Cooper Lowry.
Lowry played in the game against the Cougars where he completed two passes for 14 yards.
Lowry on his teams first drive of the game led them to a first down before eventually turning the ball over on downs.
Five plays later, Hildebrand found the endzone for the second time in the game, this time from 36 yards out. After the made extra point, the Bison took a 14-0 lead going into the second quarter.
On one of the plays of the game, trailing by 14 points and facing a fourth down, Chargers punter, Jaden Ryder received the snap near his own 35 yard line and was rushed by the defense which brought him down for a loss to the 31 yard line.
One play later, quarterback Curtis Lowe threw a 31 yard touchdown pass to put the Bison in front 20-0.
A play the Chargers can look back and smile, on the extra point attempt, the defense of the Chargers blocked the PAT.
After a failed drive attempt resulting a turnover on downs, the Bison got the ball back and did what they had been doing all game long, score.
For the third time in the game, Hildebrand found the endzone. The made extra point put the Bison in front 27-0.
Still with a few minutes left in the first half, the Chargers got a drive going.
A 16 yard rush from Blayton Loudermilk on 4th-and-3, gave the Chargers a new set of downs.
A few plays later, Lowry connected with Andrew Turner for a 27-yard completion.
Now looking to score, Lowry dropped back to pass and was intercepted inside the 10-yard line and was returned to the endzone for a pick six.
The extra point was not good, but the Bison went into halftime with a 33-0 lead.
In the second half, with a running clock, the Bison scored three more touchdowns.
One touchdown was highlighted by backup quarterback Haden Toler throwing a 36 yard touchdown pass.
The Bison improved to 4-1 on the season, while the Chargers fell to 0-2.
The Chargers will use the next several days to look back at footage to get ready for next weeks home game against Page County.
In the loss for the Chargers, Lowry completed two passes on five attempts for 38 yards.
Bransen Gordon finished the game with nine rushing attempts for 30 yards.
On all seven drives for the Bison, the team scored.
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Team/Qtr./Total Pts
Bison 14 19 14 7 54
Chargers 0 0 0 0 0
STATISTICS
Buffalo Gap Bison
Pass. Yds – 117
Rush. Yds – 203
Total Offense – 320
First Downs – 13
Flags – 2
Total Plays – 36
Turnovers – /
Bath County Chargers
Pass. Yds – 38
Rush. Yds – 67
Total Offense – 89
First Downs – 4
Flags – 1
Total Plays – 33
Turnovers – 1
