Panthers fall to Strasburg in last home football game, 37-7
By Sharon Kilpatrick
With the season winding down, Rappahannock’s varsity football team is still looking for its first district win.
Monday afternoon the Panthers dropped a 37-7 game to the Strasburg Rams in the final home game of the season. They play Madison at Madison on Friday, Nov. 2, and Manassas Park at Manassas Park on Nov. 9.
It was a frustrating outing for Rappahannock as Strasburg scored in all but the second quarter. Rappahannock’s sole touchdown came in the last half of the fourth quarter, but was welcome indeed.
On a lighter note, fans enjoyed the half-time performance of the Panther band with their renditions of such East Coast jazz numbers as “Georgia on my mind” and “Take the A Train.” Another hit was the Junior cheerleaders. Elementary school girls who had taken a cheerleading clinic and performed with high school cheerleaders during the game.
Rappahannock won the coin toss and elected to receive. However the first play netted no gain and Strasburg intercepted a pass on the second play.
Strasburg also was unable to move the ball, and with good field position, elected to try a field goal on fourth down. The kick went wide, and Rappahannock took over. Again the Panthers couldn’t make progress. A good punt by Dean Hogan was run back to the Rappahannock side of the field, and a few plays later Strasburg was in for a touchdown. The extra point was successful, and with a little more than seven minutes left in the first quarter, Strasburg had a 7-0 lead.
Panther quarterback Jonathan Butler had a great pass play to Dean Hogan on Rappahannock’s next possession, but that success was not followed by any others. Three downs later Rappahannock was punting, and Strasburg had another good run back followed by its second touchdown. This time the extra-point was not successful, and Strasburg had a 13-0 lead.
Neither side was able to mount a scoring drive in the second quarter. The quarter included another great pass to Dean Hogan, a quarterback sack by the Panther defense and a Rappahannock fumble recovery, but no Panther score.
Besides the band performance, the halftime featured recognition for all senior athletes and band members (except for volleyball with senior night last week).
Rappahannock held Strasburg to just a field goal in the third quarter, but again wasn’t able to score.
Strasburg stuck early and often in the fourth quarter, increasing its lead to 23-0, 30-0 and 37-0 before Rappahannock was finally able to get on the board with a Tim Fitzmorris run. Dean Hogan’s extra-point kick was good and with 3:37 left on the clock the score was 37-7 for Strasburg. Rappahannock successfully got off an onside kick with Tyler Williams recovering, but then wasn’t able to score again, and Strasburg was able to run out the clock.
-- Sharon Kilpatrick
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