County rivalry grinds its way to 7-3 at halftime, but Luray scores 35 unanswered and Panthers commit five turnovers in second half
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Nov. 6 — In the first half, Friday night’s bout at Bulldog Field felt every bit like the rivalry it has become over the past half century. A half dozen highlights showcased a back-and-forth battle in which both teams had reason to believe…then came the second half.
After finishing plus-one in the turnover column in the first half, the Page County Panthers gave up the ball five times in seven possessions over the final 24 minutes. Meanwhile, Luray scored on five of its last six possessions. And the Bulldogs did this despite losing two key starters on the second series of the night.
LHS senior quarterback and leading rusher Ryan Jenkins nearly hit the century mark on just four carries before leaving the game with a hamstring injury with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. Two plays later, senior wide receiver Ayden Haddock re-injured a leg that had caused him to leave the game at Madison a few weeks earlier. It is unclear whether either player will be able to suit up against Riverheads in the Region 1B quarterfinal this Friday.
“Right after that happened I pulled them up together and I said, ‘Look we can’t complain and cry about what just happened. We have a game to play. We have to come together. We all know how to run this offense and play this defense. Just play football,'” LHS head coach Lynn “Skip” Hamilton told PVN after Friday night’s rivalry win.
Despite the adversity, the Bulldogs reached down the depth chart and filled in the gaps to amass 16 first downs and 406 yards of offense. Senior starter Caleb Cyphert lead Luray’s ground game with 156 yards and two touchdowns. Jenkins would finish with 97 yards on four carries before his injury early on.
However, it was the play of Chester “CJ” Jeffries that may have impacted the game the most. The junior stepped in at quarterback after Jenkins’ first quarter injury, and after a shaky start — two fumbles, one recovered, one not — he rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries, while also going a perfect 2-for-2 through the air in the second half and throwing for another touchdown.
Junior Daniel Frey also provided the Bulldogs with some strong runs in the second half. Frey finished with 34 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Luray rushed for 371 yards on 45 carries as a team, an average of 8.2 yards per carry.
In the huddle after the game, Coach Hamilton told his Bulldogs that the gutsy win was one of the best he’d seen on that field.
“Just the way they all came together,” he explained later. “You got your third string quarterback in there, and Caleb Cyphert and the seniors all stepped up to help support what we were doing…and like I said, they all came together. It wasn’t just one guy that won the game tonight, it was the whole team.”
Early on, the Panthers were highly competitive on both sides of the ball. After allowing one first down on Luray’s first drive, the Page defense forced a turnover on downs. The Page offense then mounted its most successful drive of the night, marching 49 yards in a 10-play drive that took more than five minutes off the clock. The drive ended on downs at the Luray 31-yard line.
Both teams traded three-and-outs. The Panthers’ defense forced a Luray fumble, but they were unable to capitalize on it. Page only posted three-and-outs the rest of the half, until their last possession when junior Richard Reed kicked a 46-yard field goal to get Page County on the board with 22 seconds left in the half.
Following the fumble to start the second quarter, the Bulldogs mounted an 11-play touchdown drive on their next possession. Taking 6:15 off the clock, Luray went 79 yards down the field and capped it off with a 17-yard touchdown run by Cyphert. The Bulldogs lead 7-3 at the half.
Just three plays into the second half, the game completely shifted, as the Panthers threw the first of three second half interceptions. Accompanied with two fumbles, Page County turned the ball over five times on seven possessions in the second half. The Panthers would also draw five of their eight penalties during that time, and only gained 30 yards in 23 plays.
In the second half, Luray scored on five of six possessions. Jeffries scored twice on the ground and threw the game’s final score to sophomore Brayden Housden from six yards out. Cyphert scored once each half, while Frey also had a touchdown in the second half.
For the night, the Page offense was held to only 99 yards — 64 on the ground and 35 through the air (1-for-5 passing). Senior Logan Richards once again lead the way with 45 yards on 16 carries. Last week against Central, Richards racked up 170 yards on 28 carries — a game in which Braxton Pettit also ran for more than 100 yards and a touchdown. Page put up nearly 300 yards of offense against the Falcons on Oct. 30.
With the loss, Page County (2-8) ends their season, missing the six-team Region 2B playoffs.
With the win, Luray (4-6) qualifies for the eight-team Region 1B playoffs. Quarterfinals start at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13.
- No. 1 Buffalo Gap (9-1) vs No. 8 Cumberland County (3-7)
- No. 2 Riverheads (8-2) vs No. 7 Luray (4-6)
- No. 3 Altavista (8-2) vs No. 6 Surry (7-3)
- No. 4 Sussex (7-1) vs No. 5 Brunswick County (7-3)
The Bulldogs are only a few plays away from a much better looking record — one penalty flag at East Rock, two points at Perry Mccluer, three big plays against Central, and a couple at Clarke…
“We hit that stretch right there where we couldn’t get out of our own way in some games….it’s small things like that,” Coach Hamilton said. “You try to tell them as you go through life things like that are going to happen, how are you going to react to it? We could have curled up tonight and said oh well, and then say we’re going down to Riverheads and they’re a great program and there’s no way we can beat them…you don’t know, as long as you keep putting your best effort forward, no matter what you do in life, you are going to be all right…and if you can say I did the best I could, then hang your hat on that and move on to the next day.”
“You gotta make the plays when they are there to be made…and if you miss…I always tell them don’t dwell on that, your next play is going to be your best play,” Coach Hamilton continued.
“[Riverheads is a] great program. We are going to do our best to get ready for them, and go down there and hopefully give them a great game. They are a great program, great kids, great coaches…we’ll give them our best and that’s all we can do.”
For Region 1B rankings, Click HERE.
For more information on Luray High School Athletics,
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