A large crowd turned out for the Craig County High School Homecoming football game last Friday and among the throng was Jeremy Haymore, a retired coach and current author. One of his latest books is “The Bandana Express,” a book about the 1980 Giles Spartans championship season running the single wing offense.
“The Bandana Express is a fantastic book,” said Craig County coach Jimmy Fisher. “Jeremy Haymore has been a huge asset to our program. Coach Haymore has helped us install the single wing offense that has powered the Rockets this season.”
The “Wing” was on full display for Haymore last Friday as the Rockets rolled to a 44-6 win over visiting Eastern Montgomery. It was the first Pioneer District game for the Rockets as they improved their overall record to 6-0 for the first time in school history, whether it be New Castle High School or Craig County High.
“It’s uncharted territory,” said Fisher. “No Rocket football team has had a start like this in the 55 year history of the program. We are trying to stay grounded. I told the team after the game that it has been a lot of fun but we have not accomplished any of our goals yet. We have to stay focused on one game at a time, forget the previous weeks and do not look ahead to future weeks. We have to keep focused on the weekly opponent.”
This week will be another test for the Rockets as they travel to Buena Vista to take on Parry McCluer. It’s another district game against a team that Craig has beaten just five times in the 36 years of the rivalry. The Fightin’ Blues have won the last 13 meetings, including a 37-6 win over the Rockets in New Castle last season.
Parry McCluer is off to a 4-3 start this season with wins over Rockbridge County, Page County, Stonewall Jackson and Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy. Last week they dropped a 28-7 decision to Narrows at Ragsdale Field in Narrows.
“They had a rough night making uncharacteristic mistakes and turnovers,” said Fisher. “They have played much better in their previous games and have a win over county rival 3A Rockbridge County.”
One of Parry McCluer’s best players, senior running back and linebacker Jacob Shafer, has been out the past two weeks due to injury and should be back in time for Friday.
“We are 5-31 all-time versus Parry McCluer and we have an opportunity to get win number six, but we have to play better than we have the last two weeks,” said Fisher. “We have gotten a little sloppy at times and need to clean things up and execute.”
The Rockets tallied 432 yards of total offense against visiting East Mont behind a powerful Single Wing Offense. Senior running back Carter Calfee rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries and the electric Jerry Smith, another senior running back, ran for 168 yards and a score on 16 carries.
“Carter and Jerry are a potent onetwo punch on offense,” said Fisher.
Sophomore Bentley Smith was two for four passing for 44 yards and a touchdown pass to junior tight end Caleb Cregger, who caught his seventh TD pass of the season. Cregger was also perfect on five extra point kicks.
Defensively, the Rockets were happy to have their leading tackler, junior linebacker Noah Paxton, back this week.
“We had a couple of injuries late in the Twin Springs game,” said Fisher. “Noah and senior defensive tackle Doug Hutchison sat out last week’s win over Stonewall Jackson. Noah played this week but Doug is still recuperating and will be back soon.”
Paxton picked up right where he left off. Noah had 10.5 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
“Noah is having a great season at middle linebacker,” said Fisher. “He leads the defense in the stat line every week.”
Junior linebacker Marcus Donithan haad 5.5 tackles and some big hits Friday. Senior outside linebacker Tristan Dooley, a locker room leader and team motivator, had four tackles and a tackle for loss. Junior defensive tackle Kadin Arthurs had 3.5 tackles, a tackle for loss and shared a sack with sophomore defensive end Jeremiah Fowler. Fowler also had two other tackles and a tackle for loss. Defensive stalwart Calfee contributed four tackles and junior defensive end Peyton Fields had two tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack.
The Rockets are on the road for the next two weeks before returning home on Halloween night to host Narrows. That will be the last regular season home game, but if the Rockets continue to win some playoff games should come to Mitchell Field in November.
