Craig County’s hopes for an undefeated football regular season came to an end last Friday in front of a huge Halloween Night crowd at New Castle’s Mitchell Field. The Rockets dropped a 42-21 decision to Narrows in a game that was a lot closer than the final score indicates.
“Tough loss,” said Craig coach Jimmy Fisher. “So many what-ifs and if-onlys and almosts; but at the end of the day a loss is a loss.”
The loss also cost Craig the outright Pioneer District championship. The Rockets can still tie for the championship with Narrows. Craig is 3-1 in the district and finished with their Pioneer season while the Green Wave is 3-0 and still has to play Bath County this week. If the Chargers can pull the upset Craig and Narrows will be co-champs.
“Narrows has played nine seasons in the Pioneer District and has now won six district titles,” said Fisher. “Our program has not had many opportunities to win district titles and I thought we had a very solid chance of doing it this season.”
Craig senior Carter Calfee, a candidate for Pioneer District Player of the Year, injured his ankle the week prior and wasn’t at full speed for the Narrows game. That was a tough injury for Craig at a crucial point of the season.
“As most people now know our main guy for the last three years, Carter Calfee, was injured in the Bath County game,” said Fisher. “He didn’t practice all week and was a game time decision. He played some offense but he didn’t have his usual cutting ability or burst of speed. He didn’t play defense and Narrows was able to exploit his absence.
“The lack of a healthy Carter Calfee certainly played a part in our first loss of 2025. However, I think we could have still won without him. We haven’t built our program around just one kid, we’ve tried to build around all of them. I am not coaching much longer and I want to build competitive longevity into this program. I want the next guy to be successful and every guy after him.”
The Rockets also got a tough break when a plumbing problem at the school forced an early dismissal on Thursday and the boys did not have their usual practice after school.
“I think the plumbing issue played a part on Friday,” said Fisher. “That is no one’s fault, it just is what it is. Routine is huge in sports, and ours got knocked around. With the early dismissal on Thursday we did not get to practice. Some things we do to prep for a game only get done once a week and we missed that practice and the repping and improving of those things.”
After Thursday’s early dismissal there was no school on Friday.
“I think the biggest thing was no school Friday,” said Fisher. “Kids who normally get up at 7:00 or 7:30 to come to school laid around all day, slept in, played video games, etcetera. We didn’t have our usual energy, aggressiveness and tenacity that we have had all season. We played very hard but we just did not have our ‘A’ game Friday.
“Narrows is good and played well, but we made a ton of uncharacteristic mistakes that we normally don’t make and had nothing to do with the other team. With all the positive press we have had from the media, we were set up for a trap game. It happens at the major college level and the professional level. You do so good for so long by working hard and focusing on the little things that you fall into the trap of buying into all the hype and you let your guard down. You give 98 or 99 percent instead of 100 percent. You don’t do all the little things that prepared you to win the earlier games.”
The Rockets never led in this game, but were always on the verge of doing so. They drove inside the red zone on their opening drive but fumbled and Narrows recovered. The Wave completed a long pass on their way to a 90 yard drive that resulted in a one yard TD run with 4:57 remaining in the first quarter.
Craig drove to the Narrows 44 on their next drive, where they were stopped on downs. Narrows then drove for a second score and it was 14-0 just eight seconds into the second quarter.
The Rockets battled back to cut the lead to one score. Calfee went up the middle for a 17 yard TD run after Craig converted with a fourth down pass to keep the drive alive. Caleb Cregger kicked the extra point and it was 14-7 with 8:17 left in the first half.
There was still a lot of football to be played in the first half. Narrows went up two scores again on a 24 yard touchdown pass on third and 18. Then the Rockets answered on a 19 yard run by Jerry Smith with 1:10 till intermission. That was set up by a spectacular catch by Cregger, and the Rockets stopped Narrows on fourth and short on the Wave’s final possession before halftime.
Narrows got the ball first in the second half. The Rockets had them fourth and long at the 32 but the Wave completed a pass for a touchdown and a 28-14 lead.
Once again the Rockets answered. Noah Paxton went around right end for 49 yards before he was knocked out of bounds at the one. Noah then took it over from the one yard line and Cregger’s kick made it 28-21 with 5:27 still remaining in the third quarter.
Narrows went up two scores again in the fourth quarter. Cregger’s interception ended a Wave threat but the Rockets turned the ball over on fourth and one at their own 22. Narrows then scored on an eight yard pass with 6:44 to go to make it 35-21 and added a late touchdown to account for the final score.
The Rockets were led offensively by Paxton with 146 yards rushing on 16 carries. Noah was also 5-for-10 passing for 62 yards while senior wingback Jerry Smith had eight carries for 67 yards. Jerry broke the 1,000 yard barrier with his 19 yard TD in the second quarter, joining Calfee in the “1,000 Yard Club.”
“I don’t think we have ever had two guys rush for over 1,000 yards during the same season,” said Fisher. “But we will celebrate that accomplishment at the conclusion of the season. None of us, including Jerry, feel like celebrating this week.”
Defensively, the Rockets were led by Paxton and senior outside backer Tristan Dooley who both had 14 tackles and two tackles for loss. Junior defensive tackle Carter Price had a big night with 10 tackles while junior safety Cregger had five tackles and an interception. Junior defensive back Wyatt Huffman had 4.5 tackles, junior linebacker Marcus Donithan had four tackles and junior defensive end Peyton Fields had three tackles and a sack.
“A missed practice Thursday, no school Friday, trap game, etcetera; those things are all forms of adversity and you have adversity in life and we preach about working through those adversities that come along in a game and in life,” said Fisher. “We just did not get it done. Ultimately, the ability to overcome the adversity falls on me. I didn’t have them as prepared as I should have. It hurts for all of us, but it’s a new week and we are now back to 0-0.”
The Rockets are on the road this Friday for a game at Meadow Bridge, West Virginia. The Wildcats are 7-2 after a tough loss last Friday.
“Their running back, Kaiden Simm, rushed for 2,500 yards last season,” said Fisher. “He is going to be their primary weapon. We have to be able to tackle in space better than we did last week. I won’t guarantee a victory in the game but I guarantee that we have a great week of practice.”
With last week’s loss the Rockets dropped to second in the Region 1C rankings behind Giles. The Spartans are home this week to end the regular season against 6-3 George Wythe. Needless to say, Rocket fans will be rooting for the Maroons.
“We want to whole-heartedly extend a huge thank you to our community and alumni for being so supportive of us this season,” said Fisher. “It means everything to our guys. We also want to think Dr. Wheeler, Shane Gills, Devin Huffman, Junior Jones and everyone else who worked so hard to make the game happen Friday on schedule.”
