George Wythe defeats Rural Retreat

By SUSAN WHALEN/Correspondent

The George Wythe Maroons and the Rural Retreat Indians met Friday night at Community Stadium for an inter-county battle. Both teams played their “A” game. The hard fought battle was taken by GW by the score of 30-21.
Brandon Atwell got things started by kicking to RR. Terry Fields fielded the ball and advanced to the 28. Tyler Hash, Adam Evans and Jake Whalen advanced the ball, ending with a 6 yard TD run by Whalen.
Michael Smith contributed a nice block for Evans midway in the drive. Drew Lester, Christian Bradberry and Will Sawyers provided GW with tackles. William Wright’s PAT was good putting RR up by 7.
Jeremy Stepp’s kick was taken by Benjamin Lanter at the 20 and returned for a TD. Atwell’s PAT was good. The teams were tied with 5:21 left in the first quarter.
Fields again took the kick advancing from the 5 to the 37. Evans and Hash moved the pigskin onto the GW side before RR was forced to punt.
GW got a hand on the ball, giving the Maroons the ball at their own 40. A pass from Jacob Sharitz to Sawyers netted 5 yards before Smith took Sawyers down. The quarter ended in a 7-7 tie.
The Maroons were forced to punt. Jonathan Turpin and James Herring aided the Maroon defense during RR’s next series.
Rural Retreat was again forced to punt after moving the ball from the 21 yard line to 40 yard line. Blake Holman stopped any advance from the punt at the 23.
Fields and Drew Sult stopped Sawyers on the first play of the drive. Sharitz tossed a screen to Tyler Wood, who was forced out of bounds at the 48. Sharitz then hit Atwell for the go ahead TD. Atwell’s PAT brought GW’s total to 14 with 7 minutes left in the first half.
Hash brought the kick to the 26. Whalen and Evans added 10 yards with Hash churning out the remainder. He crossed the goal line for another 6 for RR. Wright’s PAT evened the score at 14.
GW got the ball back with 3:34 left in the half. Lucas Langston stopped Turpin at the RR 40 saving what looked like a sure TD for GW. Sharitz hit Atwell at the 8 with Holman making the stop.
Turpin twisted and turned his way inside the five and Sawyers punched it in for another GW 6 points. The PAT was off leaving GW with 20 and RR with 14.
RR punted on the next series. Smith broke up a Sharitz pass, holding GW to no gain. Sharitz found Lanter and Wood for 5 yards. But GW came up short and punted.
Langston fielded the punt on RR’s 35. Hash and Evans advanced to GW’s 37 on the next two plays. Whalen hit Hash near the 6 yard line with time running short. RR’s field goal attempt was not successful, giving GW the ball with 1.4 seconds on the clock. The Maroons took a 20 - 14 lead to the locker room at halftime.
GW’s Maurice Johnson and RR’s Johnny Dix were inducted into the Wythe County Sports Hall of Fame during halftime.
Daniel Baggerly, Jeremy Cregger, Hash and Whalen came up big for RR’s defense during GW’s first series of the third quarter. GW turned the ball over on downs at RR’s 32.
Hash and Evans toted the ball across midfield where GW recovered a fumble at its 47.
Baggerly and Kyle Testerman stopped GW rushing and Smith got a hand on another pass for RR. Sharitz went to the air, hitting Sawyers at the 26. Turpin moved on down to the 10. Cregger sacked Sharitz for a 6 yard loss. Atwell’s field goal was good upping GW to 23.
With 3:40 left, Atwell’s kick went out of bounds, giving RR the ball at its own 35. Hash and Evans advanced to GW’s 43, despite tackles from Sharitz, Sawyers and Turpin, before time ran out in the third.
Wood and Sawyers again netted tackles, forcing RR to punt. A roughing the kicker call gave RR the ball back at GW’s 28.
Whalen, stepping back to pass, was pressured by the GW line. He tucked the ball and was brought down at the 11 yard line. Sawyers and Herring stopped Hash at the five. Evans gained a few and Whalen took it in from the 2 for RR’s last TD. Wright’s kick was good ,upping RR to 21. With 8:34 left in the game, GW led by 2 points.
Atwell took Drew Sult’s kick at the GW 30. He got out of several tackles before being stopped at the GW 44. Wood, Turpin and Sawyers moved the ball inside RR’s 20. Hash, Holman and Whalen made tackles for RR. Faced with fourth and 6, GW went for it. Terry Fields rudely met Sharitz behind the line of scrimmage as GW turned the ball over on downs.
RR returned the favor a few plays later at RR’s 42. Sawyers gained a few. Wood saw a huge gain taken away due to a penalty. Turpin added a yard before a reverse play sent Atwell down the field and into the end zone. Atwell’s PAT was again good giving GW 30.
Fields took Atwell’s kick at the 15 and advanced to the 25. With less than a minutes left in the game, Whalen sent a screen pass to Isaac Hayes, who tossed back to Hash for a few positive yards. Whalen then found Langston at the 39 for a first down. Two incomplete passes followed, when Jonathan Quick picked off Whalen’s pass as time ran out.
RR takes on district power house Chilhowie at home Friday night and George Wythe travels to Northwood.

George Wythe 7 13 3 7 – 30
Rural Retreat 7 7 0 7 – 21

Scoring:
RR – Whalen 6 run (Wright kick)
GW – Lanter 79 kickoff return (Atwell kick)
GW – Atwell 52 pass from Sharitz (Atwell kick)
RR – Hash 1 run (Wright kick)
GW – Sawyers 1 run (kick failed)
GW – Atwell 35 FG
RR – Whalen 2 run (Wright kick)
GW—- Atwell 50 run (Atwell kick)

Team GW RR
First downs 13 22
Yards rushing 23-196 58-309
Yards passing 142 45
Comp-Att-Int 8-14-0 3-8-1
Punts-Avg. 2-32.0 1-32
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yds. 7-65 4-20
(Stats courtesy of Kenny Sayers)