Indians, Blue Devils meet

The Rural Retreat Indians and the Grayson County Blue Devils met at Community Stadium Friday night in a non-district game. Both teas entered the contest with 1 and 1 records, both coming off losses.  Wyatte Pickett’s 15 yard field goal with under 16 seconds sealed the win for RR. Justin Stoneman, David Harrison, David Harmon, Aaron Ryder and Pickett with the help of the “O” line led the Indian offense.
Grayson was led by Pollard, Bedsaul, G.Thompson, Grier, J. Thompson and Jones.
RR’s defense struggled in the first half allowing 14 points. When they came back after the half the whole team looked more settled and ready to have some fun. Jared Dix, Michael Smith, Josh Simons,Daniel Baggerly, J. C. Crockett, Jeremy Cregger, Kyle Testerman along with Pickett, Harmon, and Harrison, Stoneman came up for RR’s defense.
Pickett began the game with a kick to Grayson. Tough defense by RR and Grayson forced punts for both team’s first attempts.  Simons recovered a Blue Devil fumble, but the Tribe could not get any points on the drive.  RR turned the ball over on downs on Grayson’s 10. Smith,Harrison and Simons shut GC down and forced a punt. Pickett returned the ball from the 50 to Grayson’s 37. The possession ended one play later when Grier snagged Stoneman’s pass. Pollard took the ball in for 6 with a 66 yard run on the next play. Grier hauled in Pollard’s pass to put GC up 8 to 0 with 10:13 left in the half.
Grayson County tried to keep the ball away RR’s kick return team, with all but one kick landing out of bounds. The next RR drive ended with a blocked punt giving the Devils excellent field position. B. Osborne took the ball to RR’s 15 before Stoneman stopped him.  Bedsaul, G. Thompson and Pollard carried toward the end zone with Pollard scoring the TD. Baggerly, Testerman and Simons denied the 2 point conversion attempt.
Grayson then led by 14 with 4:49 left in the half. The Indians had O’Brien kick the ball again after it went out of bounds again. A short squiggler was stopped by Jake Whalen at RR’s 40. Harrison had a 23 yard run on the next snap. The Indians would get inside the 30 before Grayson recovered a fumbled ball. RR’s defense kicked in and forced a punt. The Indians trailed by 14 as the half ended.
Stoneman took the second kick of the second half at the 26 and advanced to the 39. Harrison tacked on another 2 yards. Stoneman’s pitch out to Pickett left the at Grayson’s 46. After an incomplete pass, Stoneman found Picket down for RR’s first points. The PAT was good. With 10:31 left in the third, RR had cut Grayson’s lead by 7. The Devils were again forced to punt. Pickett, Stoneman and Harrison pounded the ball up the middle with Harrison taking the ball in from the 3 to add 6 more to RR’s total. The PAT failed. RR trailed by 1 with 4:41 left in the third. Williams had a short return on the kick.
GC began on their own 35. Dix and Harrison stopped Bedsaul for a loss. An incomplete pass followed. Pollard was stripped on his next pass attempt with Jeremy Cregger taking control of the ball for the Tribe at the GC 34.  A pass to Pickett down the sideline was good for 5 yards. Under pressure, Stoneman found Harrison and advanced to the 12. Harrison, Pickett and Stoneman again gained yards up the middle. Stoneman hit pay dirt from the 2 for RR’s first lead of the night. The PAT turned 2 point attempt was stopped just short of the goal. RR led 19 – 14 with a minute and a half left in the third. Josh Kaulfus stopped GC at their 33 after Picket’s kick. Bedsaul added 2 yards before Harmon picked off Pollard’s pass. Arron Ryder hauled in a pass for a 9 yard gain. Pickett ran for a first down. Stoneman added 2 before GC recovered a fumble near their own 20. Pollard, Jones and Bedsaul passed and ran all the way to the end zone. The 2 point pass attempt failed. Grayson regained the lead by 1 with 3:35 left in the game. RR’s offense toted and passed from their 22 to Grayson’s 15, eating up 3:20 off the clock. Stoneman set up on the 15 waiting for the snap. Pickett connected perfectly splitting the uprights for 3. RR regained the lead for the final time. Grayson was given 8.7 seconds to work with. Michael Smith applied pressure on QB Pollard. His throw was picked off by Pickett dashing any hope of a Hail Mary TD. RR took a knee to end the game with a 2 point margin of victory.
The Indians travel to Salem to take on Glenvar this Friday night.