Indians top Highlanders

By SUSAN WHALEN/Correspondent

The Rural Retreat Indians traveled to Salem Friday to take on the Glenvar Highlanders in a non-district contest. A wet field and almost constant rain did not have any ill effects on the Tribe as it defeated the Highlands 31-13.
Rural Retreat’s offense was led by Justin Stoneman, Wyatte Pickett, and David Harrison. David Harmon and Aaron Rider pulled in a pass for a gain to aid the team.
Michael Mills, Aaron Rider, Jared Dix, Kyle Testerman, Michael Smith, Jake Whalen, and Jeremy Cregger all had key tackles. While Harrison, Stoneman and Pickett played just as well on defense as on offense. The offensive line once again cleared the way for the Indians running game.
Glenvar began the game with the ball. Simons, Stoneman and Mills stopped the Highlanders before they could get going. The Highlanders were forced to punt after three downs with more negative yards then positive.
RR’s drive started at its own 33.  Three carries from Pickett was all it took to put the first 6 on the board for RR. Pickett took advantage of a the Highlanders by scoring on a 59 yard run. He then added the PAT. RR led 7 to 0 with 8:22 left in the first quarter.
Glenvar fumbled and recovered the kickoff and was stopped by Jake Whalen at its 30. Ryder, Mills, Smith and Simons cut the drive short, forcing another punt.
Rural Retreat began the next drive at its 32. Harrison and Pickett took the ball across midfield to the Glenvar 29. Several penalties forced RR to punt for the first and only time.
Glenvar got off three plays before the first ended. McGuire toted the ball from the 35 across midfield before Testerman pushed him out of bounds, saving a TD run, at the RR 41. With the first in the books, RR led by 7.
Dix and Harrison stopped McGuire for a loss on the first play of the second quarter. Two incomplete passes later, the Highlanders found themselves punting again. At least they lined up in punt formation. The fake punt turned out to be a rushing attempt that was cut short of a first by Mills and Testerman.
RR took control on its own 34. Pickett, Harrison and Stoneman ate up yards and time , with Stoneman taking it in from the one to add 6 more to RR’s total. The PAT was called wide right. With less than five minutes left in the half, RR upped the lead to 13.
Glenvar fielded the kick off at its 33. QB Kyle Horne squirmed his way around the RR defense for a 67 yard TD run on the first play on the series. The PAT was good to bring Glenvar within 6.
RR mishandled Ford’s kick. Huffman recovered the ball at RR’s 37. The Highlanders could not take advantage of the situation.
A dropped pitch out, an incomplete pass and Mills getting a hand on the next pass had Glenvar in punt formation again.
RR started their next drive from its own 1. Harrison and Pickett had the ball to the 34 in just two plays. Stoneman and Harrison advanced to Genvar’s 49 before Glenvar recovered a RR fumble.
Tyler Hash and Terry Mutter came into to slow the Ford down. Horne went to the air only to hit Michael Mills right in the numbers at the 20. He advanced to the 42 before being taken down. A few seldom seen plays surfaced on RR’s next series. This included a fake hand off from Pickett to Stoneman with Pickett passing to Ryder for a nice gain. With time winding down in the half, Pickett connected for a 35 yard field goal to add 3 to RR’s side. At the half RR led 16 to 7.
Mills took Ford’s kick near the RR 20 and scrambled all the way to Glenvar’s 33. Stoneman, Harrison and Pickett took advantage of the defense, ending with Pickett going in from the 4. He booted another PAT to bring the score to RR 23, Glenvar 7 with 8:20 left in the third.
A roughing the kicker penalty put RR kicking from the 45. Ford took the ball at the 15 and was stopped by Whalen at the 35.  Stoneman stopped Ford on the next play, but not before he was to the RR 33. Ford and Horne moved the ball down the field. Ford went in from the 2 for Glenvar’s last points of the game. The 2 point attempt was denied. With under 5 to go in the third RR led 23 to 13.
Josh Kaulfuss received the kick at the 30. He added another 12 yards before going down. Stoneman, Harrison, Picket and the offensive line went to work again. They moved on down to the Glenvar’s 11. RR coughed up the ball and ended the drive.
Dix and Testerman stopped the Highlander’s for losses. A pass interference call gave Glenvar another chance. Glenvar ended the third with an incomplete pass.
The Tribe’s defense was again on the attack, causing Glenvar to go backwards. RR started from their 42 after the punt. Harrison, Pickett and Stoneman ate up yards on the field and many valuable minutes off the clock on the next scoring drive. Pickett took the ball across for 6 and Stoneman followed soon after for 2 more. The Indians extended their lead to 31-13 , giving Glenvar under 3 minutes of playing time.
Ford took the kick at the 14 advancing to the 43. Pressure from Dix had Horne throwing another incomplete pass. Sult and Dix stopped Ford for a loss on the next snap. Harmon hauled in an interception to dash all hopes for Glenvar.
Hash rushed for 12 yards and Pickett added another 9. A delay of game was called on RR while switching players, pushing them back to the 37. Whalen took over for Stoneman. Hash had his number called again. Blake Holman scrambled close to midfield as time ran out.
Rural Retreat has next Friday night off. The Indians resume play against Radford Sept. 28 at Community Stadium for their homecoming game.

Rural Retreat 7 9 7 8 – 31
Glenvar 0 7 6 0—13