Rural Retreat routs Panthers

By SUSAN WHALEN/Correspondent

The Rural Retreat Indians improved their record to 6-1 Friday night by routing the Northwood Panthers 59-7 in a Hogoheegee District football game played at Community Stadium.
The win also allowed the Indians to remain tied for first place in the district with George Wythe and Chilhowie, all with 2-0 district slates.
Wyatte Pickett kicked off to begin the game. The kick was fielded by Call at the Panther 15 Terry Mutter ended his progress at the RR 47. Michael Smith and David Harrison held Spence under control on the ground, while Jared Dix put pressure on the quarterback.
A defensive holding penalty against RR gave Northwood a first down at the RR 37. Daniel Baggerly, Jeremy Cregger, Justin Stoneman and Dix held the Panther backs to seven yards on their next attempts.
Faced with fourth and three, Northwood tried for the first. The play turned into a loss with RR recovering a fumble before the ball could be turned over on downs at the RR 33.
Stoneman took his spot under center, Eric Reasor, for the Indians’ first drive.  Pickett picked up six, but an illegal procedure took five back. Pickett added another six before leaving the game due to an injury.
Harrison took up where Pickett left off by hauling the ball to the 44. Another penalty found RR looking at first and 15. Harrison added another six. Stoneman found Aaron Ryder for a nice gain to the Northwood 40. Josh Simons, Stoneman and Harrison carried the ball on down to the 24.
Harrison went up the middle and across the goal line for RR’s first six points. The 2 point conversion was denied. With 3:31 left in the first RR led 6 to 0
William Wright took over kicking duties with a squiggler reaching the Panthers’ 20 yard line. The Indian defense forced Northwood to punt after giving up a yard, taking it away and forcing an incomplete pass. RR took over on its own 47.
Simons ticked off a 35 yard run, hauling a couple of Panthers on his back. An incomplete passed was followed by a 28 yard TD run by Harrison. A penalty had RR going for 2 from the 17. The pass fell incomplete. With a little over a minute left in the first, RR extended the lead to 12.
Wright’s kick was downed at the Panthers’ 47. Spence picked up a few hard yards on the ground. QB Thompson scrambled around the corner to the RR 40 where he was rudely met by Josh Kaulfuss.
The second quarter began with Spence gaining a few and Kaulfuss taking up where he left off with another tackle. Harrison and Dix put pressure on Thompson , with Dix sacking him for a loss. Long added four on the ground before the Panthers turned the ball over on downs at the RR 37. A few plays later Stoneman connected with A. Ryder. The result was a 63 yard score.
The Indians used up about 50 seconds on this drive. Wright added the PAT to up RR’s lead to 19 with under nine minutes left in the second.
Wright’s kick was fielded at the Panther 20 by Call. After a Northwood punt, Harrison took 19 seconds off the clock with a 82 yard TD run on the first play. Wright’s PAT was good upping RR’s lead to 26.
Northwood’s next possession was quite short. They took the kick at their own 48. The first play ended with Michael Smith recovering a fumble for the Indians.
Over the next three minutes,  Stoneman found Bryan Ryder to gain passing yards. Simons added more on the ground with Harrison taking it across the line for another RR TD. Wright once again split the uprights to up the score to 33.
Michael Mills started the second half with a bang. He took the Panther kick at RR’s 10 and did not stop until he crossed the goal line, 90 yards away. The 2 point conversion failed from the 17 yard line. RR’s lead increased to 39 points.
A VHSL mandated continuous clock was started with Spence taking Wright’s kick. Andrew Sult and Terry Fields stopped him at the NW 23.  The Panther’s recovered their own fumble losing 4 yards. An incomplete pass followed.
Cregger and Dix joined together to sack Thompson for an 8 yard loss. Faced with fourth and 20 on their own 10, Northwood elected to punt.
Stoneman took the ball at RR’s 44. Stoneman added a few yards before faking a handoff and scoring another 6 on a 47 yard run.  The PAT was no good. RR led by 45 with 5:25 left in the third.
Call took Wright’s kick, Fields nailed him at the NW 35. Thompson’s next pass landed incomplete. Sult chased Thompson out of the pocket where Hunter King took him down. Thompson and Spence managed to drive the ball to RR’s 39 before the quarter ended. Wright, Jake Whalen and Josh Hall took the runners down.
The fourth opened with Thompson finding Call at the goal line for Northwood’s only TD. The PAT was good. Ten seconds into the quarter RR led 45-7.
What looked to be an onsides kick attempt was snagged out of the air by Michael Smith at NW’s 47. RR sent in several subs at this time. Whalen handed off to Blake Holman who made it to the six before being stopped.
The freshman had his number called again. This time he hit pay dirt from the six. The PAT was good upping RR’s total to 52. The series took under two minutes to complete.
Hall ended NW’s drive picking off a pass at the 34. Fields took the handoff and went up the middle to the Panther’s 15 before being drug down. Sult took a turn gaining another five yards.  A delay of game sent RR back to the 10. Whalen added a few on the ground then handed off to Fields for a six yard TD run. Wright’s PAT made it 59-7.