Rural Retreat runs over Bland

By SUSAN WHALEN/Correspondent

The Rural Retreat Indians advanced to the Region C finals by defeating the Bland County Bears 34-12 Friday night.
Both teams had plenty of support from the stands that braved the cold, windy weather. David Harrison led the Indians by churning up almost 200 rushing yards, with Michael Mills chipping in over 100. Several Indians came up for the defense. Michael Smith, Terry Mutter, Terry Fields, Jared Dix, Jeremy Cregger, Justin Stoneman, Kyle Testerman, Josh Kaulfuss and Harrison were names that were heard often.
Rural Retreat will host the Region C, Division 1 championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.
The Indians began with Stoneman receiving the kick at the 21 and advancing to the 32.
Harrison, Stoneman and Fields rumbled on the ground. Stoneman connected with Mills for more yards.
The Indians made it within 8 yards before a fumble gave Bland its first possession of the night. The Bears managed a first down before the ball popped loose again, this time ending up in RR’s hands at Bland’s 19.
Harrison, Mills and Stoneman took turns carrying the ball with Harrison crossing the line from the 2. William Wright’s PAT was good giving RR seven points with 2:19 left in the first quarter
Jacob Lambert took the ensuing kickoff at the 13 gaining 25 yards when Aaron Ryder wrapped him up.
Josh Pennington caught Shrader’s pass for 10. Kennedy added another yard. Dix took Shrader down. A holding penalty took the Bears back to the 38. Harrison and Mutter drove Shrader back to the 32. Adam Kirk advanced the ball 6 yards.
The second quarter opened with Stoneman dropping Lambert for a loss. Dix and Cregger stopped Shrader, forcing the ball over on downs to RR at its own 29.
Harrison moved to the 38 where he was stopped by Eric Harless. Harless, Kennedy and Lambert had tackles for Bland.
Mills, Stoneman and Harrison toted the ball down the field with Harrison adding another 6 from the 3. Wright’s kick put RR up by 14 with 7:34 left in the half.
Bland moved the ball from its own 36 deep into Indian territory. Mutter broke up the pass that very well could have been Bland’s first score.
Harrison took Shrader down, Bland again turned the ball over on downs at RR’s 16. Lambert caught Harrison’s foot stopping him at the 31.
Gibson stopped Stoneman for no gain. Stoneman came out firing on the next play, hitting David Harmon at the 50.
A late hit on Bland moved RR to Bland’s 35. A short pass to Harrison and a few incomplete passes had RR giving up the ball on Bland’s 30.
The Tribe did not give Bland much time, 6.9 seconds to be exact. Mutter snagged Lambert as time ran out in the first half. The teams went to the locker room with RR leading by 14.
The third opened with Bryan Ryder stopping Kennedy at Bland’s 33. Smith, Harrison and Cregger held Kennedy to a one yard gain. RR’s Mill cut the Bear’s series short by intercepting Shrader’s pass at RR’s 36.
Jones and Kennedy stopped Harrison’s next two attempts, but not before he made it to midfield. Mills had the advantage of at least three blockers on the next play and was stopped by Pennington after a 9 yard gain.
Two plays later the “O” line made Mills a nice hole to work with, and he didn’t stop until he was in the end zone. Wright’s PAT put RR ahead by 21.The series took less than two minutes to complete.
The Bears put together a nice series with Kirk gaining on the ground and Leighton catching a pass at the RR 27. Kennedy and Lambert added a few yards, before Fields and Testerman took Kennedy down for a loss.
Faced with fourth and 11 , Bland went to the air. Under pressure from RR Shrader threw to Kennedy. What looked to be a first down was called back due an illegal forward pass. (over the line of scrimmage) The ball was turned over on downs to RR at their 31. Harrison and Mills wasted no time, with Harrison taking it in from the 1 in under three minutes. The PAT was wide left as RR increased its lead to 27 with 4:04 left to play in the third.
Ryder stopped Kennedy after a 20 yard kick return at Bland’s 35. Shrader added a few, Kirk lost a few. Shrader found Kennedy at the RR 24. Kennedy added another two on the ground. The double reverse did not fool RR, the Bears lost a couple on the play.
Shrader found Kennedy wide open in the end zone for their first 6 of the game. The PAT was no good. RR led 27 to 6 with about a minute left in the third.
Mills took the kick, handing off to Stoneman at the 21. Stoneman was stopped by Kidd at RR’s 37. Harrison made it to the 47 and Stoneman took it to the Bland 12 when the third quarter ran out.
Lambert took Harrison down for a loss on the next snap. Harrison came back strong scoring from the 16, carrying at least three Bears the last five yards. Wright’s PAT was good, upping RR to 34.
Bland turned the ball over on downs the next series. Tyler Hash entered as a running back for RR on the possession. Harrison had a great gain from RR’s 32 to Bland’s 4. Harless took Hash for a short loss. RR soon turned the ball back over to the Bears at the Bland 36. Several clean jerseys entered the game for RR.  Kirk and Gibson handled the offense for Bland while Kaulfuss, Rhodes, Hayes and Hedrick had tackles for RR. Kirk rushed for a 29 yard TD for Bland on this series. The PAT was no good. RR led 34 to 12 with a little over a minute to be played in the game.