Fort Chiswell beats Northwood

By L.L. WIMMER/Correspondent

The Fort Chiswell Pioneer football team continued its non-district play Friday night as it traveled to do battle with the Northwood Panthers in Saltville.
The Pioneer defense was outstanding throughout the contest as it held the Panthers to only 54 total yards of offense. The FC offense exploded for 27 second quarter points and the Fort went on to rack up a 39-0 victory.
Northwood won the toss and elected to receive, and Jeremiah Thompson returned it to the Panther 20-yard line.
Northwood was unable to pickup a first down as Cory Mabry, Nick Frye and Willie Taylor made fine plays, forcing a punt to the FC 48.
The Pioneer offense didn’t fare any better as Chris Rodriguez punted to the Panther 20.
Neither team could manage a score for the remainder of the quarter.
The second quarter found the Fort deep in Panther territory as Hody Viars made a nice pitch to Rodriguez, and he sped to the Panther 13. Viars ran a keeper for six yards and on the next play Rodriguez swept right end for a six-yard score. The PAT was no good as FC led 6-0.
Three plays later FC’s Josh Cain sniffed out a Northwood screen pass, picked it off, and sped 65 yards for the score. The two-point conversion failed, but with 10:02 left in the half, FC was on top 12-0.
The Panthers took the ensuing kickoff, but five plays later were forced to punt again to the FC 48.
Viars and Rodriguez teamed to move the ball to the Panther one in only three plays. Moments later Viars hit paydirt for his first score of the evening. Viars then scored on a conversion as FC upped its lead to 20-0 with 5:45 remaining in the first half.
Three plays later the Pioneer defense came up with another big play as Cain picked off his second pass of the night and returned it to the Panther 29.
Rodriguez ran for 14 yards and Cain added a deuce, and on the next play Rodriguez swept right end for another FC tally. Rodriguez added the PAT as the Fort led 27-0 late in the first half.
Neither team could find the end zone for the remainder of the half as FC went to the locker room leading 27-0.
The third quarter saw the Pioneer defense continue to play tough as it forced the Panthers to turn the ball over on downs on two occasions. On offense the Fort was its own worst enemy as a pair of turnovers stopped drives.
With 12 minutes remaining in the contest, the score stood 27-0.
The final quarter saw the FC offense get on track as it put together a nice 80-yard drive. Viars and Rodriguez teamed for 43 yards and two plays later, Viars went off left tackle for a three-yard touchdown. The PAT failed, but the Pioneers had expanded their lead to 33-0.
Northwood took the FC kickoff, but it was the same old song and dance as it was once again forced to punt.
With 4:48 left in the game, the Pioneer offense went to work again as Will Freeman and Johnse Hatfield ripped off nice runs to the Panther 19. Trey Jackson broke off left tackle for the 20-yard score. The PAT was no good, but FC led 39-0.
Northwood took the following kickoff and returned it to the Panther 35 as time expired.
The Pioneer defense continues to impress as it has given up only seven points in three games. FC Head Coach Stephen James said, “Our defense has played extremely well, and they gave our offense good field position. We have 11 players flying to the football and they’re doing a fine job.
“On offense we had an 80-yard drive, and a 76-yard drive and that is what we have been looking for,” James continued. “We are starting to block the way we are supposed to and the results are starting to show. All in all, I was proud of our offense, but we still have more work to do. The next three games will show the areas we need to improve on before we start our district schedule. I am proud of each player on this team as they have gave their all in each practice and each game this season.”
Will Freeman is to be commended for his fine play and would have had a 93-yard touchdown run, but an inadvertent whistle called the play back.
The Pioneers rushed for 322 yards on 40 carries with four rushing for touchdowns. Rodriguez had 19 rushes for 149 yards. Viars had two rushing TDs along with nine tackles of which five were for losses. Josh Cain led the team in tackles with 10 and returned an interception for a TD. Zack Cook had two interceptions for 47 yards and three of the team’s six sacks.

Fort Chiswell 0 27 0 12 – 39
Northwood 0 0 0 0 – 0

Scoring:
FC – Rodriguez 6 run (kick failed)
FC – Cain 65 interception return (kick failed)
FC – Viars 1 run (Viars run)
FC – Rodriguez 13 run (Rodriguez kick)
FC – Viars 3 run (kick failed)
FC – Jackson 20 run (kick failed)