Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 53F. Winds light and variable..
Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 53F. Winds light and variable.
Clarke County's Matthew Tapscott (59) tackles Strasburg''s Braydon Decristofaro on the Rams' first play from scrimmage after a gain of two yards on Friday at Feltner Stadium in Berryville. Strasburg won 38-0.
Clarke County running back Kyler Darlington looks for running room in the first quarter of Friday's football game at Feltner Stadium. Darlington left with an injury in the second quarter of the Eagles' 38-0 loss to Strasburg.
Clarke County's Matthew Tapscott (59) tackles Strasburg''s Braydon Decristofaro on the Rams' first play from scrimmage after a gain of two yards on Friday at Feltner Stadium in Berryville. Strasburg won 38-0.
Clarke County running back Kyler Darlington looks for running room in the first quarter of Friday's football game at Feltner Stadium. Darlington left with an injury in the second quarter of the Eagles' 38-0 loss to Strasburg.
BERRYVILLE — After Clarke County backup quarterback Tanner Sipe failed to turn the corner and was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line with 20 seconds remaining, a thunderous roar emerged from the Strasburg sideline.
It had long since been determined that the Rams were going to accomplish their pregame mission and not allow the Eagles to ring the Victory Bell at Feltner Stadium on Friday. But at that point, Strasburg knew it had its shutout, too.
The Rams broke open a three-point game with three touchdowns in the last three minutes of the first half and went on to a resounding 38-0 Bull Run District victory.
With some deceptive play-action, quarterback Ryan Roller (5 of 8 for 156 yards) passed for two of his three touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half, and running back Takhi Coates (15 carries for 170 yards) had a 37-yard TD run and 36-yard TD catch in that stretch.
Strasburg also recorded two of its three interceptions at the end of the first half, converting both into Roller TD throws, as the Rams went into the break with a 24-0 lead. For the game, Roller had one interception and linebacker/running back Braden Stern (44 yards and one TD on 10 carries) had two picks.
It was a breakthrough win for Strasburg (4-1, 1-0 district), which had lost nine straight games to Clarke County (2-2, 0-2) since last beating the Eagles in 2012. The Rams — who recorded their second straight shutout — became the first team to blank Clarke County since Central did so in a 40-0 decision in 2017, which is also the last time the Eagles lost by at least 38 points.
Clarke County's efforts were hindered when reigning Bull Run District Offensive Player of the Year and running back/linebacker Kyler Darlington left the game for good with an upper body injury early in the second quarter.
But the Eagles weren't having much offensive luck with Darlington (seven carries for 28 yards and a 13-yard catch) while he was in the game. Clarke County punted on each of its four possessions with Darlington in the backfield, with the team recording only 36 yards from scrimmage and three first downs on those possessions.
Clarke County coach Casey Childs said the Rams didn't do anything on defense that surprised the Eagles, who managed only 158 yards (135 rushing on 37 attempts).
"They were quick up front," Childs said. "They were crossing our face, and we just didn't do a very good job blocking. They were getting a lot of penetration from the back side, which really shouldn't happen."
Childs said Darlington came out not long after his 13-yard catch on third-and-30 (the Eagles were sent back to their own 30 because of a personal foul) with about eight minutes to go in the first half.
When the Eagles' offense next took the field, they were down 9-0 thanks to a 37-yard touchdown run by Coates with 2:29 left in the half. Six seconds later and starting at their own 35, the Eagles took to the air.
Senior quarterback Matthew Sipe (6 of 13 for 23 yards, six carries, 32 yards) threw incomplete on first and second down, then threw a pass over the middle while under pressure on third down that hung in the air for a long time. Roller stepped in front of throw at the Strasburg 47.
With the Eagles needing to rely on the passing game more and more as the game wore on, the Rams always seemed to be in the right place at the right time on defense. Sipe completed just two passes for five yards and threw three interceptions in his last eight pass attempts.
"Matthew's really good," Childs said. "We had a little bit of success early and also dropped [a pass], so we knew we could get some guys open, but obviously, it just didn't work out. We had a couple interceptions, and Strasburg took advantage of them."
Three plays after Roller's interception, he threw his first TD pass of the game. After faking a handoff out of the Rams' T-formation, Roller found tight end Griffin Carter well behind the defense inside the 20, and Carter took the ball in for a 45-yard score. Roller then found a wide-open Carter again for the two-point conversion that made it 17-0 with 1:01 left in the half.
"[The running backs], they buy time for me," Roller said. "When they get the fakes, that's when everything comes together and we get to score. It really starts with them, and I've just got to finish it off."
After Stern intercepted Sipe at the Eagles' 36 on the next play from scrimmage, Roller found Coates wide open off play-action on the right side on first down. He scored easily to make it 24-0.
"We just made up that play on the sideline," said Coates, who slipped out of the backfield uncovered. "[Clarke's defenders] were all crashing [to one side], we saw it, so we just had me go [to the right]."
That TD capped a brilliant first half from Coates. He set up Roller's 25-yard field goal with 2:52 left in the first quarter with a 42-yard burst through the right side to Clarke County's 8, then found a hole on the left and ran 37 yards for the TD that made it 9-0.
The 5-foot-7, 135-pound sophomore doesn't need much space to hurt defenses.
"He's got a little bit of speed there," Rams head coach Mark Roller said. "He's our playmaker. Whenever he gets in the open field, you never know what can happen."
Strasburg continued to operate at a high level in the second half, with Roller rolling right and hitting Walker Conrad left for a 47-yard catch-and-run TD on the first possession of the second half to make it 31-0. That TD came two plays after the Eagles again lost track of Carter in coverage on a deep pass.
"We did not play assignment football at all, in the first half [and early in the second]," Childs said. "Myself and the coaching staff take responsibility for not teaching it well enough. We've got to get better as coaches and our kids need to get better as well."
As valuable as Darlington is on offense, the Eagles might have missed him more on defense on Friday.
"He's a really good inside linebacker," Childs said. "He's been a rock for a year and a half now at the Will linebacker. We had to move guys, and it messed up some of our keys that we were trying to do."
Strasburg then ended a 15-play, 47-yard drive by the Eagles with a Stern interception of Sipe at the Clarke County 4 on fourth-and-goal from the 15. Stern capped the ensuing nine-play, 96-yard drive with a six-yard TD run to make it 38-0 with 9:29 left.
The Eagles could take solace in that sophomore Wyatt Palmer (12 carries, 63 yards) ran well at Darlington's running back spot.
"He's an explosive kid, and he's extremely quick and agile," said Childs of the sophomore who also stars at linebacker. "He did a good job in the second half."
Clarke County is next in action next Friday in a non-district game at Lightridge High School in Aldie. Strasburg hosts East Rockingham.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your comment has been submitted.
There was a problem reporting this.
Comments are reviewed by moderators so they may not immediately appear. We appreciate your patience.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Would you like to receive our Daily Headlines? Sign up today!
Would you like to receive our Breaking News? Sign up today!
Get our expert short-term forecast, summary of the weather details and news of any severe weather.
Best trending stories from the week, delivered Saturday morning.