Rye Cove edges past Blue Devils; plays for Class 1 state title

GATE CITY — The revenge tour is complete. Up next is the biggest game of all. One season after Rye Cove and Grayson County combined for 74 points, the two clubs managed just 13 in a Class 1 state semifinal rematch on Saturday at Gate City's Legion's Field. Unlike last time, Rye Cove finished on top, squeaking past the Blue Devils, 7-6, to advance to the Class 1 state championship game next Saturday at Salem Stadium in Salem, Va. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. "At this point in time, I don't care if it is 2-0," Rye Cove head coach Gary Collier said. "We were fortunate to get the win here. We have worked for it, these kids deserve it and I am so tickled for them." Rye Cove (11-3), which dropped a 40-34 heartbreaker last year to Grayson County, will face Rappahannock (12-2), which defeated Buffalo Gap, 38-32, in the other Class 1 semifinal on Saturday. Neither team has ever played in a state championship game. "As a coach I have already started thinking about it," Collier said. "I want these kids to enjoy this, but we have got another game to play. For 24 hours let them love on everybody, let them enjoy this win. This is not where we want to end this thing though." Rye Cove, which had two other scoring chances stopped in the opening half, got on the board first, taking advantage of a shanked punt to get the ball at the Grayson County 34-yard line. Tyler Shupe connected with Luke Jessee for nine yards on third down and Will Rollins followed with a 17-yard run, setting up a four-yard run around the right side for the touchdown by Cole Barnette with 1:37 left until halftime. Maverick Cress' extra point kick proved to be the difference in the final score as the bigger, stronger Eagles took advantage of the muddy field conditions at Gate City. "We done a great job up front. It was a pretty close game, 7-6, it was a battle all night, back and forth defensive game," Rye Cove junior lineman Ethan Lawson said. "Some things we didn't do right. We're starting to get better in every way. We are still a working football team, still holes to fill, still things to get better at, but we came up with the W. It was a dogfight." Collier felt like the Eagles should have been up more than 7-0 at halftime. "I hate feeling that way, we are up 7-0, you ought to be a little bit happy about it, but that is what I told them, I felt like we should be up three scores," Collier said. "Always in the back of your mind as a coach, is it going to come back and bite you and it almost did." One week after Grayson County (9-5) ran for 511 yards in the Region 1C championship game over George Wythe, the Eagles limited the Blue Devils to 161 yards on offense, including just 83 yards on the muddy grass at Legion Field. Rye Cove didn't do a lot more, finishing with 216 yards against the Blue Devils. "They gave us trouble, we gave them trouble, it was a good defensive football game," Grayson County head coach Stephen James said. "They made a couple of plays and we didn't." An interception by Makray Goad at the Rye Cove 34-yard line led to Grayson County's lone score with 6:52 left in the game. Parker Dowell ran for 19 yards to the 15 before the Eagles forced a 4th and 5 from the 10, with Maverik Goad connecting his brother, Makray, in the end zone to narrow the margin to 7-6. After Hagan Rhoton jumped offsides on the extra point kick attempt, the Blue Devils decided to go for two from the 1-yard line. Goad's pass to his brother in the right corner of the end zone was broken up by the Eagles. "They played well. We had some opportunities and missed a couple of assignments here or there and they took advantage of it," James said. "Once they jumped on the extra point we knew we were going for two. It was just a good classic defensive battle." Grayson County, which had a pass picked off in the end zone by Connor Stem on the opening drive of the second half, got one final chance when Rye Cove turned the ball over on downs, but Rhoton picked off a pass with 1:05 left to secure the win for the Eagles, one year after heartbreak against the Blue Devils. "I don't know what the difference really was. We prepared hard last year, we prepared even harder this year," Rhoton said. "I think last yet we just kind of got a little bit big-headed and let it slip out from under us. This year we weren't going to let that happen." Rye Cove was led on offense by Will Rollins, who ran for 107 yards on 18 carries. Tyler Shupe threw for 83 yards, including four receptions by Luke Jessee for 35 yards. Ben McElroy and Rollins had eight tackles apiece for a program that had its season canceled at halftime of a game in 2021 due to the lack of healthy players. Four years later, and the Eagles are playing for a state championship. "It is just amazing what these kids have done and how hard they have fought, how hard they have worked in the weight room and worked for four years," Collier said. "We always like going back and talking about four years, but we have improved every year. I didn't bring it up this year because it was going to be a tough challenge for us, but each year we have went a little bit further. "I don't know what we are going to do next year, but I know we are playing for a state championship." Maverik Goad struggled against the much-improved Rye Cove pass defense, going 9-of-25 for 78 passing and ran for 48 yards. Makray Good led the Blue Devils with five catches for 44 yards. Xayden Brown had 10 tackles, Braedon Ward added nine and Coleson Burchett also had a fumble recovery on defense. "If you don't win the last one it is always tough, but hats off to them, they played a good game," said James, whose Blue Devils dropped a 22-0 decision to Essex in last year's Class 1 state title game. "They are a tremendous group of young men. If you don't win the last one it is awful, but that is life sometimes. It is just the way it is." One year ago Rye Cove was left stunned by Grayson County. This time the feeling was much different. "It feels amazing. We are not heartbroken so there is that. We are going to Salem for the first time ever in school history, we are legends now," Lawson said. "We are going to get ready for state, get ready to see who we go up against and we will be ready for anything."