I heard the injury he sustained Friday night at Luray is season ending. If so such a tough break for a great football player but more importantly a great young man with a bright future.
Peyton Rutherford from Clarke County
- Thread starter StrasburgFball
- Start date
Hate to see any kid get injured. During your senior season really sucks. He had a great High School career. I know he tormented us at Strasburg. Wishing him nothing but the best.
Clarke County takes on Stonewall Jackson without Rutherford
Quarterback Colby Childs (left) will lead a Clarke County team that will be playing without running back Peyton Rutherford tonight. The Eagles host Stonewall Jackson in their homecoming game at 7 p.m.
WALT Moody/The Winchester Star
Anyone coming back to Berryville for the Clarke County football team’s homecoming game tonight won’t be able to see what they’ve enjoyed immensely for the last three seasons.
Eagles senior running back Peyton Rutherford will not be in action when the Eagles (4-2, 2-1 Bull Run District) host Stonewall Jackson (2-4, 2-1) at 7 p.m. at Wilbur M. Feltner Stadium.
Rutherford suffered a leg injury in the third quarter of last week’s 35-34 loss at Luray and left the game for good. Eagles coach Chris Parker said Rutherford will be evaluated on a weekly basis, but he could miss up to six weeks. There are just four weeks left in the regular season.
The absence of Rutherford is a huge one for the Eagles in terms of production. The 6-foot, 210-pound senior has rushed for 1,005 yards and 12 touchdowns on 110 carries this season, a 9.1 average per carry, and he’s also caught 14 passes for 171 yards.
Rutherford has been a force ever since he took over the Eagles’ starting running back position at the outset of the 2017 season. He has 4,907 rushing yards in his career, which is just 216 yards short of breaking Hunter Rogers’ school rushing record.
But the prospect of Rutherford missing an extended period of time has Parker more upset for Rutherford on a personal level than upset for what his absence will mean to the team’s performance.
“I’m really saddened just for him, Parker said. “You work all those years, especially your senior year. It’s just a shame. Life’s not always fair. I’m sure he’s going to have opportunities [to play in college] after he graduates, it’s just one of those things that happened right now.
“He’ll be the first one to root the team on. I know he’s disappointed, but he’s a team guy and you just have to move on. We have people ready to go and we’re going to do the best we can, and just see how it works out.”
Parker said Luke Leso (four carries, 43 yards, one TD), who missed last week’s game with an illness, and Jack Taylor (five carries, 28 yards) will get carries at Rutherford’s running back position. Danny Lyman (40 carries for 343 yards and three TDs) will continue to be a wing back. He picked up 78 yards and two TDs on 11 carries against Luray.
Clarke County’s blocking up front will be fortified with more bodies this week. Parker said Bryce Robertson, Neil Mitchell and Wynn Morris will return after each missed multiple weeks and will be part of the team’s rotation on the offensive and defensive lines.
Though Clarke County is known for its vaunted single-wing rushing attack, the Eagles have opened up their offense and featured more spread looks this year. Clarke County showed last week against Luray just how effective it can be in the passing game, as senior quarterback Colby Childs and Lyman each had record-setting days.
Childs (47 of 73 for 819 yards, 7 TDs, 1 interception for the season) set Clarke County’s single-game record for passing yards with 261 (he completed 14 of 20 passes) while Lyman set a single-game school record for receiving yardage with 171 on seven catches. Lyman also had a passing TD that went for 26 yards to his younger brother Luke after taking the ball on a reverse.
“I always knew that we had that capability,” said Parker of the larger emphasis on passing this season. “We’ll take what the defense gives us, step up and do what we’re supposed to do.”
Clarke County — which is averaging 33.5 points and 390.3 yards per game — will take on a Stonewall Jackson team that is allowing 34.8 points per game.
The Generals are only averaging 189.5 yards and 12.5 points per game, but Stonewall Jackson has improved as the year has gone on. The Generals snapped a 41-game losing streak in their fourth game — an 31-0 win over Rappahannock County — and they are coming off a 30-27 win against Madison County.
Junior Rion Dennison took over as quarterback for the Rappahannock County game, and he leads the team with 101 carries for 470 yards and five TDs in the Generals’ run-based triple-option offense. Clarke County linebackers Cody Sowers and Sam Brumback (68 tackles each) will look to slow Stonewall down.
“They’re the first team we’ve played this year that runs the true veer and mid-line option stuff,” Parker said. “They’re dedicated to it. What happens is they run that offense and they’re reading what the defense does. So if a [defensive] kid cheats and doesn’t do his job or deviates from his responsibility, that’s when they don’t give it to the fullback and the quarterback keeps it, or they pitch it out. We’re going to have to play disciplined football on defense and do our responsibilities.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1
Quarterback Colby Childs (left) will lead a Clarke County team that will be playing without running back Peyton Rutherford tonight. The Eagles host Stonewall Jackson in their homecoming game at 7 p.m.
WALT Moody/The Winchester Star
Anyone coming back to Berryville for the Clarke County football team’s homecoming game tonight won’t be able to see what they’ve enjoyed immensely for the last three seasons.
Eagles senior running back Peyton Rutherford will not be in action when the Eagles (4-2, 2-1 Bull Run District) host Stonewall Jackson (2-4, 2-1) at 7 p.m. at Wilbur M. Feltner Stadium.
Rutherford suffered a leg injury in the third quarter of last week’s 35-34 loss at Luray and left the game for good. Eagles coach Chris Parker said Rutherford will be evaluated on a weekly basis, but he could miss up to six weeks. There are just four weeks left in the regular season.
The absence of Rutherford is a huge one for the Eagles in terms of production. The 6-foot, 210-pound senior has rushed for 1,005 yards and 12 touchdowns on 110 carries this season, a 9.1 average per carry, and he’s also caught 14 passes for 171 yards.
Rutherford has been a force ever since he took over the Eagles’ starting running back position at the outset of the 2017 season. He has 4,907 rushing yards in his career, which is just 216 yards short of breaking Hunter Rogers’ school rushing record.
But the prospect of Rutherford missing an extended period of time has Parker more upset for Rutherford on a personal level than upset for what his absence will mean to the team’s performance.
“I’m really saddened just for him, Parker said. “You work all those years, especially your senior year. It’s just a shame. Life’s not always fair. I’m sure he’s going to have opportunities [to play in college] after he graduates, it’s just one of those things that happened right now.
“He’ll be the first one to root the team on. I know he’s disappointed, but he’s a team guy and you just have to move on. We have people ready to go and we’re going to do the best we can, and just see how it works out.”
Parker said Luke Leso (four carries, 43 yards, one TD), who missed last week’s game with an illness, and Jack Taylor (five carries, 28 yards) will get carries at Rutherford’s running back position. Danny Lyman (40 carries for 343 yards and three TDs) will continue to be a wing back. He picked up 78 yards and two TDs on 11 carries against Luray.
Clarke County’s blocking up front will be fortified with more bodies this week. Parker said Bryce Robertson, Neil Mitchell and Wynn Morris will return after each missed multiple weeks and will be part of the team’s rotation on the offensive and defensive lines.
Though Clarke County is known for its vaunted single-wing rushing attack, the Eagles have opened up their offense and featured more spread looks this year. Clarke County showed last week against Luray just how effective it can be in the passing game, as senior quarterback Colby Childs and Lyman each had record-setting days.
Childs (47 of 73 for 819 yards, 7 TDs, 1 interception for the season) set Clarke County’s single-game record for passing yards with 261 (he completed 14 of 20 passes) while Lyman set a single-game school record for receiving yardage with 171 on seven catches. Lyman also had a passing TD that went for 26 yards to his younger brother Luke after taking the ball on a reverse.
“I always knew that we had that capability,” said Parker of the larger emphasis on passing this season. “We’ll take what the defense gives us, step up and do what we’re supposed to do.”
Clarke County — which is averaging 33.5 points and 390.3 yards per game — will take on a Stonewall Jackson team that is allowing 34.8 points per game.
The Generals are only averaging 189.5 yards and 12.5 points per game, but Stonewall Jackson has improved as the year has gone on. The Generals snapped a 41-game losing streak in their fourth game — an 31-0 win over Rappahannock County — and they are coming off a 30-27 win against Madison County.
Junior Rion Dennison took over as quarterback for the Rappahannock County game, and he leads the team with 101 carries for 470 yards and five TDs in the Generals’ run-based triple-option offense. Clarke County linebackers Cody Sowers and Sam Brumback (68 tackles each) will look to slow Stonewall down.
“They’re the first team we’ve played this year that runs the true veer and mid-line option stuff,” Parker said. “They’re dedicated to it. What happens is they run that offense and they’re reading what the defense does. So if a [defensive] kid cheats and doesn’t do his job or deviates from his responsibility, that’s when they don’t give it to the fullback and the quarterback keeps it, or they pitch it out. We’re going to have to play disciplined football on defense and do our responsibilities.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1
