CHILHOWIE, Va. – Fort Chiswell High School’s defense resembled an impenetrable fortress on Friday night.
The Pioneers bottled up Chilhowie’s offense and held the Warriors to just one first down in the second half in taking a 22-9 victory in the Region C, Division 2 semifinals.
Fort Chiswell (11-1) yielded just 35 rushing yards, picked off three passes and sacked Chilhowie quarterback Cody McMahan three times in earning the victory.
While it wasn’t the crispest performance for Fort Chiswell, the defense did not allow Chilhowie (7-4) to pose any serious threat in the second half.
“We played a little sloppy early,” said Fort Chiswell head coach Stephen James. “It’s new territory for us. The kids persevered though and we kept pounding and pounding away. We had a few turnovers
and we also forced some turnovers, sot that was advantageous.”
Clinging to a 14-9 lead at the half, Fort Chiswell received the second-half kickoff and proceeded to score in just four plays.
The Pioneers relied on their power running game all night, piling up 270 rushing yards. The potent combination of Chris Rodriguez (29 carries, 145 yards, two touchdowns) and Hody Viars (seven carries, 80 yards) led the way.
“We were just going to run the ball and pound it, because we’ve got a huge line,” Viars said. “We tried to make them tired and that’s what we did. I think coming out in the second half, they got tired. We were motivated we wanted that one.”
It was a far cry from the teams’ last meeting, when Chilhowie collected a 6-0 victory over the Pioneers on Sept. 18. The Warriors were without injured running back Adam Powers, who scored the lone TD
for Chilhowie in that game, and couldn’t get anything going against the physical Fort Chiswell defense in the rematch,
“We just kept playing hard and that’s been a big trademark for our kids all season,” James said.
Chilhowie actually grabbed a 7-0 lead on the game’s opening series, a 10-play, 64-yard drive that ate up 5 minutes, 4 seconds of the clock and ended with McMahan’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Austin.
Yet, it was the lone highlight of the evening for the Warriors.
“We did [play well in the first half],” Austin said. “The offense played our hearts out. Our defense, we couldn’t step up. We couldn’t hold on to our tackles. I’m very proud of our offense and defense though.
I think we’ll be a good team next year. We’re coming back and good luck to [Fort Chiswell].”
Fort Chiswell hosts Radford next week. It will mark the first time the Wythe County school has played for a regional title since 1989.
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