John Battle Posts Wild Win Over Castlewood

By JOHNNY WILSON
Sports Correspondent

BRISTOL, Va. — First-year John Battle head coach Ryan Witten says his very young football team isn’t worried about the past, only the future. The future looks a little brighter this morning after the Trojans registered a 42-35 win over Castlewood Friday night.

The non-district homecoming victory lifted the Trojans, winless a year ago, to a 3-6 record on the season.

“Our kids have got to learn how to win, and every game is a learning experience for us,’’ said Witten, who inherited a program which had posted 10 straight losing seasons.  “You know, people don’t realize that we’ve got 33 freshmen on this team and about 25 of them play significant roles for us.
“All our kids are committed and so are our coaches. This is my first year and I’m learning too. But, hey, I’m not going anywhere, and we are an up and coming football program.”

Battle turned in the consummate team victory against Castlewood (1-8), as several Trojans produced key plays throughout the game.

There was the 76-yard touchdown pass from Josh Blackburn to Cody Rogers, as well as an 81-yard scoring strike on a halfback pass from Jeremiah Denton to Brent Tipton. A pair of promising freshmen, Rogers and Tipton double as starting wideouts and cornerbacks.

On the ground, the Trojans got 81 yards on 19 carries from unheralded Trevor Hickman and 83 yards on 13 attempts from Denton, who also threw a textbook block to allow Josh Hughes to score the go-ahead touchdown, a 3-yard run with 10:56 to play.

Jed Owens kicked a pair of field goals for Battle, which got key defensive plays from Scott Glover and Zack Fleenor as the Trojans began a comeback from a 35-24 deficit.

Castlewood had received three short touchdown runs from tough fullback Tyler Trent, and big plays from quarterback Elliott Wohlgamuth and talented slotback Devin Puckett to gain its 11-point lead.

But the Trojans, down 28-24 at halftime, gained the upper hand toward the end of the third quarter as they began to win the battle of field position.

“We played awfully well in the first half, but we gave them a couple short fields in the second half and we kind of lost our edge,” said veteran Blue Devil coach David Scammell.  “That turned the game around.”

Battle gained possession of the football at the Castlewood 34 late in the third quarter after forcing the Blue Devils to punt from their own end zone. The Trojans needed just five plays from there to score, Denton getting the TD on a 1-yard blast and then adding a two-point conversion run to make it a 35-32 game with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Battle then took advantage of a shanked punt, gaining possession at the Blue Devil 17 and moving ahead 39-35 on Hughes’ touchdown.

Puckett led the Blue Devil offense with 114 yards and a touchdown on four receptions.
But the night belonged to Battle.

“We believe in Coach Witten and they are going to turn this thing around,” said Owens, a senior.  “We have learned to play with our hearts and better days are ahead.”

Castlewood 14 14 7 0—35
John Battle 14 10 8 10—42
Scoring Summary
JB - Cumbow 1 run (Owens kick)
C - Wohlgamuth 9 run (Wohlgamuth kick)
C - Puckett 52 pass from Wahlgamuth (Wohlgamuth kick)
JB - Rogers 76 pass from Blackburn (Owens kick)
JB - Tipton 81 pass from Denton (Owens kick)
C - Trent 3 run (kick blocked)
C - Trent 4 run (Puckett pass from Wohlgamuth)
JB - FG Owens 28
C - Trent 4 run (Wohlgamuth kick)
JB - Denton 1 run (Denton run)
JB - Hughes 3 run (Owens kick)
JB - FG Owens 27
Team Statistics
First Downs: C 14, JB 18; Rushes-Yards: C 47-159, JB 37-176; Passing Yards: C 163, JB 252; Comp-Att-Int: C 7-12-1, JB 10-22-2; Fumbles-Lost: C 2-1, JB 2-2; Penalties: C 9-36, JB 9-75; Punts: C 4-34.5, JB 1-33.