Cavaliers fall to Bath County, earn praise for successful season

DAMASCUS – Minutes after Holston’s 27-20 loss to Bath County in the opening round of the Region C, Division 1 football playoffs on Friday night, first-year Holston head coach Jason Matlock gathered his team at midfield and congratulated them on a successful season.

The only thing missing from the Cavaliers’ turnaround season and first postseason appearance since 1995 was a playoff victory.

Bath County running back Adam Persinger scored two of his three touchdowns in a 3:45 span in the third quarter as the Chargers (7-4) rallied for the win.

Still, Matlock saw the big picture.

"I am just absolutely so proud of this football team," Matlock said. "This group’s special to me because it was my first team as a head coach. I came in and this team won one game last year. For them to come out and go to the playoffs and earn the No. 2 seed is just tremendous on their part and says a lot about their character. I couldn’t be more proud of them."

The Cavaliers (6-5) controlled much of the first 2 1/2 quarters and pushed their lead to 20-12 with 10:04 left in the third quarter after Eric Mefford scored on a 1-yard TD run. Mefford had given Holston a two-point halftime lead thanks to a 70-yard run 50 seconds before the half and finished with 118 yards on the ground.

Aaron Reynolds also had a big day on the ground for Holston, finishing with 118 yards as well.

However, Bath County rode the big plays of Persinger, senior quarterback John Barden and junior wide receiver Jim King.

"We had to do a lot of things and we had to throw the ball," Bath County coach Will Fields said. "Holston did a nice job on defense. They have a couple of nice defensive ends."

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Persinger put Bath County on top for good with 15 seconds left in the third quarter on a 17-yard run. The Chargers’ defense then held off Holston, most notably stopping the Cavaliers inside the BC 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter.

BC also had to overcome the injury of defensive back Michael Robertson, who left the game in the fourth quarter in an ambulance after sustaining a neck injury.

Bath County was making its seventh playoff appearance in eight years and the Chargers will travel to Rural Retreat next Friday in a rematch of last season’s regional title game.

Meanwhile, Holston hopes to build on its success this fall.

"[Bath County] did a good job and they just kept rolling with the punches," Matlock said. "When things went bad for them, they just shed it off and kept going. Hopefully, we can build our program to be similar to theirs."

Bath County 0 12 15 0—27

Holston 7 7 6 0—20

Scoring Summary

H—Reynolds 1 run (Bramlett kick)

BC—Persinger 20 run (kick blocked)

BC—LaCour 26 pass from Barden (pass failed)

H—Mefford 70 run (Bramlett kick)

H—Mefford 1 run (kick failed)

BC—Persinger 1 run (Hepler pass from Barden)

BC—Persinger 17 run (King kick)

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