Wildcats’ air attack blows out Fort

By Cody Clifton Correspondent
Published: September 19, 2008

FORT DEFIANCE — A game consists of four quarters but Friday night, the first quarter said it all as Rockbridge County put 38 points on the scoreboard enroute to a 38-20 victory over Fort Defiance.
Fort looked good out of the gate, forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff and recovering it deep in Rockbridge territory.
After the Wildcats defense held, Rockbridge quarterback Tyler Staton ran up the middle, dodging defenders for a 31-yard touchdown.
The defensive prowess of the Wildcats was a trend in the first quarter as Fort quarterback Daniel Wright was picked off by Brittigan Coffey, who took it to the house for a two touchdown lead – less than two minutes after the previous touchdown was scored.
After Fort got the crowd back into the game with a Wright touchdown run, Rockbridge marched down the field, scoring on Terrell Fitz’ 15 yard scamper off the edge.
With the score favoring the Wildcats, 26-7, Wright fumbled the pitch to Clay Daugherty. Coffey scooped up the loose ball, running it back for his second defensive score of the night.
“They had a fire going and we threw gas on it,” Fort coach Dale Spitzer said. “An interception return for a touchdown, fumbled pitch scoop and score, two onside kick recoveries with a touchdown one play later on both of them.”
Rockbridge’s kickoff could not be handled by the Indians, and Coffey made his presence known again, recovering the kickoff.
The Wildcats’ Staton found a seam in the secondary, hitting JaQwan Biggs for a 32-yard touchdown strike.
“It felt really good [to silence Fort’s crowd] because they are pretty loud usually,” Staton said. “I didn’t get to play last year against them because of my shoulder, so it feels great to come back this year and get a win in districts.”
The Wildcat scoring ended after the first quarter, but the defense held firm so the Indians couldn’t get back into the game.
“I thought the defense played really well in the second half, except for Fort’s big run,” Rockbridge coach Jason White added. “I felt like they played pretty good, especially defensively to keep Fort down.”
But, Fort kept fighting in the second half, cutting the final lead to 18 points.
“I threatened them,” Spitzer stated. “I’m serious. If they quit, they would be sorry; not just Monday, but the rest of their lives.”
Fort Defiance hosts a homecoming game next week against Harrisonburg. Rockbridge will also play host, this time to Waynesboro.