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Mounties win in final seconds
By Geoff Cox • Staff Writer
 | | Charger wideout Jim King makes the catch and sheds the tackle of Mountaineer Maurice Nelson for a 22-yard gain in the second quarter of Friday night's 10-7 Alleghany win. King made the turn down the sideline and was on his way to a touchdown but was called out of bounds for a first down instead. (Recorder photo by Geoff Cox) |
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WARM SPRINGS — The phrase 'football is a game of inches' was never more true than Friday night as the Bath County Chargers were inches away from two touchdowns and Alleghany's freshman kicker Seth Bradley kicked a 22-yard field goal that barely cleared the crossbar with two seconds left to give the Mounties a 10-7 win on a cool evening perfect for football at Carl F. Williams Field.
"We won," said Alleghany coach Jack Baker with a bit of disbelief. "We'll take it."
The highly anticipated contest began before an estimated crowd of 1,500 fans as a slugfest with both squads pounding the ball on the ground.
Alleghany received the kick and hit the ground running. Tailback Skyler Keene carried the ball on the first four plays for the Mounties and gained ground to midfield. The drive stalled as the Chargers keyed the running game. On fourth-and-six Bath's Dustin Bratton and Dillon Fry crushed the punter and the Chargers took over with great field position.
 | | The Charger defense wraps up Mountie tailback Skler Keene in Friday night's action. Keene carried the ball 26 times for 136 yards for the pass-oriented Alleghany offense. |
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It was wasted as the Chargers went three-and-out and were forced to punt as well. Jim King converted a perfect kick and the ball rolled out of bounds at the Mountie oneyard line.
Alleghany stayed with the running game to get room to work in front of their own end zone. Facing third-and-15 the Mounties finally went to the air. Quarterback Ryan Kessinger connected with Dakota Nicely for a 21-yard gain and a Mountie first down.
Back to the ground they went and three plays later punted back to the Chargers.
The clock ticked down as Bath stayed with the theme stuck with the running game until faced with a thirdand nine at their own 47. Charger quarterback Michael Robertson's pass nailed King as he crossed the middle of the field.
King shed a would be tackler and made the turn down the left sideline but slipped as he neared the chalk. Putting a hand down, King regained his footing and took off toward the end-zone.
Concluding King stepped out of bounds the referee blew the play dead. A three-yard run by Robertson ran the first period time out and the teams changed sides.
On the first play from scrimmage Robertson fumbled the snap, the Mounties recovered the ball, and the Charger scoring threat was put out.
Again the Mounties ran the ball, were stopped by the Charger defense, and punted.
The Chargers appeared to have kept the momentum from the last drive as Robertson ran for seven yards on first down and connected on a 26-yard pass to Matt O'Conner to put the ball inside Mountie territory.
Dustin Bratton scampered for 15 yards on first down and J. P. Plecker followed his lead with a 11-yard carry on the next hand-off to give Bath first-and-goal on the nine.
 | | Bath running Back J.P. Plecker gallops around the corner with the Alleghany defense in pursuit. Plecker gained 41 yards on six carries out of the Charger backfield. |
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A fumble on the next snap nearly cost Bath the ball but Robertson recovered his muff to keep the drive alive. Inspired, the Alleghany defense held bath on the next two downs and the Chargers lined up for a field goal on fourthand goal from the nine.
King nailed the field goal but an offsides penalty by the Mounties was called putting the ball on the four-yard line. With the angle from the hash mark the kick became more difficult. Charger coach Will Fields elected to go for it. King went into motion and Robertson pitched him the ball as the offensive line cleared a path towards the goal.
King stretched his arm and the ball out and appeared to cross the plane but was tackled before his body was in the end zone. The ball was spotted on the Mountie one-foot line and Alleghany took over on downs.
The Charger crowd began to heat up the referee rhetoric, for good reason, as the game remained tied with four minutes to play in the half.
Alleghany made their way off their own goal to the Charger 45 before turning the ball over on downs with 55 seconds until the horn.
Alleghany held and the teams entered the break after the first half battle tied 0-0.
Bath received to start the second half, went backwards on their first sequence, and punted from their own 19 on fourth-and-12.
On the next play Charger Dillon Fry stripped Kessinger and recovered the fumble to give Bath the ball back.
Unfortunately for Bath a Robertson interception two plays later gave the Mounties the ball back on their own 25. Mounting a drive, Alleghany faced fourth-and-inches on their 45 and went for it. Charger lineman Derek Brinkley sacked Kessinger before he knew what had happened and the Chargers took over with a loud roar from the crowd.
The bleachers could have been an inch wide and fans would have been comfortable as everyone sat on the edge of their seats. A third-and-seven slant pass to Jim King for a touchdown brought the home fans to their feet and after the PAT by King Bath enjoyed a 7-0 lead with 4:44 to play in the third.
 | | Bath head coach Will Fields lives on the way to and less than mile from Alleghany High School. In preparation for Friday's intercounty match-up his family decorated their house in Charger black and orange to remind the Mounties who they were playing. |
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The pleasure lasted two minutes. A second down pitch and catch from Kessinger to Tommy Jackson for 35-yards put the Mounties in Charger territory. Kessinger ran a keeper in from 11-yards out four plays later and the extra point attempt was good to tie the game, 7-7.
Both teams increased the already intense game and the defenses forced the ball to swap sides until Bath faced fourth-and -four from the Mounties 28.
The Chargers called a timeout and it appeared King would attempt the field goal but at the last minute the Chargers lined up to go for it.
Robertson dialed in King streaking down the right sideline but the ball just missed his outstretched fingertips and the Mounties took over on downs yet again.
The clock read 3:42 as Alleghany began a methodical march down towards the goal. Passes for crucial yardage were interspersed with time consuming runs as the Mounties reached the Charger 35. On second-and-five Fry sped through the line and drew a bead on Kessinger in the pocket. Seconds before Fry went to wrap him up Kessinger ducked and Fry sacked him with an arm tackle above the shoulder pads and his hand hit Kessinger's helmet.
A flag flew for a facemask penalty and the crowd groaned while offering varying opinions of the refs while they stepped off the foul.
On the next play Kessinger repeated his scoring sneak from the 26 but another flag flew. This time the fouls was a block in the back on Alleghany.
After some discussion, perhaps about how fast they should get out of town, the referees placed the ball on the Charger's 14 with less than a minute on the clock.
Back-to-back runs by Keene burned up the clock and Alleghany called a timeout with 23 seconds left facing third-and -four from the eight.
The call went to keene and he nearly gained a first down but the Bath defense held him to three yards and forced fourth down.
The Mounties stopped the clock and sent Bradley in to kick on fourth-and-one from the five with 0:02 on the clock.
A timeout to ice the kicker from Bath didn't work, and the Alleghany fans erupted as the kick barely cleared the bar.
Time remained for just a kickoff return. Fry nearly gave Bath a win with a spectacular return. He picked up the ball and beat all but two of the cover team. With a blocker in front of him Fry veered right instead of left at the 50-yard line and was tripped up to end the game.
"Defense played really well," said Baker after congratulating his team. "Just barely did enough on offense."
"We played hard enough," said Fields. "Just didn't get the breaks. They (Alleghany) played hard and got some breaks ... What are you going to do. We had our chances to win."
The loss evens Bath's record at 2-2. This week the Chargers enjoy an off date. Their next game is Friday, Oct. 3, at home against Riverheads. Game time is 7:30.
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