Cougars end season with win over Morehead

   WENTWORTH (Oct. 23) - Rockingham County used a strong passing attack to close out the season with a 20-6 victory over Morehead Thursday at Cougar Pride Stadium.

   Sophomore quarterback Jayden Maletich completed 11 of 14 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown and sophomore wide receiver Alex Bolden had seven receptions for 123 yards to lead the Cougar offense.

   Rockingham ended with a 6-3 record, including a 4-1 mark in Mid-State conference play. Morehead is now 1-5 with a game remaining at Walkertown next Thursday.

   After their first possession ended on downs in the red zone, the Cougars cashed in with a 50-yard drive that reached the end zone with 9:28 left in the half. Maletich and Bolden hooked up on a 36-yard pass to key the four-play possession and Maletich scored from the three on the next play. He added the two-point conversion with a determined run where he broke numerous tackles.

   Morehead put together a drive that reached the RCSH 28 before running out of downs with just 45 seconds left in the half. Rockingham needed exactly that much time to put a second touchdown on the scoreboard. Bolden's outstanding catch on a pass from Maletich gained 38 yards to put the drive in motion. Back-to-back pass interference penalties hurt the Panthers and the Cougars took advantage on the last play of the half as Maletich found Lake Mabe end the end zone with a 17-yard strike.

   Rockingham pushed the lead to 20-0 with a 70-yard drive that featured the running and passing of Maletich. Passes of 20 yards to Mabe and 10 yards to Kenan Cook produced first downs and Maletich added runs of 13 and 9 yards, the final one paying off for a touchdown with 9:40 remaining.

   Morehead avoided the shutout with a fourth-quarter march led by sophomore quarterback Caleb Wray. He completed three passes in the 10-play drive, including a 32-yard TD toss to freshman wide receiver Therriel Cuthbertson with 12 seconds left.

   Rockingham's offense produced 274 total yards and 14 first downs with no turnovers. The offensive line of Josh Thompson, Brycen Yarrington, Mason Farr, Steven Headen and Landen Andrews helped pave the way.

   Defensive highlights included an interception by Bolden and tackles for loss by Mabe, Headen, Javen Blackwell and Chris Thomas.

   The negative on the Cougars' stat sheet: 16 penalties for 110 yards.

SCORING SUMMARY

Eden Morehead         0   0  0   6 --  6

Rockingham County  0  14  0  6 -- 20

RC - Jayden Maletich 3 run (Maletich run), 9:28 second quarter

RC - Lake Mabe 17 pass from Maletich (run failed), 0:00 second quarter

RC - Maletich 3 run (pass failed), 9:40 fourth quarter

M - Therriel Cuthbertson 32 pass from Kaleb Wray (pass failed), 0:12 fourth quarter

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Southeast Alamance shuts out Cougar JV

   WENTWORTH (Oct. 16) - Southeast Alamance scored three times from long distance in the first half while building a 21-0 lead and the Stallions went on to shut out Rockingham County 34-0 in a junior varsity football game at Cougar Pride Stadium.

   Southeast, a school from Haw River, replaced Winston-Salem Carver on the RCSH schedule after Carver announced in pre-season that it didn't have sufficient participation to field a junior varsity team. A late turnout of student-athletes subsequently allowed Carver to add JV conference games.

   The Cougars played without injured starting quarterback Jayden Maletich and were unable to generate a passing attack. They got some first-down runs from Zayden Hargrove, Zykale Ruff and Brody Blauser but were unable to sustain a drive throughout the game.

   The Rockingham defense got off to a good start with tackles in the Southeast backfield by Jackson Lambeth, Lake Mabe and Liam Carter but the Stallions converted third-and-long plays to keep the first drive going, eventually scoring on a 25-yard play.

   Southeast's second possession also went backwards on defensive plays by Carter and Steven Headen, leaving the Stallions with fourth-and-long. But a fake punt pass worked perfectly for 50 yards and the Stallions scored on a 12-yard pass a couple plays later.

A 60-yard punt return for a touchdown made it 21-0 a few minutes later.

   Rockingham stopped Southeast's next drive with an interception by Ty Begley, keeping the Cougars within three scores at the half.

   But while the Cougars were unable to generate much offense in the second half, Southeast padded the margin on 25- and 40-yard scoring strikes.

   The win allowed the Stallions to even their record at 4-4 while the Cougars fell to 5-3.