Rye Cove tackles Chilhowie, returns to Region 1D title game...again

CHILHOWIE, Va. — Make it three straight Region 1D championship games for Rye Cove. Cole Barnette ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns, and the Eagles' defense limited Chilhowie to 30 yards on the ground, as Rye Cove avenged a loss earlier this season with a 21-13 Region 1D semifinal road win on Saturday afternoon at Warrior Field. "We came out dead the last time we were here," said Rye Cove senior Hagan Rhoton, whose Eagles fell at Chilhowie, 25-14, on Oct. 24. "I don't know what was wrong with us, but we knew this time if we didn't come out to play we wouldn't be here much longer." Rye Cove (9-3) earned a Region 1D championship game rematch at Eastside (12-0) in Coeburn on Friday. The Eagles, which lost to the Spartans, 24-12, earlier this season, defeated Eastside 26-20 on a late touchdown in last year's regional finals. "We are really excited," Barnette said. "We have been looking forward to it all year. We are on the path we have been wanting." One week after the Eagles avenged a 2022 playoff loss with a 61-14 pounding of Holston last week, the Eagles did it again, taking down the Warriors (10-2), and are now looking to do the same to the unbeaten Spartans. "We don't look ahead. We lost to Holston three years ago and just beat them and lost to Chilhowie this year and now it is Eastside, somebody we lost to this year," Rye Cove head coach Gary Collier said. "We just want to clean up our mistakes we had last time against them and what a good football team they are. We will be ready to go next week." Chilhowie used big plays and took advantage of Rye Cove mistakes to earn the win last month. That was also the first game since Tyler Shupe replaced the injured Jacob Jessee at quarterback, and Barnette was also bouncing back from injury suffered at Eastside. "That is a very good football team. Coach Collier and his staff do an excellent job," said Chlhowie head coach Reid Sturgill, whose Warriors advanced last week with a win over Twin Springs. "We knew we had our work cut out for us today. We got a little banged up last week, but I was proud of our guys' fight though. They left everything on this field, extremely proud of our guys' effort tonight." Rye Cove struck first, having turned the ball over on downs on the Warriors' 7-yard line on its first possession. Two plays later, Ben McElroy picked up a loose fumble, giving the Eagles the ball at the 9. Barnette followed by taking the ball those nine yards for the touchdown. A Maverick Cress extra point made it 7-0 with 2:57 left in the first period. Chilhowie answered in a hurry, with Asher Chapman connecting with Luke Mullinax, who split two defenders and dashed 40 yards for a game-tying score after the Justin Gonzalez extra point kick. The Eagles have been susceptible to the pass this season, and while Chapman threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, Rye Cove limited the damage, with Connor Stem picking off a pass at the goal line late in the fourth quarter. "We have worked and worked and worked trying to get that right. We were in good positions and got one pick today maybe, arguably two, but they are playing better," Collier said. "We just don't have a lot of size back there and we are playing hard. The effort is there." Neither team scored again in the opening half, although Rye Cove had the ball at the 1-yard line on a fourth down with 1:04 on the clock, but the Warriors were able to stop Will Rollins short of the goal line to send the game into halftime tied at 7-7. "That was a heckuva stand by our defense right there," Sturgill said. "The effort was there all afternoon long, a couple of situations and executions were not where they needed to be, but I am extremely proud of this team's effort." Rye Cove took control at the line of scrimmage from that point, led by Ethan Lawson, Cooper Bowen and the rest. "The game plan was to do what we go. Our guys up front, they handled it well," Collier said. "We run behind them all night long just like we always have all year long. We didn't change much, we are just a different team than we have been the last four or five weeks. These last three weeks we are building on some good football and hopefully it continues." After forcing a Chilhowie punt, the Eagles used big plays on the ground, including runs of 13 and 23 yards by Barnette, with Carter Roach-Hodge capping the drive with a 10-yard run for a 14-7 lead. "I was just getting great blocks," said Barnette, who passed the 1,000-yard mark on the season. "I have to give it all the linemen, they were all holding their blocks really well and letting me run." Chilhowie threatened in its next drive by driving from their own 20 to the Rye Cove 10, but Rhoton was able to stop Gunner Milhorne on a 4th and 2 to give the Eagles to ball. Rhoton also had a key sack in the final period for the Eagles. "We were on it today," Rhoton said. "We had a rough couple of weeks early on, but we found some deep down energy that we haven't found before and we came out ready to play today." Rye Cove, which has won four straight, found the big play on its next possession, with Barnette dashing 61 yards for the touchdown and a 21-7 lead with 10:24 left in the fourth period. "I just seen hole open up," Barnette said. "I seen Will (Rollins) put up a good block and I just seen a hole open up and I knew I was gone." Chilhowie still had its chances, but Stem followed the sack by Rhoton with an interception of Chapman, who did connect with Gabe Rouse from seven yards out as time expired for the final points of the game. "We had the ball in the red zone once or twice and weren't able to come away with any points," Sturgill said. "We talked a lot about that, we knew they were too good of a team to let those opportunities be missed. Some of those areas we didn't execute at a high enough level this afternoon." Rye Cove is back in familiar territory, having lost at Honaker in the 2023 Region 1D championship game before defeating the Spartans at the same point last season. Next week's winner will earn a berth in the Class 1 state semifinals. "From day one we want to improve every year. We have got to win this one to improve to where we were last year," Collier said. "I am proud of this team, this community and this whole program. This coaching staff has worked its tail off and I am so proud of everything they have done. We enjoy this one for 24 hours and we will go back to work on Monday."