On Friday, September 23, the R-MA football team took a four-hour journey to Chatham, Virginia, to take on the Tigers of Hargrave Military Academy (HMA). After a long bye week for the Yellow Jackets they were hungry to get back on the gridiron.
This rivalry match-up is no small deal to either side. The result of this game establishes 365 days of bragging rights awarded to the victors. All week during practice the Yellow Jackets heard, “It’s Hargrave week, gentlemen!” For the players, that meant getting their minds right for 48 minutes of hardnosed and disciplined football.
Things did not go smoothly at first though. The Jackets started off slow, with several careless turnovers that led to two HMA touchdowns. However, thanks to a 96-yard touchdown run from running back Jeffrey Collins ’17, the Jackets were only down 14-7 at halftime.
After shaking off the rust of their bye week in the first half, the Yellow Jackets took over the game and outscored HMA in the second half 21-0. Linebacker Miles Gilmore ’18 came off the bench and executed his duties to near perfection and recorded eight tackles. Collins continued his onslaught against the HMA defense with 23 rushes for 251 yards. Wide receivers Alex Blell ’17 and Alex Ndongo-Seh ’17 tallied one touchdown a piece along with linebacker Nkeng Morfaw ’17 who took a fumble recovery all the way to the house.
Despite a slow start, the Yellow Jackets pulled off a solid win on the road four hours away from home. They kept their composure when the going got tough and kept the team’s best interest ahead of their own.
Members of the R-MA community, both past and present, can expect a great deal from this group of young men. When these boys get on a roll they simply do not stop.