Rutherford surges past county rival Bay (See Photos, Video)

PANAMA CITY — Rutherford and Bay have been two football teams unable to put together four solid quarters so far this season.

Friday night at Tommy Oliver Stadium they played to that same theme, only Rutherford’s good half was better than Bay’s. A lot better.

The Rams exploded for four consecutive scoring drives to overcome an 11-point deficit in a 25-14 District 1-3A triumph. Not only did Rutherford claim bragging rights in the rivalry dating to 1963, but more importantly is alone with Choctawhatchee in a tie for second behind district leader Pensacola.

The Rams, 4-3, 3-1, travel to meet Pensacola in a showdown next week. Bay (3-4, 2-2) had a two-game winning streak end.

“In the (five) years I’ve been head coach at Rutherford this is the first time we’ve been behind at halftime and came back to win,” Rams head coach Greg Rivers said. “We changed a couple of blocking assignments and our kids did what they had to do up front.”

Not only did Rutherford trail 7-3 after committing three turnovers in the first half, the Rams went down 14-3 when Nick Smith fumbled the second-half kickoff and Kyree Baxstresser returned 18 yards for a Bay touchdown.

That was when Rutherford, which had only 88 total yards after two quarters, put it together on offense behind highlight-reel quarterback Cordarryl Rogers.

With the four-year starter rushing for 164 of his game-high 183 yards after halftime, Rutherford marched to touchdowns on drives of 59, 61 and 75 yards. The Rams then produced a 64-yard march to Wesley Brown’s clinching field goal of 23 yards with 4:35 remaining.

Rogers found his touch in the pocket in the third quarter. He connected on five consecutive passes, four of them to Kirkland Raibon that accounted for 58 yards.

Rogers also caught four passes from freshman Dondrell Harris when used as a slotback in the second quarter, returned punts and kickoffs, and made a memorable hit late in the first quarter as a cornerback.

But until the third quarter turnaround, it appeared that Bay might be the team surviving what could turn out to be a 1-3A elimination game. The Tornadoes dropped a touchdown pass on their first possession, resultantly had a field-goal try by ChrisTrotter blocked by Chris Searles, yet still opened the scoring.

T.J. Lowder intercepted Rogers on Rutherford’s third play from scrimmage. Daniel Husum’s 14-yard pass to Demetrius Barnes got the Tornadoes close, and Husum kept on an option left to score from the 4.

Brown’s first field goal, from 40 yards on the third play of the second quarter, got the Rams within 7-3. Bay reached Rutherford’s 12 later in the quarter, but an offensive pass interference call set the Tornadoes back and Trotter couldn’t connect from 43 yards.

“We had a penalty every time we got down close,” Bay coach Frank Sorrells said. “But Rutherford kids played hard that second half.”

The Tornadoes managed only 3 yards on six snaps in the third quarter while the Rams were rolling up 200 yards and three touchowns.

Smith atoned with scoring runs from the 2 and 3, then Rogers weaved 43 yards through Bay’s defense with 26 seconds left in the third quarter. In the second half, he had six runs of 10 or more yards, and all but 27 of his 108 yards passing.

Rutherford extended its lead the series 25-18-1. Bay will try to get back on track next week at Gulf Breeze.

• Bay                                    7 0   7 0 — 14
• Rutherford                    0 3 19 3 — 25
• First quarter
• BHS: D.Husum 4 run (Trotter kick)
• Second quarter
• RHS: FG Brown 40
• Third quarter
• BHS: Baxstresser 18 fumble return (Trotter kick)
• RHS: Smith 2 run (Brown kick)
• RHS: Smith 3 run (kick blocked)
• RHS: Rogers 43 run (run failed
• Fourth quarter
• RHS: FG Brown 23
• INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
• RUSHING — BHS: Craft 9-32, Bowser 4-4, Lowder 1-3. RHS: Rogers 26-183, Smith 8-39, Harris 2-12, Raibon 1-4, Bass 2-1.
• PASSING — BHS: D.Husum 13-28-1-113. RHS: Rogers 6-11-1-108, Harris 4-5-0-30.
• RECEIVING — BHS: Barnes 4-34, Bowser 3-5, Dunklin 2-53, Lowder 2-1, Craft 1-6. RHS: Raibon 4-58, Rogers 4-30, West 1-27, Harris 1-23.