Lightning Strikes highlight first half of postponed Auburn and Craig County
Auburn High School, Riner, VA – In a game that was eventually postponed due to lightning, the first bolt out of the blue came on the opening kickoff. Sophomore WR/KR 16 Carter Calfee took it 78 yards to the ‘house.’
The point after was no good and the Rockets led 6-0 twelve seconds in. The Eagles answered.
After a 55-yard return of his own, Auburn WR/KR 12 Clark Caiden had the Eagles poised to get on the board. Five plays later, RB 32 Austin Stump took it in from 9 yards out on a physical run. Auburn K 44 Katie Light split the uprights and Auburn led 7-6.
The Eagles would add to that margin six minutes later in the first on a 3-yard, third down pass from QB 1 Talan Mower to WR 12 Caiden Clark, 14-6 Auburn. The Rockets skyrocketed back. WR 16 Calfee made it 14-12 on 15-yard cross buck run up the middle. From there Coach Jimmy Fisher’s troops pulled off an onside kick. Six plays later QB 9 Jaycob Wolfe took it from 33 yards out on 4th down.
Again, the 2-point try came up short. Craig led 18-14. That’s where we stood when Mother Nature showed up and the bolts in the sky stopped play. The game will be finished Monday night (after the Crunch press time) moving back to Craig County where the game was first scheduled. This game, a Rockets home contest, was originally moved due to a field issue.
The second night on Monday was an Eagle of a different color. Auburn scored 40 unanswered points in routing the Rockets 54-18. The second night picked up where Thursday night’s game left off. Facing fourth and five at their own twenty seven, the Rockets rolled dice. QB 9 wolfe lost a yard and the Eagles took over. It took the visitors six plays to get the lead on a 10 yard pass to WR 15 Issac Wayne into the end zone. The extra point put Auburn up 21-18, a lead they would never relinquish. RB 32 Austin Stump, who rushed for 171 yards on 21 carries with 4 TDs, added 4-yard and 3-yard scoring runs. Auburn Coach Scott Mikowicz called Stump the heart and soul of the team, “he plays hard and is physical.” Auburn WR 2 Brody Hensel scored on an 18-yard dash to round out the third quarter extending Auburn’s lead to 48-18. Craig County struggled with hanging onto the ball – fumbling on three of their next four possessions.
Mikowicz made minor changes from the first night, “We made some small adjustments on defense, mostly alignment.” Stump scored one last time from 6-yards out to make the final 54-18. Mikowicz was happy after the Eagles first win in a few years, “it means everything to our team. We haven’t had a win since 2020, so it’s huge.”
—Cap’n Crunch
SCORING
1st Qtr:
Craig County – Carter Calfee 78-yard Kickoff return for a TD, PAT no good (11:48)
Auburn – Aaron Stump 9-yard TD run, Katie Light PAT (9:11)
Auburn – Talan Mower 3-yard TD pass to Caiden Clark, Katie Light PAT (3:01)
2nd Qtr:
Craig County – Carter Calfee 15-yard TD run, 2-pt try no good (11:53)
Craig County – (9) 33-yard TD run, 2-pt try no good (8:31)
2:23 QTR 2 GAME POSTPONED TO MONDAY DUE TO LIGHTNING
Auburn – Talan Mower 10-yard TD pass to Isaac Wayne, Katie Light PAT ( :07)
3rd Qtr:
Auburn – Aaron Stump 4-yard TD run, Katie Light PAT (9:07)
Auburn – Aaron Stump 3-yard TD run, Katie Light PAT (8:00)
Auburn – Talan Mower 10-yard TD pass to Isaac Wayne, Katie Light PAT (5:39)
Auburn – Brody Hensel 18-yard TD run, Katie Light PAT(2:08)
4th Qtr:
Auburn – Aaron Stump 6-yard TD run, Katie Light PAT (7:04)
GAME STATS
Rushing: Auburn – Aaron Stump 21/171,4TDs, Brody Hensel 3/33,TD, Talan Mower 4/(-4), Caiden Clark 1/(-5), Gavin Neuse 4/(-9) Craig County – Carter Calfee 4/35,TD, Joshua Craft 9/31, Jaycob Wolfe 14/22,TD Noah Paxton 6/12, Isaac Lucas 1/(-3)
Passing: Auburn – Talan Mower 7/15,96,2TDs, INT Craig County – Jaycob Wolfe 2/5,54,INT
Receiving: Auburn – Caiden Clark 3/24, Brody Hensel 3/62, Isaac Wann 1/10,TD Craig County – Carter Calfee 2/54
Punting: Auburn – None Craig County – None
Returns: Auburn – Dakota Caldwell 1/55, Brody Hensel 1/9 Craig County – Carter Calfee 3/89,TD, Isaiah Will 3/51