News from 1970:

Fluvanna edges Strasburg, 22 to 18

By Bill Orndorff
(NVD Sports Editor)

Two fine football teams met last night in the Group A, Region B playoffs at Fluvanna and as the saying goes "Somebody has got to win and somebody has got to lose."

The sad thing in last night's extremely well-played game was the fact that apparently it was the Strasburg Rams' turn to lose as they fell to the well-drilled Fluvanna Flucos squad 22-18.

The contest went down to the wire and at no time did the Rams let up and as the late Coach Vince Lombardi once said, if they had had the time they would have won.

The triumph advanced the Flucos, who used their famous flea-flicker play to score two important touchdowns and passed and rushed for the victory-deciding two-point conversions to the sectional playoffs next Saturday at Fluvanna.

The loss was the first of the year for the Rams who had just completed their first perfect season in the history of the school, and who are also holders of the initial Skyline District football crown.

The Rams did a good job of representing the Skyline District and the town and community of Strasburg and Shenandoah County. They displayed good sportsmanship at all times and made a very respectable showing against the Flucos, who had been averaging 43 points a game.

As one Fluco man said after the game, it is a shame that the two couldn't have met for the state championship as both were facing their best opposition of the season.

The Flucos scored early in the game when quarterback Tap Pace passed to Mike Carey who later led out to Bop Agee and he raced down the sidelines to the Strasburg four-yard line for a 77-yard play. Paul Staiger ran the ball twice for the Flucos and on the second try he made it into the end zone for the score. Agee, a hard-running back who was difficult to bring down all night, ran the conversion and the hosts had an 8-0 lead.

Strasburg took the kickoff and returned to the 39. Seventeen plays later the Rams had moved the ball 61 yards with halfback Gene McDonald getting the Strasburg score from six yards out. A run by Frank Zirkle for the conversion that would have tied the game failed by only inches.

Early in the second quarter the Rams drove the ball down to the Fluvanna four-yard line and on fourth down elected to go for a field goal. The kick by Jerry Williams was up and it looked good, but the officials ruled his 21-yard try was wide to the right.

Fluvanna took the ball on the 20 and after being held by the strong Ram defense Strasburg took the pigskin on its 46 after a punt. On this series of plays quarterback Mickey Miller passed for four completions with the final aerial to Jay Neal for the score on a 21-yarder.

The conversion pass intended for back Gene McDonald was incomplete, but the Rams had a 12-8 lead which it appeared they would carry to the locker room at the half.

However, the Flucos took the kickoff and went 25 yards on another flea-flicker. A Pace to Carey pass and a 15-yard penalty moved the ball to the Strasburg 20. From there Pace connected with Carey, the Flucos number one receiver, for a 21-yard scoring aerial as time ran out in the half. The conversion pass was good to Clyde Johnson and Fluvanna had a 16-12 lead.

The Rams came back after intermission expecting the Flucos to take to the air again. But instead, they started running it up the middle and moved the ball to the 42 before Strasburg took over on a punt at its six yard line.

McDonald then ran 21 yards for a Strasburg first down, but the Flucos held the Rams to a punting situation.

Fluvanna took the ball and on the first play fumbled with Steve Stover recovering on the 34-yard line. Strasburg moved to a first down on the five-yard line and again Fluvanna stopped McDonald just inches short of the goal line on fourth down.

Fluvanna then ran two plays, moving the ball to the seven-yard line after which Jay Neal intercepted another pass and returned it to the 29-yard line. McDonald then picked up 17 yards. After a short gain by Zirkle, Miller hit Lynn McCoy with a 10-yard scoring aerial. An attempted pass for the conversion again failed for the Rams.

Fluvanna took the kickoff and moved to the Strasburg four before being stopped . The Fluco defense held the Rams and forced them to punt 16 yards to the Strasburg 14.

Fluvanna fumbled again after three running plays and again Stover recovered on the four. The Rams were held, punted and the Flucos took over on their 48.

Donnie Campbell ran for 21 yards to the Strasburg 19 and a couple of runs and a penalty gave the Flucos a first down on the Strasburg nine. Pace was hen thrown for a five-yard loss after which he passed for 11 yards to Johnson with 1 seconds left in the game.

The point-after touchdown try failed.

The Rams tried to fight back, but Miller was thrown twice for losses and as he completed an aerial to McCoy time ran out and the Flucos had the regional trophy.

Leading rushers for the Glenn Proctor-coached Rams were McDonald with 129 yards and Zirkle with 66. Campbell led the Flucos with 60 yards and Agee, who was expected to do much better, had only 33 yards.

On penetrations of the 20-yard line, which would have been a deciding factor if the game had ended in a tie, Strasburg bettered Fluvanna 6-5.

On other statistic, it was also Strasburg's ball game as they had 19 first downs to the Flucos' 12 and a mass total yardage of 296 to 248 for the host's.

Seniors playing their last game for the best-ever Strasburg team were Mickey Miller, Lynn McCoy, Phil Estep, Frank Zirkle, Danny Gnegy, Howard Smith, Danny Downey, Wayne Miller and Clark Sager.

For Strasburg the football season is over and Monday morning the Rams will turn to basketball.