HONAKER, Va. – Honaker High School quarterback Peyton Musick was a picture of poise as he calmly directed a pressure-packed scoring drive in the fourth quarter.
When he was inserted into the contest in the defensive secondary and intercepted a pass with 4:21 remaining, he turned into a wild man – at least by his cerebral standards – and emphatically unleashed a powerful spike following the play that garnered him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
This was a flag that was well worth receiving.
“That was a lot of emotion from me,” Musick said. “I usually don’t show a lot of emotion, but that had me hyped up. I knew when I got that pick it was probably game.”
As has been the case with every game this season for Honaker, the ending was triumphant as Musick had his moments and senior Aidan Lowe scored three touchdowns to highlight a 28-18 win over the Rye Cove Eagles in Saturday afternoon’s Region 1D football finals at Fuller Field.
It was the fifth regional championship in program history for the 13-0 Tigers, who host the Galax Maroon Tide (9-4) at 2 p.m. on Dec. 2 in the VHSL Class 1 state semifinals.
Rye Cove 6 0 12 0—18
Honaker 14 0 8 6—28
Scoring Summary
RC – L. Lane 2 run (run failed)
H – A. Lowe 38 run (run failed)
H – Bandy 16 pass from P. Musick (Bandy pass from P. Musick)
H – A. Lowe 1 run (Bandy pass from P. Musick)
RC – P. Darnell 89 kickoff return (run failed)
RC – Rollins 1 run (run failed)
H – A. Lowe 34 run (pass failed)
Team Stats
First Downs: RC 16, H 20; Rushes-Yards: RC 40-123, H 30-208; Passing Yards: RC 100, H 246; Comp.-Att.-Int.: RC 6-16-3, H 18-26-0; Fumbles-Lost: RC 0-0, H 3-2; Penalties-Yards: RC 3-35, H 7-75; Punts-Average: RC 2-39, H 1-46.