Vargo leads Frazier to 25-0 shutout of Jefferson-Morgan
PERRYOPOLIS — Frazier hosted Jefferson-Morgan, Friday night in a Tri-County South matchup that saw the Commodores throw themselves into the playoff race by shutting out the previously unbeaten Rockets, 25-0. Frazier (2-1,2-1) got a big night offensively from quarterback Rock Vargo, who passed for 203-yards and two touchdowns. He also returned a fumble 45-yards for a score.
The Commodore defense came up big, creating eight turnovers, recovering four fumbles and picking off four interceptions.
“We’ve been working very hard to improve our defense. We played takeaway tonight. That’s something we’ve been emphasizing,” Commodores coach Mike Steeber said. “We knew Jefferson-Morgan wanted to run the football. We did our best defensively to challenge them and to get them out of that type of game.”
The Commodores came up with a big stop towards the end of the first quarter. The Rockets (1-1, 2-1) started a drive at their 38. They moved to the Frazier 37, where they faced a 3-1. The Commodores defense stopped the Rockets on the next two plays to take over on downs at their own 39.
After a run for no gain by Tyler Holt to end the first quarter, Vargo started to heat up in the second. He passed 11-yards to Kyle Rodriguez for a first down at the 50. On the next play he connected with Colton Thompson on a 50-yard touchdown pass, giving the Commodores a 6-0 lead after they missed the extra point.
The second Frazier score came after a Rockets turnover when Rodriguez recovered a fumble at the Frazier 29. A penalty against the Rockets on the next play moved the Commodores to the J-M 41. From there Frazier took nine plays to finish the drive on a three-yard run by Josh Guiser who scored the first of his two touchdowns. The two-point pass failed, leaving the Commodores with a 12-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff the Rockets started the next drive at their 37. Chris Shaw rushed for eight yards, but was separated from the ball by a solid hit from the Commodores. The loose ball fell into the hands of Vargo who raced 45-yards for the score. Rodriguez converted the extra-point to give Frazier a 19-0 lead that they would take to the locker room at the half.
“We had eight turnovers tonight and you can’t win football games like that,” Rockets head coach Jan Haiden said. “We knew Frazier was a good football team. We told our kids, you can’t make mistakes. Tonight we made every mistake you could possibly make.”
The Rockets started strong in the third quarter, taking the second half kickoff at their 37 and driving down to the Frazier 39. Facing a second and six, the Rockets attempted pass was intercepted by Guiser at the Commodores’ 10.
On the first play from scrimmage Guiser fumbled with the Rockets recovering at the Frazier eight. The Rockets drove to the Frazier five and attempted a pass on third and goal. Guiser intercepted again for the Commodores at the one.
From there the Commodores would drive to their 31. On the next play, Vargo found Guiser alone in the secondary and he took it 69 yards for their final points on the night.
“We have some good skill kids and Rock did a good job of spreading the ball around and giving them a chance to make some plays,” Steeber said. “We told the kids, Jefferson-Morgan is a good football team. They kept coming at us and stayed with us until late in the game.”