As the air becomes chilly and the concessions stand begins to sell hot chocolate, it becomes evident that the end of football season is quickly approaching. After two winning seasons, the Rocky Mount Academy Junior Varsity and Varsity football teams hung up their helmets. The JV football team faced Southampton Academy on Thursday, November 3rd for the State Championship game. The next day, the Varsity team faced St. David’s School in the first round of the NCISAA 8 Man 2A Championship. Although both teams came up short, they played hard and fought off these two tough teams, ending with winning seasons.

The JV football team faced Southampton’s JV football team on Thursday, an exciting evening for the players and fans. The Varsity cheerleaders were in attendance with a banner for the team to run through and cheers throughout the game. The final score of the game was 34-27, with Southampton victorious. With a strong team consisting of only 10 players, the JV team has had an undefeated season and are sure to have a shot at the championship again next year.

The beginning of the Varsity football game kicked off with the National Anthem by Vivian Rogers, Lauren Seale, Anna Scott Wingfield and Madison Davis, and then the traditional banner made by the Varsity Cheerleading team. The first half did not look too promising for the Eagles after St. David’s kicked off to RMA, and held a strong defense. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 0-0, evidence of the evenly matched teams. The ball was eventually turned over to the Warriors, where they proceeded to throw a touchdown pass with four minutes to go in the second quarter. With under a minute left in the second quarter, St Davids scored again making it 16-0 at halftime. After halftime, the Eagles had some fire under their cleats giving them energy to get their heads back in the game. After kicking off to St. David’s at the beginning of the half, the Eagles got the ball and scored with 7 minutes to go in the third quarter. The touchdown was a 5 yard rushing touchdown by senior Tyson Jones, and senior Christopher Rabil rushed for the two point conversion. The ball was given to St David’s and the Eagles regained position, scoring another rushing touchdown and extra point. At the end of the third quarter, the score was tied 16 -16. After St. David’s regained position of the ball, the Eagles intercepted it and had a chance to score. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, St. David’s had the ball but was again intercepted by RMA on their own 40 yard line. However, the Eagles were forced to punt to the Warriors where they proceeded to score a touchdown and two point conversion. The game had a final score of 24-16, quite different than the 60-8 win from the previous RMA, St. David’s matchup. However, at the last meeting of the two teams, St. David’s was missing several key players who were present last Friday. Overall, the Eagles had a great season and played hard to the very end of their last game. They finished with a record of 8-3 and a conference record of 4-0. Go Eagles!