Staunton Blanks Blue Streaks in Season-Opener

STAUNTON – Staunton scored on its first snap of the 2025 season Friday night, and the Storm were off and running to a 28-0 victory over the Harrisonburg Blue Streaks in nondistrict football play at Staunton Memorial Stadium.

The new season was only 21 seconds old before the Storm had a 7-0 lead after Zyleke Shepherd took a bubble screen 72 yards to the house.

Staunton then turned a pair of Streak mistakes into two quick second-quarter touchdowns for a 21-0 advantage at the break before a Hall of Fame Night crowd.

The three first-half scores took only four plays, which was the good. The not-so-good was the rest of the Storm's offensive possessions in the game. With the exception of a long drive bridging the third and fourth quarters, the offense didn't gain a lot of traction.

“I am putting that more penalties than the offense,” Staunton head coach Mike Bell said. “We had a lack of discipline at times and made a lot of mistakes.”

While the offense struggled with its consistency, the same couldn't be said for the Staunton defense, which kept the Streaks out of the end zone. The defense spent a lot of time on the field, but yielded only 135 yards of total offense.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” Bell said. “We bent but never broke tonight. I am proud of them. Right now our defense is giving the offense time to grow. The offense will get better with more game experience.”

But one issue of great concern for Bell is the injury bug is hitting the team hard. The Storm lost two starters to injuries during a pair of scrimmages and had a few more go down in the opener.

“We have limited bodies,” Bell said. “We are moving in guys on the field that don't have much experience because of all these injuries. I hope this isn't how the season is going to play out.”

Fans barely had a chance to get settled in their seats before the Storm lit the fireworks on the new campaign. Staunton received the opening kickoff after the Streaks deferred. With the ball at the 28, senior quarterback Taiden Combs hit a quick bubble screen to Shepherd in the right flat. The senior got a block at the line and had clear sailing for the touchdown.

“We got a great kick-out block from the line to break him free,” Bell said.

Bell admitted he had three plays called, and would decide which one to call, depending on the position of the ball after the kickoff.

“Sometimes the play call works. Sometimes it doesn't. Fortunately that one worked just like we drew it up,” he said.

Up 7-0 after one quarter, the Storm took advantage of a failed fake punt attempt on fourth-and-9 by Harrisonburg that was stopped 5 yards short at Staunton's 32. After an incomplete pass, Leon Woodard ripped off a 32-yard scoring run at the 8:27 mark.

Late in the half, Lennon Hartless recovered a Harrisonburg fumble at the Streaks' 8. Woodard had his second touchdown on the next play.

Staunton put together its best offensive series of the game late in third quarter after stopping the Streaks on down at the Storm's 23. Before the series, the Storm had gotten only two first downs. The march lasted 12 plays and took 6:14 off the clock, which TYmek Strother finished with an 11-yard run. Luc Geffrard capped his perfect 4-for-4 night on PATs.

The Storm finished with 149 yards rushing and 85 passing yards.

The game was the latest installment between the two intercity rivals that goes all the way back to the first two games played in 1911. Since those 11-0 (the second game in school history following a 101-0 loss to Fishburne Military in the inaugural contest) and 16-0 victories by the Streaks, the schools have now faced off 96 times with Harrisonburg holding a commanding 62-30-4 lead in the series. The Streaks won the last encounter 7-0 in 2022.

The Robert E. Lee/Staunton football program will reach the 1,000 games played milestone on Halloween Night when Riverheads rolls into Staunton Memorial Stadium.

Harrisonburg, which dropped to Class 3 this fall after spending 10-plus years getting knocked around in Class 5 in virtually all of its athletic programs, is hoping the smaller classification will provide a new lease on success, especially in football where the once-powerhouse Streaks have struggled mightily.

The program has gone 4-26 the last three years, including winless campaigns in 2022 and 2024. The Streaks, who now have an 11-game skid, haven't seen the playoffs since the COVID-19-shortened 2021 spring season, and it has been since 2018 they finished with a record over .500.

By contrast, the Storm, the defending Shenandoah District regular-season champions, are seeking their second consecutive postseason berth in 2025 and third in the four years under Bell's leadership.

“We have to fix a lot of little things and stop the big mistakes,” Bell said. “We will made the adjustments and be ready for next week. As a team we have to get better if we want to be successful.”

Staunton (1-0) wraps up the nondistrict portion of its schedule next Friday with a trip to second-year Rocktown.

First Quarter
STN – Shepherd 72 pass from Combs (Geffrard kick)

Second Quarter
STN – Woodard 32 run (Geffrard kick)
STN – Woodard 8 run (Geffrard kick)

Fourth Quarter
STN – Strother 11 run (Geffrard kick)