Grieving Ferrum player scores in loss to Bridgewater

FERRUM — On Sept. 27, TreVonte McGahee's great uncle died when Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina.

In his first game since that occurred, McGahee scored a touchdown for the Ferrum football team Saturday.

Ferrum lost the game, however.

Bridgewater squashed the Panthers 41-15 at Adams Stadium.

McGahee is from Asheville, North Carolina, which was hit hard by Helene. He said his great uncle Norman McGahee died while trying to hang on to a tree during the hurricane in Asheville.

"It's nature. You can only prevent so much," the sophomore cornerback said. "Couldn't hold on any longer. Got swept away from the ... pressure of the water.

"It's something that's been on my mind all week."

Ferrum was about to begin fall break and the team was idle last weekend, so the cornerback headed home to Asheville on Sept. 26. He said his family's home withstood the storm.

McGahee returned to Ferrum on Monday. He had received supportive text messages from the Ferrum coaches and players while he was away.

He wanted to play in Saturday's game.

"(His great uncle's death) was in the back of my head, but it was something I wasn't going to let stop me from being around my teammates," McGahee said.

"His family's going through a horrific time," Ferrum coach Kevin Sherman said. "Very proud of that young man, the way he stepped up and the way he's handled this. ...His family wanted him back here with us. ... We've been putting our arm around his neck all week."

With BC up 41-9 late in the fourth quarter, Ferrum's Barchie Hazelwood Jr. forced a fumble by Jaylen Wood. McGahee scooped up the ball and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.

"We talk about it every day ... and practice it — scoop and score," McGahee said.

Jaicere Bateman threw for 345 yards and two TDs and also ran for two TDs for Bridgewater (3-1, 1-0 ODAC), which took the lead for good in the second quarter.

BC had traveled on two buses from the Harrisonburg area. BC coach Scott Lemn said one of the buses blew a tire on I-581 after the team had stopped for breakfast in Roanoke on Saturday morning.

"So we piled as many people as we could on the one bus," Lemn said.

The rest of the Eagles eventually arrived when the second bus made it to Ferrum at 1:10 p.m. So the game was able to start at 2 p.m. as scheduled.

Ferrum scored the first touchdown of the game. Zach Wyatt found Jahylen Lee (Franklin County) on the right sideline for a 47-yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles a 6-0 lead with 13:31 left in the first quarter.

But the Eagles responded with 41 straight points.

"We were just the better team," Lemn said.

After scoring the game's first touchdown, Ferrum (2-2, 0-1) never scored another touchdown on offense.

"We had plenty of opportunities," said Wyatt, who threw for 197 yards. "We didn't really execute."

BC had to deal with some adversity in the second quarter. Offensive guard Porter Burrell suffered a broken leg and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher to an ambulance.

The Eagles led just 13-6 at halftime. But they scored touchdowns on their next four possessions.

Batemen threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the third quarter to give BC a 34-6 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, BC recovered an onside kick. Eight plays later, backup QB Samuel Dragovich threw a TD pass early in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 41-6.

The Panthers were held to 282 yards of total offense, including just 85 rushing. They were penalized 12 times.

"We didn't execute," Sherman said. "We had too many penalties, too many self-inflicted mistakes.

"When you're in third-and-long, it's a long day. You've got to be able to execute on first and second down."

The Panthers gave up 480 yards of total offense.

"We've got to find a way to get off the field on third down," Sherman said.

Mark Berman (540) 981-3125