Craig County Makes History with First Ever Playoff Win
NEW CASTLE — Carter Calfee and Caleb Cregger supplied the first 20 points Friday night for Craig County.
Now ‘C’ this:
The Rockets just scored their initial football playoff victory.
Prior to Friday, Craig County and its predecessor — New Castle High — had played 55 football seasons beginning in in 1970.
Most of them were duds.
However, 2025 has been a blast for the Rockets, who finally achieved postseason success with a 27-0 VHSL Region 1C first-round victory over Bath County for the first playoff win in school history.
Fireworks exploded over Walton F. Mitchell Jr. Field as Craig (10-1) added to its single-season school record for victories while earning a spot in next week’s region semifinal against 2024 state finalist Grayson County.
The bleachers on the home side were filled on Friday. On the site of so many previous Craig County losses, the only things that folded this time were the lawn chairs set up to accommodate the spectators who lined the fence.
“The community’s hype,” Calfee said. “They’ve never had something like this. We’re going to keep rising to the top as long as we can.”
The familiar rocket perched on a pole behind the west goalpost of the field belched fire and smoke during the pregame playing of the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Shortly thereafter, the home team began a stream of explosive plays.
Calfee’s 53-yard touchdown jaunt down the home sideline on Craig’s fourth offensive snap and Cregger’s conversion gave the Rockets a 7-0 lead with 1 minute, 4 seconds remaining the first quarter.
Moments later, Calfee broke a 54-yard TD sprint up the gut for a 13-0 lead with 3:32 before halftime.
The 6-foot, 180-pound senior finished with 139 yards on 14 carries despite a sprained ankle that had Craig County coach Jimmy Fisher wondering if his big-play back would suit up at all for the Rockets’ first home playoff game since 2010.
“There was probably a slight chance [of sitting out],” Calfee said. “I didn’t play in our last game, but it felt pretty good in practice. We were pretty hopeful today. The Lord blessed me and I was able to do my thing tonight.”
Bath County (4-6) and head coach Jake Phillips entered the playoff game after losing to Craig 28-0 on Oct. 24 in a game where the Chargers committed five turnovers.
Bath tested the Rockets on the opening possession, reaching the Craig 19 before linebacker Tristan Dooley stopped Owen Perdue short of first down on a fourth-down pass.
Craig County suffered what could be a major loss on the opening drive as two-way star Noah Paxton, a fullback and linebacker who rushed for 322 yards and four TDs in the regular-season finale against Meadow Bridge (W.Va.), suffered a shoulder injury and did not return.
The Chargers kept Craig off the scoreboard in the third quarter, but the Rockets had the answer with their special teams.
Cregger fielded a short punt just inside the midfield stripe, broke to his right, eluded two pursuers and picked up a phalanx of blockers en route to a 44-yard TD for a 20-0 lead
A transfer from Pulaski County, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound junior, has found a home in a blue and white Craig uniform.
“This amazing team stuck with me through it all,” said Cregger, whose 39-yard pass reception from sophomore Bentley Smith set up Calfee’s second TD. “Accepting me into their community, I love it.”
Cregger is not the only prominent newcomer on Craig’s roster. Senior running back Jerry Smith, a transfer from William Fleming, ran for 96 yards on eight carries and added the final TD on a 42-yard sprint with 5:18 to play. Bentley Smith rushed for 78 yards on five carries and completed 3 of 4 passes for 57 yards.
Most of Bath County’s offense came from 6-foot-4, 187-pound senior quarterback Hunter Kirby, who rushed for 90 yards on 27 carries while completing 14 of 25 passes for 70 yards.
All four of the Chargers’ first-half possessions reached Craig territory, including a fourth-down incompletion at the Rockets’ 12-yard line in the fourth quarter. Craig sophomore linebacker Marcus Donithan intercepted a pass from Kirby for the game’s lone turnover.
Craig finished with 305 yards rushing out of the Single-wing offense Fisher ultimately adopted from the old Giles High School playbook authored by Steve Ragsdale, who learned at the knee of his legendary father, Harry Ragsdale.
“Steve Ragsdale’s dad told him if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to marry it,” Fisher said. “That’s what we’ve tried to do. We’ve tried to stick to the original version as much as possible.”
While Craig assistant and former Giles player Jayke Dowdy brought the Single-wing to New Castle, Fisher has been the architect of a massive transition within the school’s football program.
Now in his fifth season as Craig’s head coach, the 1985 New Castle High graduate virtually has rebuilt the Rockets’ football fortunes from the ground up since taking the job in 2021. The Rockets began the 2025 season with eight consecutive wins before a 42-21 loss to Narrows.
In 11 games, Craig County has outscored its opponents 438-90.
Craig won just nine games with back-to-back 0-10 seasons in the seven years prior to Fisher’s arrival. Fisher, who played on New Castle’s 1984 squad that held the previous school record with eight victories, jumped headlong into major fundraising by relying on many of his county contacts including 1981 graduate Mike Carper.
Fisher, 58, — whose path as an assistant coach took him to Craig, North Cross, William Fleming, James River and Glenvar — said Craig’s football equipment was all but unusable when he took the job. He borrowed equipment from five different schools. He said Glenvar coach Kevin Clifford provided 12 sets of shoulder pads and did not ask for them to be returned.
“We had to have a weight room,” Fisher said. “We didn’t have that the first couple years. We had to fund-raise for the stuff to have a game, then we had to fund-raise to have a weight room. It’s not as good as some of the bigger schools, but it’s a really nice weight room that we built ourselves. It’s good enough to have strength and conditioning classes in there, and football paid for all of it.”
“I’m trying to instill stuff where it will stay after I’m gone, make sure there’s plenty of equipment.”
Craig has the fourth-lowest population density of any city or county in Virginia with 15 people per square mile, ranking above only Bath, Northampton and Highland counties. Craig’s enrollment for the 2024-25 school year was listed by the Virginia Department of Education at 173 students in grades 9-12. Bath County’s enrollment was 139.
When Phillips starred at quarterback at Bath County under coaches Chris Jones and Will Fields, they posted a four-year record of 49-5 with a Division 1 state championship in 2001 and two runner-up finishes. Phillips returned to Bath as head coach and athletic director and guided the Chargers to an 11-1 record and a region final berth in 2024.
Small schools such as Craig and Bath face hurdles, but they are not insurmountable. However, sustaining success can be difficult.
Bath defeated Craig 62-13 in 2024, but with just three players returning in 2025 the Chargers were outscored by the Rockets 55-0 in two games.
“They’ve come a long way in a short amount of time,” Phillips said of the Rockets. “I can remember playing on that field last year. I told the guys, ‘I’m trying to figure out a way to not score 60 points.’ Eleven months later I’m stepping on that field trying to figure out a way we can score a point. A lot can change in a year.”
Small-school football was fully on display Friday night on the Bermuda grass field the school installed in 2023. The facility is well-lighted. The public address system is strong.
More importantly, the Rockets no longer have glaring red marks in the loss column. With nearly every starting lineman returning in 2026 along with Paxton, Cregger, Donithan and Smith, the future looks bright.
“They have some really good players,” Phillips said. “One, they bought into the system. They play hard. They play physical. They play fast. You can tell they know exactly what they’re doing and they’re not guessing. They’re confident in what they do.”
Craig County’s 2024 season ended with a 42-0 regional playoff loss at Grayson County. Next Friday, the Blue Devils come to New Castle.
Get your folding chair there early.
“It’s amazing,” Calfee said as the Rockets basked in the glow of Friday’s fireworks. “It just drew the community together, closer than I’ve ever seen it here. It’s been a great atmosphere.”
Bath County….0…0…0…0– 0
Craig County…7…6…0..14–27
First quarter
CC–Calfee 53 run (Cregger kick), 1:04
Second quarter
CC–Calfee 54 run (kick failed), 3:32
Fourth quarter
CC–Cregger 44 punt return (Cregger kick), 10:38
CC–J.Smith 42 run (Cregger kick), 5:18
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TEAM STATISTICS
…………………BC…….CC
First downs……….11…….13
Rushes-yards…..33-101…31-305
Yards passing……..70…….57
Comp-Att-Int….14-25-1….3-4-0
Fumbles-lost……..1-0……3-0
Penalties-yards….8-63…..3-35
Punts-average….3-36.3…3-36.5
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Bath County, Kirby 27-90, Bryant 3-14, Randozzo 1-3, Woodson 1-1, Perdue 1-(-7). Craig County, Calfee 14-139, J.Smith 8-96, B.Smith 5-78, Cregger 1-7, Team 3-(-15).
PASSING — Bath County, Kirby 13-24-1–69, Bryant 1-1-0-1. Craig County, B.Smith 3-4-0–57.
RECEIVING — Bath County, Perdue 9-50, Bryant 2-8, Burns 1-7, Boguess 1-4, Kirby 1-1. Craig County, Cregger 2-56, Dooley 1-1.
Robert Anderson has worked for well over 40 years in Virginia as a sports writer, including at The Roanoke Times before retiring in June 2022. He has won multiple Virginia Press Association awards for sports writing portfolio and has been honored nationally by The Associated Press Sports Editors. Robert was inducted earlier this year into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame.