With the temperature predicted to drop near freezing, George Wythe put another Hogoheegee District football championship on ice Friday night.

The Maroons, kingpins of the Hogoheegee throughout the last decade, jockeyed themselves into position to win another district title by taking care of Rural Retreat 31-20 in a battle of Wythe County rivals.

“I really don’t know how many in a row, maybe six,” said second-year George Wythe head coach H.S. Ingo.  “We’ve still got one district game to play, that’s all I care about right now.”

The Maroons (4-0, 6-3) finish their regular-season and district schedule next week at Northwood, which picked up its first win of the season Friday – a 34-20 victory over Patrick Henry.

George Wythe got all it wanted from inspired Rural Retreat (3-1, 4-5), but the homestanding Indians couldn’t do anything with Maroon wingback Issac Young.

A 5-foot-10, 160-pound roadrunner, Young sped his way to 199 yards rushing on only 13 carries, including non-scoring runs of 40, 44 and 63 on wide-right sweeps.  He also scored on a 10-yard run.

“Issac is a kid we’ve seen step up onto the scene since the Chilhowie game [three weeks ago],’’ said Ingo.  “He’s a kid we got back involved with football [after not playing last season] – you know, he’s a real good track athlete.

“Certainly he’s a real weapon for us.”

Rural Retreat, which led 20-17 midway through the third quarter, was trailing 24-20 when Young turned the corner on his 40-yard pickup.  Four plays later the Hogoheegee 100-meter track champion ran it in from the 10, lifting the Maroons to their final 11-point advantage with 8:34 to play.

“I was just born with some speed I guess, but I work hard at it too,” said Young.  “I push in practice and am always running hard and as fast as I can.

“In the games you’ve just got to trust you teammates and trust your blocks, and just keep on going.”

George Wythe had overcome its three-point deficit to take its 24-20 advantage moments earlier, when Alex Willis ended a nine-play, 48-yard drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

Rural Retreat had gained its second lead of the night with 5:33 left in the third, when Travis Foster hauled in a 39-yard scoring strike from quarterback Zayne Williams.

The first two quarters saw the Indians stay with the Maroons behind a good running attack, which produced 141 yards.  But the Indians were shut down in the second half, running for just 1 yard and having to go to their passing game.

“Rural Retreat’s split veer is hard to emulate in practice,” said Wingo. “Lot of times you’ve got to see it in the game, and they sure showed us what it’s about there in the first half.

“But we changed some of our techniques at halftime and we played much better defense in the second half.”

Rural Retreat trailed just 14-12 after short TD runs by Tyler Caudill and James Marshall, before a 22-yard field goal by reliable George Wythe kicker Mikel Hawks ended the first half.

George Wythe received first-half touchdown runs from Hunter Tolley and Mitch Castanon, leading 14-6 at one point.

“We gave it all we had,’’ said first-year Rural Retreat coach Christopher Moore.  “We played ’em tough.

“We’ve got a tough one with Chilhowie next week, but we’re still looking good for the playoffs.’’

George Wythe finished with 381 yards total offense to Rural Retreat’s 241 yards.

George Wythe              7                      10                   7                      7-31

Rural Retreat                6                      6                      8                      0-20

Scoring Summary

RR-Caudill 12 run (kick blocked)

GW-Tolley 1 run (Hawks kick)

GW-Castanon 3 run (Hawks kick)

RR-Marshall 7 run (run failed)

GW-FG Hawks 22

RR-Foster 39 pass from Williams (Foster pass from Williams)

GW-Willis 1 run (Hawks kick)

GW-Young 10 run (Hawks kick)

Team Stats

First Downs: GW 19, RR 13; Rushes-Yards: GW 49-290, RR 38-142; Passing Yards: GW 91, RR 99; Passes: GW 6-8-0, RR 6-13-0; Fumbles-Lost: GW 4-3, RR 1-1; Penalties: GW 5-37, RR 2-11; Punts: GW 1-34, RR 2-30.5.