The Mathews High School varsity football team dropped to 0-4 on Friday, losing by a 53-7 margin to powerhouse Essex. The undefeated Trojans, hosts for Friday night’s game, were state runners-up last season and are atop the 1A East Region rankings.

"Every time we made a mistake, they scored … and we obviously made too many mistakes," said Mathews head coach Ryan Wenner.

The Devils’ only points came off a second-half kickoff return by junior Jesse Ingram, with placekicker P.J. Johnson converting the PAT.

Mathews will be looking to break into the win column this Friday when the Devils host the Rappahannock Raiders, starting at 7 p.m.

The jayvees lost last Wednesday to Essex by a similar margin, falling 54-6. The only Mathews points came off an end around run by Marcus Robinson for about 15 yards. The jayvee team was scheduled to play at Rappahannock yesterday. "Hopefully we’ll be able to turn it around," said jayvee coach Rob Kincade.
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