• October 610/10 - Cheer @ Wilson Memorial
  • October 610/10 - Varsity Football @ Wilson Memorial
  • October 610/9 - JV Football VS. Wilson Memorial
  • October 610/9 - Volleyball @ Fort Defiance
  • October 610/8 Cross Country @ Buffalo Gap
  • October 610/8 - Comp. Cheer @ Stuarts Draft
  • October 610/7 - Volleyball vs. Riverheads
  • October 610/6 - Volleyball vs Turner Ashby
  • September 229/15-10/15- Hispanic Heritage Month
  • August 13Click here to view the upcoming games and matches for the Wildcats.
The student news site of Rockbridge County High School

THE PROWLER
THE PROWLER
THE PROWLER

‘Cats progress through season

Jackson Crutchfield and Ella Cate Brown
October 7, 2025
Ella Cate Brown
Sophomore Parker Zollman runs during a play.

The football team has a lot of new things going on this year. From a new coaching staff to a new district, this year is bringing a lot of firsts. 

The football team has brought on a new head coach, Zachary Rhodenizer. Rhodenizer has been teaching at RCHS for eleven years and has been coaching football for fourteen. This is his first year being the head coach at RCHS. 

Rhodenizer shared how this season has been going for the football team.

“I am pleased with how much the team has progressed. Although the record hasn’t reflected it in the win column, the team is performing much better in all three phases of the game and has shown continual improvement week to week, ” Rhodenizer said.

This year the Wildcats have a record of 0-4 but are striving and working hard each day to get better and try and turn that record around by the end of the season.

While this is Rhodenizer’s first year as a head coach he has made a lot of improvements to our football program. Rhodenizer shared some of those things with us.

“We are running an entirely new offensive, defensive, and special teams system, we have changed how we fundraise as a program, and the staff and I have spent a lot of time focusing on offseason load management,” Rhodenizer said.

Senior running back Andrew Kelly is playing football for the Wildcats for the first time this year. While he has had some little league experience, he has never played for a varsity team. 

This season, he has started every game and has been a key asset to the team this year. Kelly shared some of the skills that he has personally been working on this year.

“I would like to work on being more aggressive in practice and games,” Kelly said.

Kelly believes that more grit and drive is essential in improving his personal game. 

Kelly also conveyed some things he is looking forward to in the latter half of this season.

“I look forward to hanging out with my friends and teammates,” Kelly said. 

The football team has been working hard dealing with all of the new things that have been thrown at them this year. We wish the Wildcats the best of luck in the remaining six games they have left in this season.

Be sure to come out and support our Wildcats at any home games. The themes for these games are posted on the Cat Pack Instagram page weekly.

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Ella Cate Brown
Cat Pack Instagram link
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About the Contributors
Jackson Crutchfield
Jackson Crutchfield, Arts & Style Editor
Senior Jackson Crutchfield is a second year Journalism student who enjoys creative writing on topics he is interested and passionate about. In his second year of Journalism Jackson became the Arts & Style section editor and looks forward to playing a more involved role on The Prowler Staff. He spends most of his time outside hiking, fly fishing, playing the guitar, and backpacking. Jackson wishes he was living in an offgrid remote location in Patagonia, Argentina, fly fishing and living off of the land every day with nobody but his dog. He also loves going to concerts and music festivals, which he has been doing with his Deadhead dad ever since he was in a stroller. Some of Jackson’s favorite bands are The Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, Phish, and Railroad Earth. He looks forward to one more year with his friends at RCHS and can’t wait to continue to write more extremely quality and in depth band reviews.
Ella Cate Brown
Ella Cate Brown, Media Editor-in-Chief
Media Editor-in-Chief Ella Cate Brown is very excited to write some awesome articles this year. She has Type one Diabetes and is very proud and open about it. She spends her free time dancing in the Senior Company at The Rockbridge Ballet where she spends most of her afternoons working hard. When she’s not dancing, she likes to spend her time either at the racetrack or helping her brother work on his racecar. Brown also enjoys hanging out at Cookout and getting late night oreo milkshakes. After high school she wants to become an engineer, but only after she finds a way to make her pancreas work again.