The Mathews High School varsity football team fell to the host Middlesex Chargers Friday night by a 33-9 margin.

In spite of the final score, the game was quite competitive, with the Chargers holding a 14-3 halftime edge. The only Mathews score in the first half came off Garrett Applegate’s 27-yard field goal. Applegate was 1-for-1 in field goal attempts.

Chance Spencer scored the Blue Devils’ only touchdown on a quarterback sneak in the second half.

“Our defensive secondary played as well as you could ask them to,” head coach C.J. Kelly said. “We had six pass deflections and one interception.

“It was our first game and we have to clean up a few things. We are going in the right direction as a program,” Kelly added. “One game doesn’t define our season and we will bounce back from this defeat.”

Mathews is scheduled to go back on the road Saturday to play Portsmouth Christian at 6 p.m., postponed from Friday due to the appr...