Football documentary latest effort by 'This Place', a series of reports about what unites and divides a rural Va. county

Screenshot; for the 7:45 documentary, click here.

A video documentary about the local high school's football season is the latest installment in an innovative series of reports by one of Virginia's smallest rural newspapers, bolstered by a local foundation that raises and provides money for special reporting projects.

"How 8-man Football United Rappahannock County" tells how going to a smaller team and a smaller league "provided a giant lift to the school and helped unite the community around a single cause, the Rappahannock News reports. "The team went 6-5 in the Panthers’ best-ever football season, despite a disappointing ending last week with a 52-6 loss to Virginia Episcopal School in the first round playoffs. But the season’s Hollywood-movie highlight came Oct. 14 at RCHS’ Homecoming contest against Chincoteague — with a last-second, come-from-behind 36-33 win before a record crowd at Panther Stadium."

The 7-minute, 45-second documentary was financed by Foothills Forum, the foundation that raises as much as $200,000 for journalism in the county of about 7,400 people. It is part of “This Place,” a series that explores “”what divides us — and unites us — in Rappahannock County,” the News explains. “'This Place' is grounded in months of research by a team of Rappahannock News reporters and Foothills Forum volunteers who conducted interviews with dozens of county residents of diverse political, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, most of whom said there has been an increase in divisiveness and conflict in recent years.

“This documentary was made by the Rappahannock-based team of award-winning photographer Luke Christopher and editor-composer Roger Piantadosi, a former Rappahannock News editor. Other videos in the series include the Cancer Is Messy event at Eldon Farms benefiting families who endure childhood cancer, and the Amissville parade and carnival that returned in August after a two-year pandemic-pause.”