Lafayette 33 Western Albemarle 14 Recap

[wgarlick]

The undefeated Lafayette Rams (14-0) will play for their first State championship since back-to-back appearances in 2001 and 2002 after defeating Western Albemarle 33-14 in the 3A State semi-final at Wanner Stadium in Williamsburg.
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Both teams had to contend with a steady downpour of rain and neither team was sharp early on. Field position would decide the success of both offenses in the first half. The Warriors big defensive line was able to bottle up the Rams potent run game in the 1st quarter and the Lafayette pass rush, led by linebacker Matt Hummel, gave Western Albemarle very little time to complete a pass.


Lafayette took over in good field position after pinning Western Albemarle inside their own 10-yard line. Joey Kraegenbrink ran around the right side of the Lafayette offensive line for a 16-yard touchdown run. The extra point game the Rams a 7-0 lead with 3:08 to go in the 1st quarter.


The Rams added two more scores in the second quarter on a 7-yard run by Brandon Villanueva-Pernell with 10:56 to go and a 5-yard run by quarterback Brendan McGinity with 4:34 left before halftime. McGinity's touchdown was setup by a long pass to sophomore Kyle Johnson who was wide open behind the Warriors defense.


McGinity injured his hand on a rushing attempt in the third quarter and the Rams had trouble moving the ball after he left the game. Just before the end of the 3rd quarter, backup quarterback Cheyton Pine threw deep and connected with Tyrek Graham for a 35-yard touchdown to give Lafayette a 27-0 lead.


The Rams coasted taking a 27-0 lead into the final six minutes of the game before allowing two touchdowns in a 35 second time period. A Lafayette fumble setup a 27-yard pass from junior quarterback Sam Hearn to Oliver Herndon that made the score 27-8 after the two-point run by Hearn. After recovering the onside kick, the Warriors pulled to within two scores when Hearn threw a short pass to Henry Kreienbaum who broke free for a 41-yard touchdown reception to make the score 27-14 with 5:01 to go.

Western Albemarle recovered their second straight onside kick however Villanueva-Pernell picked off an over thrown pass ending the Warriors threat. John Douglass put the game out of reach with a 55-yard touchdown run with 4:45 to go to seal the Rams win.

The Rams will face Magna Vista for the D3 championship next week at Williams Stadium on the campus of Liberty University. Magna Vista defeated James Monroe in the other 3A semi-final.





This post was edited on 12/6 8:24 PM by wgarlick

 

[Lafayette]

Lafayette QB's wrist is fractured

One piece of bad news though playing with a cast is probable but obviously not at 100%. Tough after 14 games . Only piece of bad news though the refs in this semi -final were the worst I have seen all year. I wonder what region they were from ?

 

[OCBoy]

Re: Lafayette QB's wrist is fractured


Throwing or non throwing hand?

 

[Lafayette]

Re: Lafayette QB's wrist is fractured

Throwing hand. But the talk is with a cast he will play. I do not know medically how this will affect his throwing. He runs more than he throws as we are a wing offense. His back up has started one game, played in numerous others and can throw and run.

This post was edited on 12/6 10:42 PM by Lafayette

This post was edited on 12/6 10:42 PM by Lafayette

 

[757whatsup]

Re: Lafayette QB's wrist is fractured

You only need to look as far as today's Daily Press to see photos of two bad calls. The face mask call was incorrect as Pine wasn't touching the face mask and in the other photo Meeks CLEARLY had fumbled the ball at a critical point in the game yet the refs got both calls wrong.

 

[Lafayette]

Those large photos show what we saw all day...,

Incompetent refs at a semi final level! There were blown and missed calls all day. This better not be the crew at the finals. I still like to know where they are based, sorry for that region. Ps- just looked at TV film on the game from the Charlotteville area and saw how the 2nd onside kick clearly hit a WA player before the 10 yard distance. What buffoons these refs.

This post was edited on 12/7 12:10 PM by Lafayette

 

[CMONMANN]

Re: Those large photos show what we saw all day...,

At the end of the day,.... Lafayette moves on! Credit to both teams. If you expect a perfect game called at the high school level, then you are living in a fantasy world.

 

[Lafayette]

Re: Those large photos show what we saw all day...,

You are right, but after seeing 14 games this year, this crew appeared especially bad. This my first comment on refs all year and since we won, it not losers remorse.