Brandon Terrell gets a big hit on King William's Ryan Huffman and forces a high pass.
CENTRAL GARAGE- King William has been a second half team most the season. The Cavaliers would turn on the switch and usually own the latter 3rd and 4th quarters. On this chilly night to kick off the playoffs, the visitors from Augusta County were not about to be a statistic.
Stuarts Draft battled with King William early building confidence with each denial of the Cavalier offense from scoring. The Cougars were able to get on the board first when Garrett Campbell would hit Marshton Jones for a 15-yard touchdown pass at the 9:37 mark of the 2nd quarter.
King William could not sustain a decent drive in the first half but their defense would crank things up and it would lead to a key goal line stand that force Stuarts draft to kick a 19-yard field goal. Cougars were up 10-0 at the half but the Cavalier faithful weren’t worried.
Lafayette Pendleton was keyed on all night but still was able to make his mark.
In the second half King William immediately moved the ball as Devin Berry-Tucker is find a crease and go 67 yards putting the Cavs in scoring position. They would then turn to their powerback Lafayette Pendleton who tried to force his way to the home front corner of the endzone. Pendleton would not make it but the ball would and before it could bounce out of bounds through the endzone, Will Stewart would make the recovery cutting the lead to 10-7.
Soon after with Draft trying to answer to get the momentum back; they would fumble and no could seem to control the ball. Pendleton with spot the ball behind the back of a Cougar, scooped, and race 53 yards for the touchdown giving King William the lead for the first time.
Coach Dylan Dehart turned everything around for King William in the second half.
Up 13-10 King William elected to go for two points instead of kicking the extra point that would have giving them a 4-point lead. They would be stopped on the conversion and that play would prove to be costly.
Cougars would march into Cavalier territory but would be stopped with another great stand. They would turn to Jacob Wyrick who would nail a 22 yard field goal to make it 13 all. And the Cougars defense would make a key stop on the Cavaliers getting the ball back. And with 4:43 left to play in the game, Izzy Johnson would burst through from 10 yards out to make it 20-13 Draft.
Coach Dylan DeHart and the Cavaliers were calm and under control as they would find something on the right side of the Draft’s defense and would attack it play after play. Runs by Ryan Huffman, Pendleton, and Berry-Tucker were key getting the Cavaliers into scoring position. Huffman would roll out to his left and hit Michael Johnson for the 10-yard touchdown pass with only 43 seconds on the clock. Alex Dandridge hit the key extra point and we were knotted up at 20.
Michael Johnson picks up big yards on the play.
King William’s defense would prevent any last minute drive into scoring position for the Cougars and would actually get the ball back in regulation with a chance to win it. Following a big catch, Huffman’s protection would breakdown before he could see Dandridge getting a few steps on his defender toward the middle of the endzone. Overtime was now going to decide this one.
Stuarts Draft would get the ball first and immediately from the 10-yard line, Johnson would shoot through the line and into the endzone putting the Cougars up 27-20 and putting all the pressure on King William.
Devin Berry-Tucker looks for a hole to get the Cavaliers closer towards a score.
After Berry-Tucker had gotten the Cavaliers down to the 2-yard line before having to leave for injury it all came down to a 4th and goal. The Cavaliers tried to surprise the Cougars instead of handing it off to Pendleton or testing the Cougars right side it would end up being Huffman on a qb draw. Huffman got stuck in a pile right on the goal line. A few lineman appeared to push the pile forward and many assumed Huffman was in. The line judge on the far side marked Huffman short of the goal and just like that King William’s season came to an end.
The Cavaliers finished 8-3 on the season and exceeded the expectations of many. Stuarts Draft will next travel to Buffalo Gap to avenge a 22-14 loss in the regular season.
STUARTS DRAFT 0 10 0 10 7 - 27
KING WILLIAM 0 0 13 7 0 - 20
SD- Jones 15 yard pass from Campbell (Wyrick kick)
SD- Wyrick 19 yard fg
KW- Stewart fumble recovery in the endzone (Dandridge kick)
KW- Pendleton 53 yard fumble recovery return (run failed)
SD- Wyrick 22 yard fg
SD- I. Johnson 10 yard run (Wyrick kick)
KW- M. Johnson 10 yard pass from Huffman (Dandridge kick)
OVERTIME
SD- I. Johnson 10 yard run (Wyrick kick)
Photo Gallery Coming Soon...
GREENSVILLE COUNTY 32 BRUNSWICK 27
Playing your rival two weeks in a row can be tough and Greensville County knew it would. Down 21-0 in the first, the Eagles rallied to claim the victory over their neighbors to advance to face and face Goochland in the sectional semi-final.
ALTAVISTA 31 RAPPAHANNOCK 0
Coach Mark Scharnus made the proper adjustments at halftime and came out to put away Rappahannock for one of the most convincing victories of the season. The Colonels break a 3-game losing streak and will next face Riverheads.
WILLIAM CAMPBELL 67 COLONIAL BEACH 60
After Lamar Lucas 1 yard run made it 59-58, Michael Mothershead’s catch from Alonzo Turner gave CB the lead. Campbell’s Tyrell Staten rushed for 444 yards off 37 carries including the game winning score. William Campbell goes to Sussex next.
OTHER REGION A PLAYOFF SCORES
CLARKE COUNTY 60 ARCADIA 6
CENTRAL LUNENBURG 41 LANCASTER 8
EAST ROCKINGHAM 35 WASHINGTON & LEE 21
LURAY 40 MIDDLESEX 28
