Albemarle and Stafford entered
their head-to-head contest in Charlottesville on Friday night both
looking for their first victory of the young 2014 season. The Indians
took advantage of a pair of Patriots miscues early to grab a quick lead
by Albemarle found some offensive rhythm a bit later to tie the game.
The difference in this game that looked like it was going to turn into
a slugfest was turnovers. The Patriots would lose the ball four times
on the night and Stafford took advantage by creating points from the
extra possessions as they went on reel in the elusive first win of the
fall.
Scoring Summary
Stafford -- 7 7 14 7 -- 35
Albemarle -- 0 7 0 7 -- 14
First Quarter
S-Zevin Holley 2 yard run (Brian Kilei kick), 6:50
Second Quarter
A-Ryan Hooper 10 yard pass from DG Archer (Chandler Carrera kick), 7:21
S-Taquan Watson 17 yard pass from Garrett Cropp (Brian Kilei kick), 1:12
Third Quarter
S-Zevin Holley 1 yard run (Brian Kilei kick), 4:57
S-Stephen Harris 1 yard run (Brian Kilei kick), 1:24
Fourth Quarter
S-Stephen Harris 2 yard run (Brian Kilei kick), 7:06
A-Kevin McCarthy 48 yard run (Chandler Carrera kick), 5:40
Final: Stafford 35, Albemarle 14
Keys to Victory
Winning the Turnover Battle
The
Indians entered this contest having turned the ball over eight times in
their previous two games. There was no doubt that Stafford has played
well this season which included the squad nearly knocking off the 3A
State runner-up in their season opener. In this contest, the Stafford
offense displayed solid ball handling skills with a high number of
offensive plays that included 62 rushing attempts and 18 passes. The
ability to not lose the ball combined with the fact that the squad
recovered three fumbles and turned two of those opportunities into
touchdowns played a key role in the teams' one-sided victory.
Each
score for Stafford that resulted due to turnover changing possession
came quickly. It took just four plays prior to halftime for the group
to convert a fumble recovery into points when Garrett Cropp found Taquan Watson
for a 17 yard scoring strike. In the third quarter following another
fumble by Albemarle, the Indians took seven plays to score but took
just over two minutes off the game clock.
Running with Purpose
From
the beginning of the game, the Stafford offense showed it's committment
to the run game. With a short field on their first offensive
possession following an Albemarle punt that netted just three yards,
the Indians went to work utilizing the legs of Zevin Holley and Stephen Harris.
The nimbleness of Holley combined with the power running style of
Harris gave the offensive unit an attack that kept the defensive
guessing at times.
During the opening drive Stafford ran the
ball 7 times on 9 offensive plays which include a three yard run by
Holley on 4th down at the Patriots five yard line to keep the opening
drive alive. Holley found the endzone one play later. As the first
half went on Stafford continued their ground attack with 15 runs during
their first 17 offensive plays.
For the night, the duo of
backs combined to carry the ball 43 of the teams 62 rushing attempts.
The commitment to the ground game along with the execution allowed the
team to find success through the air and have success balancing the
attack which is what Indians Coach Chad Lewis said the team is striving
to obtain.
Belief in the System
It's
been apparant through the beginning of the season that Stafford has the
ability to make some noise even against the toughest of opponents. The
team has several players that can make plays on offense and as
exhibited on Friday night they can do that on the ground or through the
air. The key in this game was finding balance and taking care of the
football. Coach Lewis said that there was a high emphasis after the
first two games of the season to take care of the football and execute
while eliminating mistakes.
While it's only one game, the
victory helped to reinforce the hard work by the coaches and the
players that has been put in during the offseason and up to this point.
The confidence that the team gained will be positive moving forward
and if the squad learns that believing in what they are doing and
concentrating on performing their duties yeilds favorable results this
will not be the last we have heard about the Indians.
Key Players
Zevin Holley, Stafford...As
mentioned earlier in the recap, Holley used his shiftiness to make
Patriots defenders throughout the evening and led the game in rushing
attempts with 24. Holley scored two touchdowns in the contest and his
game total of 63 yards is a bit deceptive considering the amount of
carries he had. The Indians tailback took a couple of big losses late
in the game that would have put his total much higher.
Stephen Harris, Stafford...The
running back was the team leader with 89 yards on the ground and scored
a pair of touchdowns later in the contest during goal-to-go situations
for the teams' offense. Harris more often than not ran directly into
the heart of the Patriots defense and most of the time he had success
while doing so. His 4.7 yards per attempt exemplies the running game
that diehard football fans love.
Offensive Line, Stafford...The
talented group in the trenches made enough room for the team to find
success on the groun no matter who carried the ball and did a good
enough job in pass protection to allow their quarterback to find
passing lanes and connect with his receivers downfield. Stafford's
offensive success started with this group and if the team would never
have established its identity on offense, the number of turnovers may
have not had the impact on the game that they did.
Team Statistics
S A
First Downs 20 7
Rushes-yards 62-199 22-167
Passing yards 141 40
Passing 10-18-141-1-0 5-12-40-1-0
Punts/avg 3-26 5-29.6
Fumbles/lost 1-0 4-3
Penalties/yards 3-15 7-60
Individual Statistics
Rushing--Stafford,
Stephen Harris 20-89 (2 TD's), Zevin Holley 24-63 (2 TD's), Kaiden
Lewis 5-27, Shane Grice 3-18, Garrett Cropp 8-1, Chase Oliver 1-1,
Tyler Newton 1-1. Albemarle, Kevin McCarthy 17-146 (1 TD), Arun Turay
3-23, Teshawn Massie 1-3, DG Archer 1 (-5).
Passing--Stafford, Garrett Cropp 10-18-141-1-0. Albemarle, DG Archer 5-12-40-1-0.
Receiving--Stafford,
Joey Lamar 5-80, Taquan Watson 2-30 (1 TD), Zevin Holley 1-17, Noah
Robinson 1-9, Kaiden Lewis 1-5. Albemarle, Shaun Zeller 2-16, Teshawn
Massie 1-11, Ryan Hooper 1-10 (1 TD), Kevin McCarthy 1-3.
Robert
Edmonds
joined the Virginia Preps staff midway through 2013 and just completed his one year
anniversary with the site. He provides insight on player profiles and recruiting
news for players from around the state as well as in-season game and team
reports. He has been contributing sports coverage in the newspaper
industry since 2006 and also currently does correspondence work with the Daily
Progress in Charlottesville. Follow him on twitter@bigrob2523
and send comments and suggestions to him directly at bigrob2523@gmail.com.
their head-to-head contest in Charlottesville on Friday night both
looking for their first victory of the young 2014 season. The Indians
took advantage of a pair of Patriots miscues early to grab a quick lead
by Albemarle found some offensive rhythm a bit later to tie the game.
The difference in this game that looked like it was going to turn into
a slugfest was turnovers. The Patriots would lose the ball four times
on the night and Stafford took advantage by creating points from the
extra possessions as they went on reel in the elusive first win of the
fall.
Scoring Summary
Stafford -- 7 7 14 7 -- 35
Albemarle -- 0 7 0 7 -- 14
First Quarter
S-Zevin Holley 2 yard run (Brian Kilei kick), 6:50
Second Quarter
A-Ryan Hooper 10 yard pass from DG Archer (Chandler Carrera kick), 7:21
S-Taquan Watson 17 yard pass from Garrett Cropp (Brian Kilei kick), 1:12
Third Quarter
S-Zevin Holley 1 yard run (Brian Kilei kick), 4:57
S-Stephen Harris 1 yard run (Brian Kilei kick), 1:24
Fourth Quarter
S-Stephen Harris 2 yard run (Brian Kilei kick), 7:06
A-Kevin McCarthy 48 yard run (Chandler Carrera kick), 5:40
Final: Stafford 35, Albemarle 14
Keys to Victory
Winning the Turnover Battle
The
Indians entered this contest having turned the ball over eight times in
their previous two games. There was no doubt that Stafford has played
well this season which included the squad nearly knocking off the 3A
State runner-up in their season opener. In this contest, the Stafford
offense displayed solid ball handling skills with a high number of
offensive plays that included 62 rushing attempts and 18 passes. The
ability to not lose the ball combined with the fact that the squad
recovered three fumbles and turned two of those opportunities into
touchdowns played a key role in the teams' one-sided victory.
Each
score for Stafford that resulted due to turnover changing possession
came quickly. It took just four plays prior to halftime for the group
to convert a fumble recovery into points when Garrett Cropp found Taquan Watson
for a 17 yard scoring strike. In the third quarter following another
fumble by Albemarle, the Indians took seven plays to score but took
just over two minutes off the game clock.
Running with Purpose
From
the beginning of the game, the Stafford offense showed it's committment
to the run game. With a short field on their first offensive
possession following an Albemarle punt that netted just three yards,
the Indians went to work utilizing the legs of Zevin Holley and Stephen Harris.
The nimbleness of Holley combined with the power running style of
Harris gave the offensive unit an attack that kept the defensive
guessing at times.
During the opening drive Stafford ran the
ball 7 times on 9 offensive plays which include a three yard run by
Holley on 4th down at the Patriots five yard line to keep the opening
drive alive. Holley found the endzone one play later. As the first
half went on Stafford continued their ground attack with 15 runs during
their first 17 offensive plays.
For the night, the duo of
backs combined to carry the ball 43 of the teams 62 rushing attempts.
The commitment to the ground game along with the execution allowed the
team to find success through the air and have success balancing the
attack which is what Indians Coach Chad Lewis said the team is striving
to obtain.
Belief in the System
It's
been apparant through the beginning of the season that Stafford has the
ability to make some noise even against the toughest of opponents. The
team has several players that can make plays on offense and as
exhibited on Friday night they can do that on the ground or through the
air. The key in this game was finding balance and taking care of the
football. Coach Lewis said that there was a high emphasis after the
first two games of the season to take care of the football and execute
while eliminating mistakes.
While it's only one game, the
victory helped to reinforce the hard work by the coaches and the
players that has been put in during the offseason and up to this point.
The confidence that the team gained will be positive moving forward
and if the squad learns that believing in what they are doing and
concentrating on performing their duties yeilds favorable results this
will not be the last we have heard about the Indians.
Key Players
Zevin Holley, Stafford...As
mentioned earlier in the recap, Holley used his shiftiness to make
Patriots defenders throughout the evening and led the game in rushing
attempts with 24. Holley scored two touchdowns in the contest and his
game total of 63 yards is a bit deceptive considering the amount of
carries he had. The Indians tailback took a couple of big losses late
in the game that would have put his total much higher.
Stephen Harris, Stafford...The
running back was the team leader with 89 yards on the ground and scored
a pair of touchdowns later in the contest during goal-to-go situations
for the teams' offense. Harris more often than not ran directly into
the heart of the Patriots defense and most of the time he had success
while doing so. His 4.7 yards per attempt exemplies the running game
that diehard football fans love.
Offensive Line, Stafford...The
talented group in the trenches made enough room for the team to find
success on the groun no matter who carried the ball and did a good
enough job in pass protection to allow their quarterback to find
passing lanes and connect with his receivers downfield. Stafford's
offensive success started with this group and if the team would never
have established its identity on offense, the number of turnovers may
have not had the impact on the game that they did.
Team Statistics
S A
First Downs 20 7
Rushes-yards 62-199 22-167
Passing yards 141 40
Passing 10-18-141-1-0 5-12-40-1-0
Punts/avg 3-26 5-29.6
Fumbles/lost 1-0 4-3
Penalties/yards 3-15 7-60
Individual Statistics
Rushing--Stafford,
Stephen Harris 20-89 (2 TD's), Zevin Holley 24-63 (2 TD's), Kaiden
Lewis 5-27, Shane Grice 3-18, Garrett Cropp 8-1, Chase Oliver 1-1,
Tyler Newton 1-1. Albemarle, Kevin McCarthy 17-146 (1 TD), Arun Turay
3-23, Teshawn Massie 1-3, DG Archer 1 (-5).
Passing--Stafford, Garrett Cropp 10-18-141-1-0. Albemarle, DG Archer 5-12-40-1-0.
Receiving--Stafford,
Joey Lamar 5-80, Taquan Watson 2-30 (1 TD), Zevin Holley 1-17, Noah
Robinson 1-9, Kaiden Lewis 1-5. Albemarle, Shaun Zeller 2-16, Teshawn
Massie 1-11, Ryan Hooper 1-10 (1 TD), Kevin McCarthy 1-3.
Robert
Edmonds
joined the Virginia Preps staff midway through 2013 and just completed his one year
anniversary with the site. He provides insight on player profiles and recruiting
news for players from around the state as well as in-season game and team
reports. He has been contributing sports coverage in the newspaper
industry since 2006 and also currently does correspondence work with the Daily
Progress in Charlottesville. Follow him on twitter@bigrob2523
and send comments and suggestions to him directly at bigrob2523@gmail.com.
