Wilson Memorial 13, Richlands 7, OT Game Recap

[bigrob2523]

The battle between Richlands and
Wilson Memorial in Saturday's 2A state semifinal matchup was a classic
that needed more than just 48 minutes to determine a winner. The duel
featured a defensive showcase and with the rain becoming steadier as
the game progressed, it turned into a good old-fashioned matchup that
regardless of the outcome both teams had no reason to hang their head.
The Blue Tornado failed to take advantage of offensive opportunities
and the teams' fourth turnover of the game didn't directly to points
for the Green Hornets but it gave Wilson the fire they needed to finish
off the victory and advance to Salem next week to play for the state
title.

Scoring Summary

First Quarter
W-Jesse Trent 1 yard run (Garrett Mcbee kick), 4:44

Fourth Quarter
R-River Michaels 3 yard run (Alex Bandy kick), 7:36

Overtime
W-Savant Swift 10 yard run, 0:00

Final Score: Wilson Memorial 13, Richlands 7

Keys to Victory

Score First

While
the team that scores first doesn't always win, the ability for the
Green Hornets to open the game with a scoring drive proved to be
pivotal in this matchup. The Green Hornets received the opening
kickoff and then went to work in their double wing offense quickly
moving the ball with Savant Swift and Juh-Kwyquan McCualey but
Richlands appeared to have the Wilson offense where they wanted them
when they forced a fourth-and-four near midfield.

Mack Cullen
dropped back to pass when the Green Hornets snapped the ball but then
pulled the ball and down and galloped for a 15 yard gain and first
down. Three snaps later, it appeared that the Wilson offense was in
another difficult spot, this time facing third-and-15. It was Jesse
Trent that delivered this time for the Wilson offense when he burst
around the edge for a 28 yard gain to set up a goal-to-go situation on
the Blue Tornado seven yard line.

Swift ran four gains of 4 and
2 yards before Trent punched the ball in the endzone on a 1 yard run to
give the home team an early 7-0 advantage. The Wilson offense would
not score during the next three and a half quarters but the early score
left Richlands playing catchup in the slugfest and gave the Green
Hornets a slight bit of comfort.

Bend but Don't Break

On
its' first two offensive possessions of the game, Richlands found
success moving the ball against the stellar Green Hornets defense.
River Michaels distributed the ball successfully through the air to
four different receivers during the Blue Tornado possessions and moved
his team near the redzone on both occassions.

Each time,
however, the Wilson defense came up with turnovers to end their
opponents' opportunities. On Richlands first drive of the game,
Michaels sent a pass on first down towards the right sideline and Green
Hornets safety Thai Wright came up with an interception to end the Blue
Tornado drive. The next time Richlands had the ball, the team
attempted to get fancy when Zeke Vance attempted a halfback pass.
Instead the play turned out to be dismal for the Blue Tornado when
Vance's pass attempt was picked off by Wilson defensive back Hunter
Carr.

The Green Hornets continue to come through with solid
efforts during the first half when they had their backs against the
wall after Richlands blocked a Wilson punt and then got a piece of
another. On the two occasions, Richlands started on the Wilson 34 and
30 yards lines, respectively, but failed to move the ball on either
possession. Richlands themselves no favors with offensive penalties
during the drives and the Green Hornets swarm made them pay by forcing
Richlands to turn the ball over on downs on both drives.

Put it in the Books

With
a steady rain falling, neither offense went away from their gameplan in
the second half but neither had much success against their opponents
defense. It wasn't until the fourth quarter that Richlands found the
scoreboard after finally being able to take advantage of a shortened
field created by their defense.

Michaels moved the ball
effectively through the air, completing passes to Brandon Waldron, Zeke
Vance, and Griffen McCauley during the drive. With the team finding
itself closer to the endzone than they had all day, Richlands coach
Greg Mance turned to Michaels to deliver the score. The quarterback
went for an eight yard run out of the shotgun from the Wilson 11 yard
line and then scored on the same call on the next offensive snap.

Wilson
managed to move the ball on the final possession of regulation and
setup a 39 yard field goal attempt for the win but the kick fell short
and the two squads were destined for overtime. Richlands took the
field on offense first but failed to score. After a two yard run by
Waldron, Michaels threw an incomplete pass in the middle of the field.

On
the very next play, Michaels looked to pass once again but the Green
Hornets defenders blanketed the Blue Tornado receivers. The Richland
quarterback looked to throw the ball out of bounds but the pass wasn't
thrown far enough and Carr snagged his second interception of the
contest to end Richlands possession. Then, almost instantaneously, on
Wilson's first offensive play during the extra session, Swift got
behind his offensive line and surged ahead for a ten yard scoring run
to put the Green Hornets into the 2A State Championship game while
ending Richlands season.

Key Players

Savant Swift, Wilson Memorial...The
Green Hornets didn't produce the 39 points per wing or the multiple 100
yard rushers that the offense has been accustomed to producing during
the season but Swift came through for his team when they needed him
most. The senior scored the game winning touchdown in overtime on a
ten yard run and finished as the games' leading rusher with 108 yards
on 19 carries. Swift has been a top talent for the team all year long
so when the group called his name to come through in the clutch, it's
no surprise that Swift delivered.

Hunter Carr, Wilson Memorial...It
took a total effort for the Green Hornets defense to continue its
success that has earned Wilson's ranking as the top defensive team in
the state. Regardless, the Wilson secondary member made a pair of
interceptions that came at critical junctures. Carr's interception in
overtime ended Richlands opportunity on offense with nothing to show
for it and his pick in the first quarter ended and any hopes of the
Blue Tornado responding the opening drive by the Green Hornets and kept
them from establishing any momentum early in the contest.

Richlands Defense...The
Blue Tornado defense not only held the high powered offensive attack to
their lowest scoring total of the season but it also kept the Green
Hornets backfield from taking over the game at any point during the
afternoon's contest. Swift did manage to gain over 100 yards in the
contest but the five yards per carry was much lower than he is used to
delivering. The biggest play allowed by the Richlands defense was a 28
yard run in the first quarter and the unit gave its' offense a chance
to strike and put the team ahead throughout the game.

Team Statistics

R W
First Downs 11 14
Rushes-Yards 15-43 57-263
Passing Yards 180 20
Passing 16-37-180-0-4 1-6-20-0-1
Punts-Avg 2-40.5 4-24
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 14-112 9-95

Individual Statistics

Rushing--Richlands,
Brandon Waldron 7-36, River Michaels 7-12 (1 TD), Chase Collins 1 (-5).
Wilson Memorial, Savant Swift 19-108 (1 TD), Juh-Kwyquan McCauley
16-59, Jess Trent 14-50 (1 TD), Connor Chapman 6-31, Mack Cullen 2-15.

Passing--Richlands,
River Michaels 16-36-180-0-3, Zeke Vance 0-1-0-0-1. Wilson Memorial,
Mack Cullen 1-4-20-0-0, Savant Swift 0-1-0-0-1, Brandon Gochenour
0-1-0-0-0.

Receiving--Chase Collins 4-66, Zeke Vance 5-46, Cade
Mullins 3-28, Bryce Farris 2-22, Brandon Waldron 1-7, Griffen McCauley
1-11. Wilson Memorial, Justin Leary 1-20.







Robert
Edmonds
joined the Virginia Preps staff midway through 2013 and is in his
second year 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. In 2014, Robert is covering the Piedmont area during the
regular and postseasons. 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 feedback and suggestions to him directly at bigrob2523@gmail.com.

This post was edited on 12/7 3:11 PM by VaPrepsRod

 

[Keith_Stone33]

Thanks for providing a writeup for us bigrob! Good stuff

 

[longtimerhsfan]

Thanks Big Rob for such a detailed report. However, since you almost ignored the elephant in the room and others only skirted around it in other threads about this game, I will be the one to just tell it like it was.

THE REFEREEING WAS THE PITS IN THIS GAME! I can say that because I did not have a dog in this fight and just came to see a good ball game. Well we were all deprived of that pleasure due to the officiating. There is not no way, not no how that many flags should ever be thrown in one ball game.

I will let the fans for the two schools debate the merits of any one call (as if they could remember any one to dwell on) so my complaint was just about the sheer volume of them. There were times when flags were thrown on three consecutive plays, and there were at least two occasions when two flags were thrown on the same play. Each team was given an unsportsmanlike conduct flag for protesting a call, and those are just the highlights.

For the most part, Richlands seemed to get the short end of the stick, but there were plenty of things called against Wilson too. But both teams deserved better because the weather conditions already kept them from showing us what they really had to offer.

Even though I said I would leave it to their fans, I do have to mention one sequence that left many of us shaking our heads. Richlands was passing on third down from its own 13 yard line late in the third quarter. The quarterback was rushed and threw the ball away. There was no flag thrown for grounding.

Until 15-20 seconds later!!! Excuse me but I thought you made the call when you saw it, not after the other team complains about it or after you have a big discussion about it. To make matters worse for Richlands, they complained and got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on them. The refs then stepped off these two penalties and somehow Richlands ended up punting from their own half-yard line. So I have yet to figure out how two half-the-distance penalties can total 12 1/2 out of 13 yards!

But like I said, it wasn't all one-sided and before the game was over, the Blue Tornado did get a PI call to go their way that led directly to their touchdown. So my beef is that I just felt as if everybody was robbed by the insane frequency of the flags.

 

[longtimerhsfan]

Just read a newspaper recap of the game. It says that the PI call against Wilson came on Richlands' overtime possession and therefore did not directly lead to their touchdown. So if that is correct, I apologize for my faulty memory on that one detail.

This same article said that Wilson was penalized for 112 yards during the game. I am sure Richlands had more than that. As I said, that is excessive.

 

[lovethisgame78]

I wasnt at the game so dont have first hand input, only what the announcers saw. According to the recap i read Richlands had 14-139 and Wilson had 11-112. 75 yds were in the first half for Richlands while Wilson's all came in the second half. The only call i remember them protesting was an intentional grounding. I believe there were 2 so i cant remember which one it was. But the announcers said the TE, #8 Lowe, was right there. Im sure WM has some questionable ones as well. Way too many flags. But thats what happens when youre undisciplined. The PI call on WM was in OT.

 

[Trevor_Cash]

The ball didn't make it to the LOS on his 2nd intentional grounding I believe.

 

[lovethisgame78]

As long as there is a receiver in the area it doesnt matter if its behind the LOS. The only time LOS comes into play is when the QB is outside the pocket and intentionally throws the ball away. Then it has to at least make it to LOS. But im assuming youre referring to the intentional grounding that was not in question. Either way it was a lot of penalties for both teams. Im sure everyone would expect these teams to be more disciplined after 13 games.

 

[Trevor_Cash]

From my understanding there is no pocket in high school football

 

[lovethisgame78]

That may be true. But if there is a receiver in the area, even though the pass is behind LOS, it shouldnt be called IG. Let me point out that im not questioning the call on the field about if there was a receiver in the area. I wasnt there so i dont know. But again, im not sure if you are referring to the questionable IG call or the other one.

 

[Trevor_Cash]

We are referring to the same one. Because the QB argued and was flagged. Which his argument didn't warrant a flag. Our QB was also flagged for having basically the same reaction to a call. That one red was VERY flag happy. I think the biggest issues with the 2nd IG call was how late the flag came out. But the officials gathered and talked for a second then threw the flag. It's now I see it handled on tv all the time but it was a very late call

This post was edited on 12/7 2:24 PM by Trevor_Cash

 

[lovethisgame78]

Well thats a good example why not to argue calls. Its not like the refs are gonna listen to them and change their call. So just accept it and move on to the next play.