As the season has progressed so too has the level of competition. The Bulldogs faced a hard-nosed team in Louisa County three weeks ago and got that job done. Last week they faced then unbeaten Western Albemarle and passed that test with flying colors. This week it was another big time opponent, Millbrook. And once again, while it may not have been prettiest of victories, the Bulldogs rose to the occasion, knocking of the Pioneers in the Region II Division 3 quarterfinals, 21-0.
“We feel like we can play with anybody in the state if we play well,” Fowler said. “We’re not good enough to not play well and beat people. But if we play well we think we can beat anyone.”
It was the team’s second consecutive shutout, and just like last week, the offense was given a little extra fuel with the turnovers the defense was able to force. The Bulldogs stumbled out of the gate a little bit when they drove down the field on the game opening drive, but for the rest of the first half, Goochland was dominant.
The Bulldogs forced a fumble on Millbrook’s first drive and Dustin Plummer quickly converted that into seven points on offense with a 24-yard touchdown reception from Henry.
Goochland forced a turnover on downs the Pioneers’ next drive, and this time, Desmond Athey was able to turn opportunity into points, this time on a 8-yard scoring run to put his team up 14-0 in the first quarter.
“In the first half our defense was just putting their feet in the ground and giving all their effort,” said Goochland runningback and linebacker David McKenna. “We played great. We didn’t play our best, but we played great.”
In the third quarter Millbrook punted on their first possesion. The Bulldogs didn’t squander their first opportunity with ball in the second half as David McKenna’s 8-yard touchdown run extended the lead another seven points mid through the third frame.
In the second half, it was all about working the clock, and both squads chewed threw it. The Pioneers finally got their running game going with Jordan Hartman, but weren’t able to work the ball into the redzone until late in the fourth quarter.
Behind Hartman, Millbrook found themselves with a first and goal opportunity. On their first three downs they inched their way to within four yards of the endzone. However, goal line stands aren’t exactly new to this team, and just as they did against Louisa in October, the Goochland defense shut the gate as B.J. Clark came up and stuffed Hartman on fourth down to preserve the shutout.
Hartman wound up accounting for almost 90 percent of Millbrook’s total offense. The Bulldogs had an interesting night against the speedy back, as they either tackled him for a loss or a very short gain on more than half his attempts, but on the other half the Pioneer senior would break loose for chunks of 10 yards or more. However, Hartman was never able to break past the secondary.
“To stop him the linebackers just had to fill the lanes,” Clark said. “But (Hartman), he’s just a good running back. He’d find holes anyways.”
For Goochland, four different rushers finished with 45 yards or more, including Plummer, Athey, McKenna and Willie Ezell. Ezell was the top runner on the night with his 65 yards. KcKenna had the highest yard per carry average of the bunch with 8.5. With wind playing a big factor in the game, the Bulldogs wound up with the game’s lone three completions.
There were just 57 yards passing between the two schools on 13 combined attempts.
The Bulldogs with travel to top seeded Handley for the Region II semifinals next week at a time to be determined.
