By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Western Albemarle traveled over Afton Mountain to face Fort Defiance Friday night and put forth perhaps its most complete effort of the young season, shutting out the Indians 35-0 behind a balanced offensive attack.
The Warriors took the opening kickoff and needed only three plays to take a 7-0 lead as junior quarterback Sam Hearn, who completed five of eight passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns, found Henry Kreienbaum for a 39-yard touchdown pass.
A pair of Warrior receivers caught their first varsity touchdowns later in the first quarter. First, Michael Vale hauled in a 53-yard touchdown barely two minutes after Kreienbaum’s score, doubling Western’s lead with 8:53 to go in the quarter. Then, after the Warrior defense forced a three-and-out, freshman Derek Domecq made it 21-0 with a 40-yard touchdown catch with 4:45 left.
“[Hearn] gave me a great pass and the line blocked well,” Vale said of his catch. “[Getting that first score] takes a lot of the nerves away.”
Fort Defiance’s defense stiffened considerably following Western’s opening flurry, holding the Warriors scoreless for the rest of the half. But the Indians’ offense never did get in gear, with the larger and more physical Warriors controlling the line of scrimmage and keeping the Indians’ run-heavy attack at bay all night long, holding Fort to just 175 yards of total offense.
“I was real proud of our defense tonight,” Western head coach Ed Redmond said. “They had their backs against the wall a couple times and got a couple great stops.”
Western failed to score despite recovering a surprise onside kick to open the second half, but once again forced Fort into a three-and-out and took the ensuing punt all the way to the Indians 17-yard line. On the third play of the drive, Hearn kept it himself for an eight-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 28-0. On Western’s next possession, the Warriors went 70 yards in five plays, culminating in Kreienbaum’s 48-yard dash to the end zone off a direct snap for the final margin with 2:56 left in the third quarter.
“Going into the Jefferson District it’s important to be balanced,” Redmond said. “We were so one-dimensional the past couple years. When [former quarterback] Kent Henry got stopped, our offense bogged down. We’re making a commitment to our running game.”
The Warriors have next Friday off, giving them two weeks to prepare for a Sept. 26 road trip to Orange County.
