By Logan Riddick / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Albemarle and Louisa County entered their matchup looking to build on success running the ball in victories last week.
Instead, the defenses dominated, holding both offenses under 180 total yards.
It was Albemarle’s ability to connect on four gamebreaking pass plays in the second quarter that enabled the Patriots to clinch their first winning season since 2006 with a 21-0 shutout on Senior Night.
“It feels great,” said Albemarle coach Mike Alley after the Patriots’ fourth straight victory. “Our kids are so excited right now. It was an emotional win last week and to be able to bounce back this week and not get caught off guard, to pull this one out, I think is going to build momentum for next week.”
The teams exchanged punts to open the game before Louisa’s junior quarterback Trey Cherry broke a 61-yard run. In a recurring theme of the night, Albemarle’s defense stiffened near the red zone and forced a turnover on downs at the 24. The teams traded punts again as the Lions’ defense held Albemarle without a first down in a scoreless first quarter. The Patriots finally moved the chains on a six-play, 79-yard drive, as junior quarterback D.G. Archer found senior receiver Richard Deloria for 33 yards on third and eight. Archer then hit senior two-way standout Kevin Bernardino for 33 more yards to the Louisa 11; on the very next play, Bernardino came up with a tough catch on a fade in the back of the endzone.
“Kevin ran a great route, like he always does, and he just made a good play on the ball,” Archer said.
Facing a third and nine on their ensuing possession, junior defensive back Cameron Green intercepted Cherry in Louisa territory, and recovered his own fumble as he tried to advance inside the 32. Three plays later, Archer hit Brandon Haney off play-action in the flat and he took it all the way for a 33-yard score to open a 14-0 lead.
“The linemen and receivers did a great job blocking,” said Archer. “Brandon ran a great route and did what he could with it.”
Louisa came back with a 14-play drive into the red zone lasting nearly six minutes, but sophomore defensive tackle Nehemiah Lesesane halted the series by sacking Cherry on fourth and 10. Albemarle took a 14-0 lead into halftime.
“We did move the ball between the 20s,” said Louisa coach Jon Meeks, whose Lions out-gained the Patriots on the ground 117 to minus-7 in the first half. “I don’t know if we missed assignments or they just bowed their necks and played better, but for whatever reason, when we got in the red zone they played lights-out D and we couldn’t quite punch it in.”
Albemarle opened the third quarter with a six-plus minute drive to the red zone with senior Jordan Shelton taking snaps. Shelton rushed seven times on the series; however, with no passes attempted, Louisa came up with a turnover on downs at the 14. The teams traded three-and-outs for the rest of the quarter, until Louisa tried and failed to convert a fourth and four from its own 28. Still, the score remained 14-0 as Archer’s pass to the endzone on the first play of the fourth quarter was intercepted. The Lions’ offense picked up its first first down of the half on its next series, but junior Andrew Hogg picked off Cherry’s next third down pass to end the threat.
Albemarle won the field position battle the rest of the way, as Louisa took to the air to try and rally in the final four minutes. Bernardino picked off on the Lions’ last two possessions to seal the shutout. After the first interception, Albemarle converted a short field into the half’s only points as Shelton covered 18 yards over two plays for a touchdown with 2:02 left.
“Jordan has played quarterback for us and ran a lot of zone earlier in the year, but he’s been out with an injury,” said Alley. “We were able to utilize him tonight and it was good that we had that package.”
After leading all rushers last week, Talley managed just 36 yards on 14 attempts, with only one run for double-digit yardage coming early in the third quarter. During his time at quarterback in the second half, Shelton ran 10 times for 35 yards. Archer completed four of five passes over two series in the second quarter for 110 yards and two scores, but otherwise went 0-for-7.
“Our goal was to take away the run,” said Meeks. “(Dominique Talley) is an unbelievable running back; (Haney) is a good fullback. We just said, ‘we can’t let them run the ball on us; we’ve got to make them play action and throw the ball all night to have a chance.’ We were hoping they’d miss on a few and have to throw under pressure. The one [to Bernardino] was perfect coverage, but you can’t guard a perfect ball. [Archer] put it where we couldn’t get to it and he made a great catch.”
Cherry led Louisa with a game-high 133 yards rushing on 26 attempts
“The one thing that we worried about all week [on defense] was we didn’t know what formation to expect,” Alley said. “We really had to play assignment football. We went over a ton of formations, and our kids did a great job reading it.”
Albemarle (6-3) will look to end the regular season with five straight wins when it travels to Orange County (1-8) next week. Thanks to losses by Broad Run and Falls Church, the Patriots moved up in the 5A North power point standings and are in the mix to earn a home playoff game.
“It’s a must-win for us and they’re a good team so we have to be ready and prepared for [Orange],” said Bernardino. “Hopefully we’ll get that win and things will work out so we have another game at home.”
Louisa (3-6) remains alive in the 4A North race, tied with Jefferson Forest as the first team out of the bracket. The Lions must win and get bonus point help next Friday night when Monticello (8-1) visits the Jungle.
