Albemarle wrapped its regular season home schedule with a perfect 5-0 record by racing out to a 28-7 second quarter lead, and then enduring a torturous second half marred by penalties and just 53 yards of offense. With a battered and bruised Powhatan squad unable to establish its running game or score quickly, the Patriots’ defense made enough stops before Dontae Woodfolk sealed the 28-14 victory with a late endzone interception.
“I ask [the seniors] all the time, ‘what’s your legacy going to be?’’” said Albemarle coach Brandon Isaiah. “Obviously, we’ve made a big turn around, and we still have plenty of football left to play. For us to come out, Senior Night in front of the home crowd, and finish out on a strong note, I really couldn’t be happier to be coaching those kids.”
Early on, it looked like Senior Night might feature a scoring marathon. The first five Patriot possessions ended in touchdowns—four of them for Albemarle. After a quick Powhatan three-and-out to start the game, Arun Turay and J’Quan Anderson spearheaded an 80-yard drive with 35 rushing yards on the first five plays. Then, Anderson picked up big chunks on completions of 27 and 16 yards to Ethan Blundin, before junior Jamal Thompson scored from two yards on the twelfth play. After another three-and-out, Albemarle picked up a first down at midfield before procedure penalties and a backfield fumble setup third and 24. On an attempted screen pass, Powhatan lineman Will Schwartz jumped to make the interception and then rumbled 30 yards for six.
“Everybody’s doing a lot of screens now, and the lineman are getting smarter; when you don’t get blocked, something’s wrong,” said Powhatan coach Jim Woodson. “He figured it out and made a good play.”
Tied 7-7, Albemarle’s next 12-play series stretched into the second quarter. Similar to the opening drive, Turay got the call on four of the first five snaps and picked up 38 yards, and Anderson hit Blundin for 15 to convert third and long. Facing fourth and two at the 11, Anderson hurried his squad to the line and found Blundin at the goal line on the left side.
Powhatan picked up its first first down on its ensuing possession; however, they would not manage a second until late in the third quarter. A fake punt on fourth and 1 was snuffed out in the backfield.
“My defensive staff is doing a great job,” Isaiah said. “Those kids are buying in to what they’re asking them to do. They’re playing my style of football, the style of play we want to have. My hat’s off to all of them.”
Starting near midfield, Albemarle needed only five plays to cash in; Thompson covered the last 39 yards on carries of 31, 6, and 2. After yet another three-and-out, Albemarle was backed up by penalties and faced third and 18. That’s when junior Tyquan Rose got the call on a sweep right.
“The other times I was getting the ball, we would get called back because of penalties,” said Rose. “That was my only opportunity to do something big. I saw that big hole, and my teammates set the block, so I just reversed it cross-field. It was wide open.”
The teams exchanged fumbles and headed into the locker room with Albemarle commanding a 28-7 lead.
“We couldn’t get the running game going and they beat us up front,” said Woodson, as Powhatan managed just 15 yards on the ground in the first half, and 31 for the game. “They were much more physical up front. Right now, we’re pretty banged up. We’re looking for an eight-man football league if we can find it.”
After the break, Albemarle’s offense was content to milk the clock. After Anderson completed seven of 13 passes in the opening half, he tossed his last of three second half passes with 3:19 left in the third quarter. Powhatan’s front seven hung tough and contained Turay and the ground attack to 32 yards, after piling up 329 in the first 24 minutes.
“I’m very proud of the way they continued to battle and fight,” Woodson said. “[Albemarle]’s a real good football team: big, physical, and they have a lot of speed. Second half, I thought we did as well as we could do.”
After a scoreless third, a personal foul tipped field position in Powhatan’s favor when Albemarle punted earl in the fourth. Starting at the Patriots’ 35, senior quarterback Peyton Mawyer completed three big passes, including a screen to junior Jacob Oglesby who turned it into a 20-yard gain to the 6. On the next play, Mawyer hit junior Cameron Kerr in the right flat who powered across the goal line and pulled Powhatan within two scores with 8:56 to play. The Patriots bled half of that away on their series, and William Kruse’s punt reached the endzone for a touchback. Mawyer continued to find targets through the air, though the pace was something short of hurry-up; as Powhatan neared the redzone, junior linebacker Zykal Foster broke through for a huge sack. Three plays later, the secondary forced a turnover on downs with 1:56 left. After the Patriots’ second-team offense fumbled it back, Woodfolk picked Mawyer’s pass to the endzone.
Mawyer completed 14 of 25 passes for 154 yards. Senior running back Johnathan Caporale led Powhatan with 41 yards on 11 carries.
For Albemarle, Turay carried a game-high 20 times for 78 yards. Thompson added 56 yards on 10 rushes. Anderson finished 9-of-16 for 119 yards, and added 37 yards on six rush attempts.
Albemarle (6-2, 4-1) will look to secure another home appearance in November as it heads across the county to play Monticello (5-3, 3-2) next Friday. Powhatan (3-5, 1-4) hosts Fluvanna County (0-8, 0-5).
