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Albemarle takes big step, wins close battle with Louisa

Photo: Tom Pajewski

Forest Lakes Health Care

 

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Sometimes it’s not good enough to just want to make a play.

 

Albemarle’s football team had to make a play. They needed it like they needed to breathe Thursday night.

 

In the Patriots’ minds, there seemed to be no other option, and that might be a sign that AHS has taken a big, big step in the right direction after a 19-14 victory at home over Louisa County.

 

“We knew we had to make a play,” said Albemarle senior wideout Ethan Blundin. “We were down. I was just in the moment.”

 

Blundin made his big play on a 60-yard catch and run with 7:11 to play that put the Patriots up by five, and after a defensive stand on fourth and goal on the other end of the field, Albemarle picked up a monster win and started the season 3-1 for the first time since 2008.

 

“I just think it’s the team and what we’re trying to build here as a program — just believing in yourself,” said Albemarle coach Brandon Isaiah. “We’ve been telling them that for a year now. These games last year we lost them. I think these boys are just growing up in the moment.”

 

Thursday’s clash picked up steam in the fourth quarter after Albemarle’s 13-7 halftime lead went unchanged after a scoreless third quarter. Louisa (1-3) put together a 10-play, 63-yard drive that spanned the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, capped by a 2-yard Malik Bell plunge into the endzone. Job Whalen did much of the heavy lifting for that drive, with runs of 29 and 16 yards on the march.

 

Albemarle wasted little time answering though when J’Quan Anderson connected with Blundin on what became Anderson’s third passing touchdown on the night and the gamewinner. Blundin ran a hitch route and Anderson put it on his outside shoulder, allowing Blundin to wheel around, run through an attempted tackle and race down the Albemarle sideline.

 

“Going into that drive we were going to try and isolate the backside with the one corner because they were bringing their linebackers over to the other side,” Blundin said. “We knew we were going to try and take advantage of that.”

 

Then it was the defense’s turn. That unit stuffed Louisa County on five different fourth down attempts throughout the game, including on the Lions’ first possession, which led to Anderson’s first touchdown pass, a 1-yard toss to Tyquan Rose, before giving up a fourth down conversion on Louisa’s second half touchdown drive.

 

They got a chance at redemption when on the drive after Blundin’s touchdown when Louisa marched 60 yards to the four-yard line with 1:34 left. That’s when Zykal Foster and Brice Green combined to stop Job Whalen a foot away from the pylon.

 

“We did what we had to do,” Foster said. “I was out there, it was about two or three (Louisa blockers) and had to do what I had to and somehow I got him.”

 

Louisa attempted to stretch the play out to the left and punch it in near the front corner of the endzone, splitting Marquise Lee out wide in order to pull a couple of defenders out in an attempt to get Whalen to the pylon.

 

“I made a horrible call down here on the goal line and overrode my coordinator and it was a bad decision,” said Louisa coach Mark Fischer. “He wanted to go to the other side, I just felt like they had us outflanked on that side … (in) hindsight he was probably right.”

 

The Lions’ bull set that’s all power and push at the line gave them a spark offensively in the second half and allowed Louisa to move the ball on the ground. Whalen finished with 147 yards rushing on the night and Jordan Cherry had 40 yards out of that package on the Lions’ last drive.

 

But in the end, that didn’t prove to be enough as Albemarle’s defense made its sixth fourth down stop of the night with Foster and Green’s big play at the goal line.

 

“Down here to get the stop on the four yardline on fourth down?,” Isaiah said. “That’s attitude football.”

 

Anderson finished with his three touchdowns and went for 144 yards on 10-for-16 through the air. Sean Scott grabbed Anderson’s second touchdown on a well-thrown fade route to the corner of the endzone from 18 yards out in the second quarter.

 

The Lions will look to rebound next week as they take on Fluvanna County (0-4) on the road while Albemarle gets set for a clash of 3-1 squads as they travel to Orange County Friday.

 

Medical Associates of Louisa

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