Western Albemarle kicked off Homecoming weekend in the rain by opening a 29-7 second quarter lead, and the area’s top-ranked squad coasted from there to a 36-27 victory over surprise Jefferson District contender Orange County.
“Our six-man box, those guys up front played very hard,” said Western coach Ed Redmond. “They’re physical, big kids. I felt our run defense sustained their effort tonight. Last week, we didn’t play well against the run, so we focused our attention on technique and tackling, and tonight we were successful.”
The Warrior defense bottled up the Hornets’ two-headed ground attack, limiting DeAngelo Hunt and Trevon Smith to 98 yards for the game.
“Once you get the tackling issue down, it’s mostly assignment and alignment,” said Crutchfield, who was crowned king of the homecoming court at halftime. “We felt we could shoot the gaps and get in the backfield against them to make tackles-for-loss, so that’s what we made a plan to do.”
Meanwhile, Western was efficient on offense with 346 total yards (207 rushing, 139 passing) on the night, taking advantage of very short fields after two blocked punts in the first half.
“We have a pretty good scheme on our punt block, and we wanted to look at it tonight,” said Redmond. “Like I told the guys, it’s risk and reward when you go after them. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you end up getting the punter, so we’ve got to do better at that.”
Western got on the board first with a two-yard touchdown reception by sophomore Derek Domecq, who powered through a would-be tackler on the left sideline, after Sam Hearn and Oliver Herndon had covered the first 69 yards on six rushes. Late in the quarter, the Warriors got punt block #1 to setup the offense at the Hornets’ 13. Herndon scored two plays later, and Henry Kreienbaum hit Domecq on the fake two-point conversion to make it 15-0.
Orange got on the board early in the second quarter with Smith’s three-yard touchdown capping its next possession. The eight-play drive covered 43 yards, including Smith picking up four yards on 4th & 3, and Hunt breaking a gain of 27 on 3rd & 8. Western answered 89 seconds later when Hearn hit senior receiver Michael Vale for a 48-yard score. After senior Steven Kuzjak came through with the second punt block, the offense covered 21 yards in four rushes, with Herndon picking up his second touchdown, and Kreienbaum again hitting Domecq for the conversion and a 22-point lead with 3:01 before the break.
Western may have gotten a little greedy with the ensuing onside kick attempt, which Orange recovered. The offense started at the Warriors’ 36 after a personal foul flag, and it needed every second left on the clock as it drove 11 plays. After the Crutchfield brothers made back-to-back sacks to setup what would have been 4th & 26, an unsportsmanlike flag cut down 15 yards, and the Hornets’ second quarterback of the night, Matthew James, found fellow sophomore Elijah Smoot for a gain of 16 to the 2. Hunt finally crossed the goal line on fourth down as the clock expired.
“Week-to-week, every team has given us the same idea,” said Orange coach Jesse Lohr. “We know we’re going to have to block the max. We’re a running team; we’re not going to give in to what we try to be. We’re shuffling guys in [on the line], but they gave us a chance to win tonight.”
The Hornets had a chance to further cut the margin as they received to start the second half, but a muff on the kickoff pinned the offense back at its 2. After three plays gained two yards, Western gifted them a new series by roughing the punter. Kuzjak and Crutchfield made sure that went nowhere with back-to-back tackles for loss, and the Warriors took over at Orange’s 48 after the next punt. Herndon promptly broke free to pickup 37, and four plays later, Hearn found Herndon on the right side for a 6-yard touchdown.
Trailing 36-13, Caleb Clenney returned behind center for Orange. He then led a 14-play, 87-yard drive, passing to convert three times on third- and fourth-down situations, including a 30-yard touchdown to Dayvon Greene with 1:24 left in the third. From there, the teams traded punts and fumbles. James was back in with 2:49 remaining in the game and tossed a 46-yard touchdown to Smoot.
“Both of them bring something different to the table and we’re trying to utilize their strengths,” Lohr said. “We’ve got to be able to hit play-action passes when the opportunities present themselves. Those third down situations, those first down play-actions, we’ve got to be able to make those plays happen to beat a first-class, great team like Western.”
Clenney finished 8/25 for 110 yards with one touchdown, while James completed five-of-eight for 98 yards and one touchdown. Smoot was the top target, pulling down four passes for 104 yards. Hunt carried 20 times for 59 yards, and Smith added 39 yards on 14 rushes; each had one score.
Herndon led Western with a game-high 123 yards on 19 carries. Hearn added 84 yards on 12 rushes, and he completed seven of 14 passes for 133 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Western (5-1, 3-0) heads to the Jungle next Friday looking to avenge last year’s loss to Louisa. Orange (4-2, 2-1) will return to Monticello (4-2, 2-1) for its third game in Albemarle County in 12 days after taking down the Patriots last Monday on the Mustangs’ turf.
