It wasn’t a complicated route. Just a go route that Albemarle wideout Lorenz Brown bends slightly to make it look like a skinny post.
But it was a route that led to last second redemption — and a 33-28 Albemarle victory over Western Albemarle.
“I faked like I was about to go outside and went inside,” Brown said. “He just bit on it and it was wide open. All game I was just dropping every single pass, dropping ball after ball. Coach (Brandon Isaiah) told me you’ve got to face adversity sometimes. Yeah…redemption.”
That bit of redemption came with Albemarle down 28-27 with 13 seconds to play. Brown hauled in a 37-yard pass from J’Quan Anderson, who absorbed a shot to the ribs from Western’s Noah Crutchfield as he released the pass and put the ball right on Brown for the go-ahead score. After an Albemarle interception as time expired, that was enough as the five-point advantage held up for a win that cemented a home playoff game in Region 5A North for the Patriots as well as the outright Jefferson District regular season title with Charlottesville’s win over Louisa.
“We’ve got to play a full 48 minutes and that’s a perfect example of playing a full 48 minutes,” Brown said.
The Patriots’ 8-2 regular season record is the most wins for the program since at least the turn of the century.
“(The Warriors) have been the measuring stick in winning so it’s a great win for us no matter what,” said Albemarle coach Brandon Isaiah. “To win and win that way with a junior quarterback and a kid who hadn’t played football since ninth grade, it’s a special thing to think about how far they’ve come.”
Albemarle appeared to be largely in control of the game in the early going as the Patriots built a 20-7 lead before a late first half touchdown helped Western cut into the deficit.
Western refused to go away too after Albemarle’s Jamal Thompson scored on a 3-yard touchdown to make it 27-13 Albemarle as part of a 117-yard night for the senior running back. Instead, Derek Domecq answered with a sterling drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown by Darren Klein. The Warriors went into power mode during the second half, leaning on the Patriots’ defensive line and pounding away with Domecq carrying the load to the tune of a 93-yard, two-touchdown performance on 20 carries.
“Our offensive line for the most part played very well and I thought our running game was good but Domecq is a pretty special kid,” said Western coach Ed Redmond. “He’s a competitor and he feels bad in there (the locker room) right now but he’ll come back. We’re pretty resilient.”
The Warriors then took the lead after another power-centric drive with Domceq covering the bulk of a 65-yard march to put Western up 28-27 with 6:25 to play. Albemarle stalled immediately on the ensuing drive and punted, and that’s when the defense for the Patriots stepped up, coming up with a huge sack to force third and long with under four minutes to play. The Warriors couldn’t convert out of a timeout and punted to the Patriots with 3:06 to play.
“We’ve been through it before,” Anderson said. “When we got on the field with three minutes left we knew what to do and how to get into the endzone.”
His teammates had a lot of confidence in Anderson, who finished with 129 yards on the ground and another 179 yards and two touchdowns on 11-for-22 passing as well.
“I tell him every day (he’s) a dude and nobody can stop him,” Thompson said. “He’s a young dude who can play.”
Albemarle scrambled to cross midfield in the hurry up and then with 13 seconds to play, Anderson found Brown for what stood up as the game-winner. Brown’s play redeemed the entire offense that had been plagued by redzone turnovers (three total turnovers including two interceptions) and dropped balls all night.
“I kind of chewed (the receivers) out at halftime not because they dropped balls but because of their body language,” Isaiah said. “Next week it may be the same way. Some guys run away from it because it’s too tough and some guys step up and face adversity and do things for themselves and other people. I’m really proud to say I coached those guys because they showed what kind of character they have.”
Albemarle’s Tyquan Rose finished with 74 yards and a touchdown on five catches to lead the Patriots’ wideouts while Brown finished with 50 yards on four catches. Kris Anderson and Na’il Arnold each had interceptions for Albemarle, with Arnold’s coming on the final play to seal the win.
Noah Yourkavitch led the Warriors’ wideouts with 42 yards on four catches. Domecq threw for 85 yards on 11-for-22 passing. Jamonte “Tiny” Howze had a first half fumble recovery on a loose ball forced by Waver Calvin.
Crutchfield led the Warriors’ defense with six solo stops and 3.5 tackles for a loss. Jarrett Smith also had a monster game for Western with a sack and three TFLs.
“When our kids play hard we’re pretty good and I thought our kids played good enough to win, obviously disappointed for them,” Redmond said.
Albemarle appears set to square off with Falls Church in the playoffs, with the Patriots projected to hold the No. 5 seed in that tournament while Western Albemarle unofficially will hit the road as Region 3A West’s No. 13 seed to take on Staunton River, the No. 4 seed that eliminated the Warriors in the 2015 playoffs.
Being in that position and beating Western for the first time in six years was exactly what the Patriots’ seniors wanted to pull off.
“It’s just big for us, we came out to play,” Thompson said. “It was a tough game, they’re a good team and they came to fight. I wanted it bad because my brothers from last year and two years ago didn’t beat them. We just wanted to win.”
