There’s no other way to really put it.
“It wasn’t there,” said Western coach Ed Redmond.
And then, suddenly, it was. With Albemarle shutting off the stop and go route down the sideline Western had called, quarterback Kent Henry pointed upfield, directing Steven Hearn to head to the corner. As the ball floated in, Hearn leapt into the air and caught it after the Albemarle defender tipped it, tapping his right foot in the endzone as he fell to the ground. After checking with the official to confirm the catch, Hearn sprinted toward his teammates to celebrate.
“I turned it into a post corner and fortunately (Henry) put it right where it needed to be,” Hearn said. “It’s unbelievable, I’m still in shock.”
With a final of 41-39, Western Albemarle pulled out another miracle victory at Albemarle, this time in an absolute thriller packed with a never-ending succession of big plays by both squads. Two years ago, Henry led a late game comeback as well to upend Albemarle.
Henry, who’d taken shot after shot from a relentless Albemarle defense at quarterback while grinding it out on defense himself as well, made several startling throws on the night and proved his mettle in the clutch once again.
“It eased my mind because if we don’t score (on the last drive) we aren’t expected to and if we do score, it erupts,” Henry said. “We just laid back and took what they’d give us.”
Albemarle took a 39-35 lead with a minute left to play when D.G. Archer hit Kevin Bernardino on a seam route and the quick, speedy wideout raced into the end zone from 67 yards out. But that left Henry and the Warriors with just enough time to pull off the comeback. Henry hit Hearn, Nic Drapanas and Burks Summers for big plays to put the Warriors back in scoring position. Then, with 7.1 seconds left, they found themselves at the 18 and completed the fateful pass to tilt a seesaw ball game in Western’s favor.
The Patriots executed their game plan to near perfection in the first half, building a 14-7 lead and keeping the ball out of Henry’s hands for the most part while harassing him heavily when he did get a chance.
On offense, Albemarle appeared determined to hold onto the ball and keep it out of Henry and the dangerous Western offense’s hands. Dominique Talley and Kevin McCarthy were instrumental in that attack with the tandem combining for 303 yards on the ground, including a 73-yard touchdown sprint by Talley and a 78-yard run by McCarthy in the third quarter alone. Throw in a dash of Vince Huynh and an effective Archer at quarterback and the Patriots were able to dominate time of possession by a factor of around 2 to 1. Western held the ball just 16 minutes and 50 seconds while Albemarle was in control 31:10.
“I thought we ran the ball well tonight, Dominique and Kevin were a great duo, taking turns and giving each other a breather,” said Albemarle coach Mike Alley. “They did a fantastic job for us.”
In the end though, that final minute of possession was enough to lift Western to the win and allow them to escape Albemarle with a victory.
“Nobody deserved to lose that football game,” Redmond said. “In a game like that there’s no winner or loser, I think both teams are winners. I have a lot of respect for Albemarle, their kids and their program.”
Henry finished with 235 yards and four touchdowns through the air and another 55 yards and a score on the ground. In the process he scored his 100th career total touchdown. Defensively he piled up 8.5 tackles on the night to lead the Warriors on that side of the ball too.
Hearn caught 10 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns including the game winner. Chase Stokes and Burks Summers also caught touchdowns.
Bernardino’s 115 yards receiving on five catches led Albemarle while Talley added a long screen pass to his work on the ground to help fuel the passing game.
