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Albemarle was in control of its clash with Orange County during the third quarter until suddenly the Patriots just…weren’t.
With an incredible defensive effort Orange County snatched a 20-16 victory away from the Patriots to move to 4-1 on the year and keep the Hornets unbeaten in Jefferson District play through two games. It’s the Hornets’ best first half of a season since 2006 and Orange has also already locked up the program’s highest win total since 2010.
“Every day we come together more and more as a brotherhood and we’re out here fighting,” said Orange senior Matthew Chatten. “We’re not the underdog anymore, we’re coming to win.”
A safety, followed by a touchdown drive and then an interception all in succession gave the Patriots a 16-7 lead, the ball, and a short field late midway through the third quarter. But on the first play after Hall’s pick, an Orange defender burst through the line and with a monster hit forced a fumble, leading to a scramble as six or seven players touched, brushed or briefly held the football. Tyrone Warren scooped up the ball finally and burst of that skirmish and into the open field for what became an 80-yard scoop and score that flipped the game’s momentum on its head.
“We play like that every night, every day in practice we always go hard,” said Orange junior Darius Minor. “Our coaches are just putting a lot of effort into this team.”
It was one of five turnovers forced by the Hornets, as Chatten recovered another fumble while Minor had an interception and Jay Lewis-Nixon picked off two Albemarle passes including the game-sealing pick in the final minute.
“We just came together,” Lewis-Nixon said. “Our defensive backs are doing great, and we’re starting to come together.”
The Hornets’ defensive backs in particular did a great job of continuing to cover and stick with their assignments even as J’Quan Anderson bought time and extended plays for Albemarle behind the line of scrimmage. It helps of course, that they’ve got an assistant coach perfectly suited to help the Hornets practice against a mobile quarterback.
“We worked hard and we have an all-state, All-American type of quarterback for us in Bradley (Starks) playing the role of Albemarle’s quarterback and just running around and doing scramble drills, just trying to make these defensive backs cover as long as they have to,” said Orange coach Jessie Lohr. “We just make good use of what we’ve got.”
Those turnovers and a key 55-yard drive capped by a well-timed, perfectly-executed pop pass from Caleb Clenney to Chatten on the first play of the fourth quarter helped Orange take a 20-16 lead and then hold onto it.
“Guys are playing well, we just have some guys who are doing their job and playing their position,” Lohr said.
On Albemarle’s first punt, the second of seven by the two teams in the first half, Orange’s Shaven Ellis took the kick back for a touchdown. That ended up being a huge play for the Hornets.
“You give up a special teams touchdown, turn the ball over five times and most of their points were off of our mistakes,” said Albemarle coach Brandon Isaiah. “That’s what happens in football this is a good lesson for these guys.”
The Patriots actually ran the ball well at times and the safety combined with a Jamal Thompson touchdown plunge in the third quarter appeared to put Albemarle in control. When Hall had the pick, Albemarle appeared set to ice the game with a score, but the fumble changed everything, and Albemarle simply couldn’t finish the contest and scratch out a win the way they did a little more than a week ago against Louisa County.
“We’ve been talking about playing disciplined and not making more mistakes than the other team,” Isaiah said. “Tonight we made more mistakes and they’ve got two tough (running) backs and they made more plays than us in the end.”
Deangelo Hunt’s 77 yards on 16 touches highlighted a slow offensive night as each teams’ defense stepped up in a big way. Each team had to scratch and claw for every yard it earned, as Rooney Turay finished with 47 yards on 14 carries to pace the Albemarle offense.
In the end though, it’s the Hornets whose run to start this turnaround season continues, with a big road clash with Western Albemarle coming up Friday.
“They’re high school kids, they only kind of remember today, remember yesterday,” Lohr said. “We kind of just move forward, and it’s another day that just kind of solidifies our belief. We just worry about right now.”
