By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Halfway through the Albemarle-Charlottesville crosstown rivalry game, the teams entered the locker room following a tug-of-war half with each team having only a field goal to show for their efforts.
With the game up for grabs in the second half, it was the Patriots’ defense who made the plays to turn the game in their favor and later held off a late charge from the Black Knights’ offense to preserve a 13-10 victory at Tommy Theodose Stadium Friday night.
Albemarle recovered a Malik Bartee fumble off the exchange on the Charlottesville 36 with seven-and-a-half minutes to go in the third quarter, and 10 plays later the Patriots turned the miscue into points, as D.G. Archer found Cameron Green from three yards out to put Albemarle up 10-3.
“Snaps are an issue for us right now,” CHS head coach Eric Sherry said. “I promise you we practice it every day. We just need to keep working.”
The Patriots forced a turnover on downs on the next Knights possession, as a fake punt pass attempt went incomplete, again giving AHS possession in opponent territory. This time the Pats got three to make it a 10-point game 50 seconds before the end of the third quarter.
“Charlottesville is a really scrappy team,” Albemarle head coach Brandon Isaiah said. “I had no doubts it was going to be a dogfight tonight.”
Green also had an interception with just under seven minutes remaining to thwart a CHS drive deep in Albemarle territory. Bartee lofted a long pass toward the end zone, and Green had a read on it all the way.
“I just want to thank my coaches for having the faith in me to [play two ways],” Green said. “And I can’t do it without my teammates.”
The Black Knights made things interesting on a three-yard touchdown run by Rashad Brock, who came off the bench in the second half to provide a spark on offense. His touchdown made it 13-10 with 3:26 left, but the Knights never got their hands on the ball again, as Arun Turay, who carried the ball 28 times for 101 yards, gained a pair of first downs on the ground and Archer made a nifty play to escape pressure for a completion to Teshawn Massie to put the game away.
“Our defense has picked up,” AHS head coach Brandon Isaiah said. “They’ve been playing great, being physical, making plays.”
Early on, the game went back and forth with neither team doing much to distance itself from the other. Charlottesville struck first when Thomas Birle booted a 41-yard field goal barely five minutes in, and Albemarle’s Chandler Carrera answered with a 27-yarder to make it 3-3 with 6:31 before halftime. Those points also came off of a CHS fumble.
The Patriots will try and make it two-in-a-row at home against Monticello next week while CHS tries to bounce back in Crozet against Western Albemarle.
