They weren’t the two most well known names going into Western Albemarle’s clash with Monticello Friday night. In fact, one of them was much better known for his skills on the tennis court than his work on the gridiron.
But after a wild 44-37 victory by the Warriors, Scott Grover and Travis Daly were hoisted up by the Western student section and carried on their classmates’ shoulders.
“I’m glad it’s more than one person stepping up,” said Western quarterback Sam Hearn, who finished with three rushing touchdowns. “And that’s been every win this season — everybody contributes.”
Daly and Grover were the two latest unlikely heroes for a Western squad that needed every ounce of resilience they had to knock off the Mustangs while battling a series of injuries and trouble with cramps in the second half. Daly bounced back from a fumble at the end of a long return off the opening kick to come up with a backbreaker of an 89-yard return. Grover, the tennis player, caught an early touchdown and recovered an onsides kick to seal the game in the closing seconds.
“I worked with Scott all offseason because he told me he was playing football and honestly I said ‘are you sure?’,” Hearn said. “I told him you need to be ready — if your name is called you need to be ready.”
The Warriors, who were already banged up, played as many as eight players both ways against the Mustangs, and a thin lineup got much thinner when sophomore Henry Kreienbaum, a multi-tool offensive threat, re-injured his shoulder on his first catch of the game. From there Western had to essentially start duct-taping together the lineup.
“We’re pretty dinged up and fatigue sets in when you’re chasing those athletes around,” said Western coach Ed Redmond. “It’s hard, but to our credit we hung on.”
They had to grit it out the entire game too as they were locked in a 20-20 tie at the break with Monticello. But during halftime, some key adjustments allowed the Warriors to put the offense on running back Oliver Herndon’s back, as the tailback rushed for 146 yards in the second half after going for just three total yards before the break.
“It was a team effort tonight — we were just running that five-trap the whole (second half) and they couldn’t stop it,” Herndon said.
While Herndon gave the Warriors a steady presence in the second half, Monticello continued to sputter after committing four turnovers in the first half. The Mustangs simply couldn’t finish drives and Western built a 10-point lead during the third.
“Good football teams don’t shoot themselves in the foot and we’ve done that way too much lately — this whole season,” said Monticello coach Jeff Woody. “We just haven’t seemed to be able to get it lathered up, well-oiled and fine-tuned. The engine is not running right.”
The defensive effort also came apart a little for the Mustangs after halftime as they struggled to shut down the Warriors’ ground attack, particularly the trap play that sprung Herndon numerous times.
“When things aren’t going well and kids get frustrated they kind of freelance a little bit and try and do too much instead of playing their own individual responsibility,” Woody said. “We have to do a better job as a coaching staff of teaching our kids how to block better and tackle better and having those kids trust the game plan.
The Mustangs did manage to pull back within seven when Jeanluc Lapierre connected on a 42-yard field early in the fourth quarter, but that’s when Daly struck, racing 90 yards down the sideline for the Warriors on the ensuing kickoff.
“I have to give all the credit to the coaches — they set up a great return for us,” Daly said. “They gave us the opportunity to get that one.”
The return set the stage for Herndon to sprint in from seven yards out and just like that the Warriors were in control up 14 points. A few minutes and two more ill-fated Monticello drives later, Herndon appeared to put the game away for good with a 44-yard touchdown sprint. But Monticello refused to go quietly, scoring two straight touchdowns by Kyree Koonce and Syrael Breckenridge to pull within a score with under a minute to play.
That’s when Grover stepped up again, corralling the onsides kick attempt and allowing Western to finally celebrate the win.
The Warriors will try and keep the momentum going next week when Charlottesville comes to town while the Mustangs will try and bounce back on the road against Albemarle.
