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There was a point in the game where you had to wonder if Western Albemarle was going to head into its Jefferson District opener with Monticello with a winning or losing record, especially with the injury toll mounting as the game went along. Then on top of that, four turnovers put the Warriors in a bit of a hole, and facing a 4th and 19 from the 30 with Spotswood up by a score, the Western coaching staff made a decision to go for it. The 30-yard screen pass from Sam Hearn to Oliver Herndon was a success and it knotted things back up with Spotswood. It was the momentum swing in the game and with Hearn simply having a night, on both sides of the ball, the Warriors overcame their stuggles with the Trailblazers to win 42-28.
“I think enough of our kids understand the ‘next man up’ concept that we were able to overcame what we went through tonight,” said Western coach Ed Redmond. “We preach, practice, preparation and football is a tough game. Guys get banged up, roughed up, and we had enough guys. The turnovers are the turnovers and we’ve got to fix that… We were fortunate enough to wear (Spotswood) down tonight, and the rest are fixable things.”
The screen pass to Herndon came just after the Warriors blocked a punt but saw their visitors come up with a scroop and score on the ensuing play to make it 28-21. Western answered by marching downfield but was faced with a precarious decision, what to do on 4th and 19 from the 30.
“You get in that situation obviously a lot goes through your mind but they were coming after us (blitzing) so hard that we though we could use the screen,” Redmond said. “You know, get the ball to Oliver, let him create and we got good down-field blocking and we got fortunate. It was the right call for the right defense. It just worked out.”
And then so did the rest of the game. With things tied at 28-28, Western’s offense took over and the defense came up with timely turnovers. Hearn found Herndon again on a short pass that the senior running back took for a 19-yard touchdown to give Western their first lead of the second half with 10:59 to go.
After Hearn came up with an interception on defense in the Western endzone to end a long Spotswood drive, the Warriors got right back at it and Michael Vale hauled in his third touchdown reception of the night from 30 yards out to make it 42-28. And fittingly enough with less than two minutes to go, Hearn came up with a second interception that allowed the Warriors to run out the clock and preserve the win.
“It was about redemption tonight, how quick we’d get back on our feet,” Hearn said. “We answered the call and we’ll celebrate tonight and get back to work on Monday. We’ve got a bye week and we have to be ready for them for that Thursday night game.”
The first half was a back-and-forth swing with the Warriors coughing up three fumbles. Western took at 7-0 lead on a 59-yard TD pass from Hearn to Vale, but Spotswood answered quickly to tie things up. Then Hearn hit Derek Domecq from 20 yards out to make it 14-7 with 7:25 left in the second. Again, the Blazers responded and tied things up on a long drive to make it 14-14 going into the break.
On the night, Western had 553 yards of offense with Hearn leading the way, going 15 for 19 passing for 323 yards, 6 TDs and no interceptions. Hearn also had 147 yards on the ground on 21 attempts.
On the night, Western had 553 yards of offense with Hearn leading the way, going 15 for 19 passing for 323 yards, 6 TDs and no interceptions. Hearn also had 147 yards on the ground on 21 attempts.
“One, he’s a competitor,” Redmond said. “He understands what it means to be a tough kid. He epitomizes that.”
Herndon finished with 81 yards rushing on 15 attempts and 95 yards receiving with two TDs before leaving the fourth quarter with an injury. Western lost one of its top receivers in Henry Kreienbaum in the first quarter, but Vale filled the void by catching five receptions for 148 yards and three of them for scores.
Lost quietly in the dust was the Western defense which saw its defensive line play impressively well. The brother tandem of Osiris and Noah Crutchfield overwhelmed the Spotswood offensive line, particularly on passing plays and designed quarterback runs. Osiris had nine tackles to lead the team and had a sack while Noah had six and a pair of sacks.
“Sometimes I think they don’t realize how good they can be,” Redmond said of his defensive line. “They’re very quick off the ball, pose some problems. They just need to keep good technique and be relentless to the quarterback, to the ball and be consistent. I was pleased in the second half.”
Western travels to Monticello on Thursday September 24th at 7:30 p.m.
