It’s hard just three weeks into the season to say definitively that a team is battle tested.
But with two straight wins in three under their belt, Charlottesville might just be that rare exception.
At the very least, they were winners again Friday night at home after surviving a thrilling clash with Harrisonburg, pulling out a 40-35 victory over the Blue Streaks thanks to a timely interception a tremendous ground attack.
“We’re a different team than we were a year ago,” said Charlottesville quarterback Sam Neale. “We don’t get down and we had one huge play, an almost pick six Daimon Washington that really just turned the tide of the game.”
To get there, Charlottesville had to endure a wild few minutes to close out the game.
Harrisonburg took a 28-21 lead with 8:56 to play, driving 97 yards after a Charlottesville fumble inside their own five yardline. The Black Knights responded with a 68-yard drive and tied the game at 28-28 on the third of four Sabias Folley touchdowns, with Folley crashing in from four yards out with just 4:11 to play. That left the Black Knights staring down a potential go-ahead score by Harrisonburg on the ensuing drive, but Washington stepped up and picked off a pass, racing down to the Harrisonburg 27.
“That was huge for us, that was probably the biggest play of the game and we were all excited after that,” Neale said. “That was the difference in the game and we let him know.”
Neale, who finished with 180 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, got loose on the next play, sprinting in from 27 yards out for a 34-28 lead. The Blue Streaks refused to go away though and answered immediately, with Dylan Sanchez streaking in from 73 yards out. The PAT put Harrisonburg up 35-34 with 3:30 to play. That kind of play is essentially the exact moment that in the past would’ve pulled Charlottesville apart. But the players on the field and the sideline’s energy didn’t even dip momentarily. The Black Knights seemed to just absorb and refocus and come right back at the Blue Streaks.
“This is a culture-changer and it has taken a little while, but you can could see it coming,” said Charlottesville coach Eric Sherry. “They did not hang their heads. Kids getting hurt, they know they’re thin and they just kept going. They believe in our running game, they believe in Sam Neale, it’s nice to watch.”
Charlottesville drove 65 yards in two minutes and 46 seconds, with Neale ripping off a 23-yard run to get the march started. Tre Durrett picked up eight yards on a key run and then Folley rumbled 20 yards himself, before capping the drive on a nine-yard sprint over the right side with Trejon Bryant leading the way on the pull with a big block at the point of attack.
“The line gave him holes all night and he’s going to break a tackle or two each time he gets the ball,” Neale said. “In the fourth quarter he just tells us and the team, ‘hey just feed me the ball, I’ve got y’all.’ I love it.”
With 44 seconds to play, Charlottesville had come back twice during the final nine minutes of the game.
“We lost momentum but we had to re-find it because we really wanted this win, it meant a lot to us,” said Folley, who finished with 87 yards on 14 touches. “Harrisonburg is a very good team, we just had to come together and focus.”
Harrisonburg’s attempt to answer faltered as quarterback A.C. White managed to navigate them past midfield, but a deep throw fell incomplete as time expired.
The Black Knights’ defense surrendered 35 points but came up with big stops in key moments, including forcing a punt late in the first half and a fourth down stop at the end of the third quarter when Harrisonburg went for it on fourth and two from their own 33. The unit also had to adjust to Rakeem Davis spending the final three quarters of the game sidelined with an injury while trying to defend White, who rushed for 126 yards and threw for another 102.
Charlottesville now gets a week off to heal up before starting its Jefferson District slate with a road matchup against Orange County September 22.
CHS's Trejon Bryant talks about playing both ways in the Black Knights' wild win Friday in First Off the Field presented by @PT_acac pic.twitter.com/8E8H6ZTpTh
— scrimmageplay (@scrimmageplay) September 9, 2017
