Neither team’s offense played particularly well, but that had an awful lot to do with the defenses that were on the field. A pair of ball-hawking, disciplined, disruptive units that all but refused to give an inch to the other squad.
In a clash of two of the most successful private school programs in the state, Liberty Christian held on late to win a 10-9 game that defined defensive struggle.
Both teams nearly had as many rushing attempts as they did yards generated on those carries, with Woodberry running 29 times for 37 yards while Liberty Christian managed 67 yards on 42 carries.
“I’m not just saying good, (Woodberry is) great — they’re a great high school team,” said Liberty Christian coach Frank Rocco. “They’re so complete. It’s like if you could go and choose, ‘I’d like a tall guy with rangy athletic ability to play here they’ve got one. You want a big strong nose tackle, they’ve got one. You want a safety that’s rangy, they’ve got one.’ They’re just complete.”
Woodberry’s offense finally found a rhythm and capitalized late in the fourth when Heys McMath moved the Tigers 80 yards in one minute and six seconds on four plays. C.J. Prosise did the bulk of the work, taking a slip screen 39 yards to open the drive. After a Reid Swearingen catch and a Hunter Faulconer run, Woodberry went back to Prosise, this time on a fade down the sideline. The senior star hauled it in for a 26-yard touchdown, pulling Woodberry within three points.
The defense went back to work on the ensuing drive, stuffing Carrington Mosley for no gain on first down. Then Rogers Clark came up with a sack on second down. On third, Doug Randolph, Woodberry’s Stanford-commitment at outside linebacker, got in on the act, sacking Lewis for an eight-yard loss that pinned LCA on their own sixth and forced a punt with little more than two minutes left. Liberty Christian punter Jim Gregory took the punt and stood on the back of the endzone to burn clock, eventually taking an intentional safety by stepping out of bounds. Woodberry was flagged for a dubious 15-yard penalty on the play for shoving Gregory out of bounds, but the penalty had a big impact on the Tigers’ field position as it was assessed on the kickoff.
Woodberry’s offense sputtered on the final drive, with McMath absorbing a sack on first down before eventually throwing an interception on fourth that sealed the one-point win for Liberty Christian.
“Our kids played like warriors today,” Rocco said. “Our kids are just hungry and they get after it — I’m just so proud of them.”
With Mosley, a tough, rugged back, getting the bulk of the carries for Liberty Christian Academy, Woodberry Forest’s defense couldn’t have put together a much better gameplan or effort than what transpired Saturday. Mosley broke free for one long run in the opening quarter that set up the Bulldogs’ Lucas Smissen for a touchdown from 15 yards out. After that the Bulldogs couldn’t move the ball much as Mosley managed just 99 yards on 23 carries, with nearly half that coming on the first quarter run.
“We’ve lost some critical people and God bless the boys that are stepping in and playing,” said Woodberry coach Clint Alexander. “We’re banged up.”
One of those players was George Sutherland, who stepped in at cornerback for Carlson Milikin, who was again hampered by a hamstring. Sutherland made several rock solid plays in coverage on the boundary when LCA took to the air after the Tigers’ front seven locked up the run game.
The Tigers’ offense, however, couldn’t catch a break as LCA’s defense held Woodberry to just seven offensive points. Mistakes tripped up the Tigers throughout the contest, including a fumble near the goal line after a long drive in the second quarter and a critical illegal formation call on a big pass play that was a result of only having 10 men on the field. The Tigers’ offense couldn’t capitalize in the second half on a Prosise interception either.
“We’re just awful young,” Alexander said. “It’s the third year in a row we’ve lost the entire offensive line and we’re trying to get that solidified. We’ve had such tough games that we don’t have the opportunity to go out there and get two or three good scoring drives and get some momentum.”
Woodberry will try and get back on track against Paul VI Friday while LCA hosts North Cross in a night game. The Tigers will likely face another tough battle against a Paul VI squad that lost to Fork Union last week.
“I’ve tried to tell the kids that ‘you’re a target,” Alexander said. “Every game we’re going to play somebody that can beat us.”
