That Orange County had to sweat a little bit in the fourth quarter made things a bit unusual. Because for the most part the Hornets had the game in hand after a strong second and third quarter. Orange had to win to make it to the playoffs for a third straight season, and by virtue of its 49-41 victory, it got the job done. But it would have been an overwhelming win in their favor on senior night were it not for a fourth quarter push from the Indians.
“What in the world? You go from things being under control to losing rhythm and not stopping (Powhatan) in the second half to almost losing the chance to sealing the game,” said Orange coach Jesse Lohr. “We made some plays early and then Wilhelm Lutterodt probably made the most important play recovering a fumble. It was another game that Orange County has been in in the last so many weeks where there’s too many momentum shifts and flows.”
Orange was sitting pretty at 49-28 with 8:29 when quarterback Kenyon Carter hit Darius Minor for a 43-yard touchdown with 8:29 left in the fourth quarter, but things tighten up quickly. After a 20-yard scramble from Powhatan quarterback Noah Dowdy, the lead was down to 14 points with 4:47 left. Then after a punt from the Hornets, Taylor rumbled for a 33-yard TD with 2:06 to go. Orange recovered an onsides kick, but after Jaylen Alexander picked up a first down that was good enough to melt the rest of the clock, there was a fumble, a gasp from the Orange coaching staff, and then an exhale of relief when Lutterodt came up with the recovery to run out the clock.
“Unfortunately I fumbled but I’m pretty proud for my teammate for getting on that,” Alexander said.
That was the drama, but the rest of the contest was all about Orange and it’s big play ability. The Hornets went up on their first possession of the game with a 28-yard scoring run from Alexander.
“We were explosive (early),” Alexander said. “We knew we had to win this game.”
Powhatan responded in kind with big plays from Dowdy on the next drive and Taylor capping it with a 2-yard TD run to make it 7-7 just four minutes into the game. On the ensuing kickoff, Chris Washington broke off an 88-yard kickoff return to the house.
From there, Minor took over. An interception from the senior negated a solid Indians drive. Orange wasted little time getting the ball back to him with Carter uncorking what resulted in an 81-yard bomb on a go route to make it 21-7 with 30 seconds to play in the first.
“The corners were giving me 10 yards off so they were giving me a lot of room to work with,” Minor said. “Everything was clicking and everyone was working as a team and we were executing all our plays.”
Powhatan answered with a heavy dose of Taylor on the next drive and with Dowdy finding Jared Somerville for a 6-yard TD reception to make it 21-13 early in the second. But just two minutes later Alexander broke off a 25-yard rushing touchdown and 18 seconds after that, Minor came up with a 33-yard pick-6 to make it 35-14 with 7:54 left in the second, a score that would hold until the break.
“At cornerback, that was just getting good reads on the quarterback for those interceptions,” Minor said.
Orange scored on its opening possession of the third when Ty Warren hauled in a 45-yard touchdown reception from Carte to make it 42-14. And from there, it was a slow but sure Powhatan comeback with Taylor and Dowdy getting the job done on the ground until Orange was able to cement things on its final possession and lock up the win.
The Hornets (5-5) earned the eighth and final seed in the Region 5D playoffs and will face a trip to top-seeded Brooke Point (8-2) on Friday. After missing the playoffs each year between 2011 and 2014, the Hornets have made it to the postseason each season during each of Lohr’s three years as head coach. Although knocking off the top-seed is an uphill battle, his seniors would like nothing more than to give their coach and the rest of this senior class its first playoff win.
“When everything clicks there aren’t a lot of teams that can handle us,” Minor said. “But we still have to work harder as a team and play all four quarters.”
His coach feels the same way.
“The record may not show it but people are going to watch film and see the talent we have and realize we’re a good football team at times,” Lohr said. “We can be an offensive team where you’ve got to worry about us. But we just have to be able to play four quarters.”
