It was a bittersweet afternoon for Woodberry Forest. On one hand, the Tigers saw a member of its family, Jacob Rainey, rejoin its ranks on the field. But on the other, the perennial private school power saw a comeback bid in its home opener fall short as Benedectine outlasted Woodberry 28-19 thanks to a pair of special teams touchdowns from return man Ramon Jones.
“Our special teams came up big, not just with the extra points that we missed in weeks before but with a squib kick we recovered and then Ramon Jones was just out of this world, he was the difference on this day.” said Benedictine coach Greg Lilly. “At 14-7 we felt good and then we broke the long touchdown and felt very good at that point. But they hung in there.”
The day started beautifully with Rainey starting at quarterback and Christian Asher scoring on a 25-yard run to cap its opening drive which started out with a poor punt from Benedictine to set up the short field. Unfortunately for the Tigers though, the Cadets were able to answer quickly and never trailed after that.
Behind the rushing of running back Corey Downey and quarterback Bryce Hamilton, Benedictine marched down field before Downey crossed the goalline on a 1-yard run. After Woodberry went on a quick three and out, the Cadets took the lead near the end of the first quarter with another Downey touchdown, this time a run from eight yards out.
The score stood at 14-7 throughout the second quarter and going into halftime. But early in the third quarter Jones broke off the first of his two big special teams play, this one a 78-yard punt return to put his squad up 14.
The Tigers were unable to answer until the start of the fourth behind the running ability of quarterback Hunter Ethridge and backs Harold Minor, James Hewell and Asher. A little over a minute into the last frame, Asher notched his second TD of the game on a 2-yard dive to make it an 8-point game after a missed PAT.
“I told the guys at the halftime that we simply had to win the second half,” said Woodberry coach Clint Alexander. “But that’s a real good program that Greg has been building and building over the last few years.”
Defensively, Woodberry gave up very little in the second half, and after forcing a Benedictine punt, the Tigers were able to make it a one possession game this time with Hewell taking a screen pass from Ethridge for a 10-yard touchdown. In attempt to tie the game up, Woodberry went for the 2-point convert but Ethridge saw his play-action pass to the middle of the end zone fall incomplete.
And just as the Tigers swiped the momentum in the fourth quarter, Jones’ play on special teams wound up sucking the wind out of Woodberry’s sail. On the ensuing kickoff, the sophomore broke through a tackle on his 90-yard touchdown return with 6:11 to go and put his team up 28-19.
“The blocking was there and it was about hitting the seams with speed and breaking tackles,” Jones said. “I knew we had this one (after the second return) and it was a good feeling as a sophomore because it’s been a while since we’ve beat them.”
With Woodberry fumbling on its next possession, there simply was not enough time to mount a comeback.
“There were just bigger than us and they ran real hard,” Alexander said. “I think we’ll get a lot better, we’re a bit inexperienced and real young, but if you take away those two returns I think we’ve got something to really build on there. We played pretty well on defense.”
The Tigers (0-1) hosts Blair Academy this coming Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Rainey gets back on the field
Just a little over a year after a freak accident during a scrimmage cost Rainey his right leg, there was the Woodberry Forest senior, back in full pads and starting for the Tigers in their season opener at home against Benedictine. In his lone series of the game, Rainey completed the only pass he threw, a wide receiver screen to Matty Sheehan which he ran for five yards. Two plays later, Rainey handed off to Christian Asher who ran for 25-yard touchdown to cap a 4-play 35-yard drive to give his team a 7-0 lead.
“It was nerve racking,” Rainey said of finally getting back. “I never used to get nervous before games but I did today. But it was just great to get back out there.”
Simply putting Rainey out of the field was a great source of anxiety for Tigers coach Clint Alexander. With Rainey already playing on a prosthetic leg, the last thing Alexander wants is the senior to suffer an injury to his other leg.
“What he did when he went out there just made me cry because I could not believe it, I still don’t given what he went through and still has to,” Alexander said. “For so many weeks it felt like things were getting worse for him, not better so for us to score on that drive, you just can’t believe it. I was scared to death for him (going out there). There are still a lot of things he can do really, really well, but his mobility is still coming back slowly. You worry so much about him getting hung up and being able to protect himself, and a lot of times you do that by taking off and running.”
On the other side of the field, Benedictine coach Greg Lilly was torn between his job and his gut. A friend of Alexander’s, Lilly’s kept close tabs on Rainey and his progress over the last year. In 2011, when these two teams met, Rainey was still in the hospital.
“I think all of our coaches, from a sentimental standpoint and just a basic feeling of heart — I think we were all happy to see him out there and then also to see him have success on that first drive,” Lilly said.
Rainey’s lengthy rehab and effort to return has been well documented by national media outlets, whether on television via ESPN or in print by New York Times magazine. On Friday, the camera crews and writers were back to see the big step forward as Rainey officially returned to play on the varsity level. Now that his first series and first game is behind him, Rainey is looking forward to focusing on football and getting out on the field on a more regular basis.
“It’s no longer the first game, I’ve gotten to do what I wanted and so now it’s all forward from here,” Rainey said. “I don’t know why, but I knew I was capable of doing this the whole time. It was a long process, lots of physical therapy and just getting out here throwing everyday and trying to get better.”
That the Tigers fell to the Cadets 28-19 will only fuel the hyper-competitive Rainey to continue to improve, there’s no doubt about that.
Randolph headed to familiar territory for the Tigers
While Tigers star linebacker Doug Randolph will have to sit out the first month of play because of an injury, he did have a busy week after decomitting from Stanford. On Friday Randolph made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame.
This past February Woodberry alumnus CJ Prosise officially signed with the Fighting Irish, and during the summer, junior linebacker Grier Martini also verbally committed to play in South Bend, Indiana.
