Sometimes revenge plots are loud. The best ones though? They’re quieter.
They’re more seething than screaming.
Goochland football’s 21-14 victory over Poquoson in the Region 2A title game that vaulted the Bulldogs into the state final four was born of that sort of seething, determined, driving desire for redemption. With the win over the Islanders, Goochland not only put itself potentially a game away from a state championship berth, the Bulldogs avenged a frustrating finish to last year’s campaign at the hands of Poquoson.
“This is special — this is something we were looking for all year,” said Goochland defensive lineman Jamal Carter. “We knew it was going to be a battle.”
The Bulldogs will travel to East Rockingham for the Group 2A state semifinals next week.
Goochland stormed back from a 14-7 deficit at the end of the third quarter to score 14 unanswered points in the fourth. The rally started with an early fourth quarter mistake on a punt where Poquoson star Colten Hicks took off to his left and appeared set to fake the punt before unleashing a kick that shot straight up in the air and went just a few yards downfield. Devin McCray helped the Bulldogs cash in four plays later with a 10-yard touchdown run, tying the game at 14-14.
The biggest turning point followed just three plays later when defensive back Kindrick Braxton stepped up for Goochland.
“My line was getting pressure on the quarterback and I’ve been focusing all week on the waggle,” Braxton said. “I missed an opportunity earlier in the game for a pick but I made up for it.”
Braxton sat on the waggle route and broke perfectly, snagging the interception to give the Bulldogs’ offense a short field. Once again, McCray helped them cash in, hitting Perry Snead-Johnson for the game-winning touchdown on a 29-yard toss down the seam. That one took a little more improvisation than usual.
“Perry got jammed on the line and couldn’t run his route — it was like sandlot football, he just made up his own route, found green grass and I just threw it to him,” McCray said. ““It was a critical play at a critical time.”
Snead-Johnson leapt and adjusted to pull it down before finishing in the end zone with 4:17 to play.
From there, the defense made one final stand, with McCray and Kameron Holman snuffing out the comeback by combining on a pass breakup to shut down a wheel route on fourth down with just under a minute to play.
With that incompletion, the Bulldogs proved capable of rallying, capable of looking past stalled offensive drives and capable of erasing a deficit despite never really facing that issue the entire season.
“It’s something we haven’t had to do and I wasn’t sure how we were going to respond,” said Goochland coach Alex Fruth. “We haven’t been there but we talked (at halftime) about how we’re not going to win every play, we’ve just got to win enough plays.”
McCray accounted for all three Goochland touchdowns, rushing for the one that capped the Bulldogs’ opening drive. He rushed for 70 yards and threw for 66 yards with Goochland struggling to pile up offensive numbers thanks in large part to seven three and outs or turnovers on downs. The Goochland defense held the Islanders in check for the most part too, with Colten Hicks rushing for 103 yards on 19 carries with the bulk of that damage coming on a 47-yard sprint on Poquoson’s opening possession. Bailey Green chipped in 85 yards for the Islanders but that was the extent of the offense as Poquoson threw for just 15 yards.
Goochland linebacker Sam Brooks talks about the Bulldogs 21-14 region title win and Kindrick Braxton’s interception that helped win it in First Off the Field presented by @PT_acac pic.twitter.com/qTO5LA0Zn2
— scrimmageplay (@scrimmageplay) November 24, 2018
