Stories

The Top 10 Games

The finale of our year-end countdowns comes with what it’s all about, the games. Win or lose, that’s what everything really comes down to. The previous countdowns awarded overall seasons and then individual play. This one is all about the entertainment, the competitive nature, the thrilling result.

No. 1 — Western Albemarle football slips past Charlottesville in an absolute barnburner

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They just kept punching back. Every time Charlottesville’s squad scored, Western Albemarle answered. Every time Rashard Davis or Chris Thurston made a monster play for the Black Knights,  Kent Henry or Daniel Kuzjak or Nic Drapanas made one for the Warriors.

Western, eventually, held on to win 50-49 with a dramatic final few minutes that included a failed CHS 2-pt attempt that would’ve likely won the game. All that happened before that though is what made this clash great.

There were tactical successes like Charlottesville’s single wing style approach on offense in the second half that caught Western off guard. There were incredible individual plays like Drapanas’ 100-yard kick return for a touchdown.

Henry was explosive with nearly 350 yards of total offense. Davis rushed for 293 yards and three touchdowns while Thurston went for 202 yards in a 510-yard effort on the ground by the Black Knights.
Quite simply? This game had a little bit of everything. Except much defense. There wasn’t a lot of that.
One of our Twitter followers said during the closing minutes of the contest “this game is too big for Twitter.”

They were right. And once you’re too big for Twitter you easily vault to the top of this list.

No. 2 — Covenant tops STAB for first time in OT classic

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It’s almost silly how much different the outcome of this game could have been, arguably, it would have been the most heartbreaking loss in Covenant history. Having won each previous meeting between the two programs since the Eagles first launched their football program in 2002, St. Anne’s-Belfield somehow erased a 13-0 deficit, tying the game up with 30 seconds to go and took the field for an extra-point to take the lead. As fitting as it was that STAB would not go out quietly, it was just Covenant’s time. The PAT hit the cross bar, Eagles fans went nuts in a mix of relief and celebration. But there was still plenty of drama left.

In OT the Eagles first took an 8-point lead following a TD on fourth down on a pass from Brady Doyle to Peter Gould and then a 2-point convert on another Doyle pass, this time to John Meade. With just one last bullet to dodge to secure the most sought after victory in school history, Gus Rose’s interception on defense wrapped up the 21-13 win.

The last quarter of this game and the ensuing overtime combined with the history between these two programs made this an instant classic, one that Covenant fans and players will likely never forget.

No. 3 — Western and Charlottesville JD tournament semifinal

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The Jefferson District boys basketball tournament has produced its fair share of incredible performances. Last year, Charlottesville made a huge run that was one of the area’s most compelling stories of the year. A few years back it was Orange County making a monster run to captivate area fans.

But this year, the best clash of the tournament came in the semifinals when top-seeded Western Albemarle got all it could handle out of Charlottesville, who was fighting for its playoff life. The Warriors trailed, in fact, with a little more than 10 seconds left, the Warriors trailed 50-48. That’s when Jake Maynard — the second option on the play — buried a 3-pointer with seven seconds to play that pushed Western ahead by a point. After a defensive stop on the next play spearheaded by Maynard and Brandt Berry, the Warriors celebrated, securing a berth in the JD final (where they dropped Fluvanna County) before moving on to Region II play.

It was a thrilling finish in one of the area’s signature postseason tournaments.

No. 4 — Goochland and Buckingham football battle to OT

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It was such an amazing game that it set an unfair precedent a few weeks later when the two met in the playoffs. This game simply had it all and perhaps every football purist’s favorite scenario – a game ending with a goal line stand.

Buckingham had Goochland on the ropes, but with a minute to play and on fourth down needing 15 yards, Bulldogs freshman quarterback Reid Chenault hit senior wide out Nathan Adams for 21 yards. Just a few plays later and the game was destined for overtime.

In OT after Goochland marched into the endzone on its possession, the Knights did the same behind running back Kyree Koonce who accounted for three of his team’s four TD’s. After a penalty to the Bulldogs on the PAT, Buckingham decided to follow conventional coaching wisdom for teams on the road – to go for the 2-point conversion and the win. The Bulldogs defense answered the call though and Knights junior running back Kenneth Johnson was just brought down shy of the goalline by a host of Goochland tacklers. That was it, that was the game.

It was the last time that the Bulldogs were put in a vulnerable situation as they steamrolled through the postseason to a Group A Division 2 title. Each year, either in the regular season or the playoffs, it’s almost become a given that Goochland and Buckingham will put together a classic. This one is going to be hard to top though.  

No. 5 — Woodberry Forest football pulls off improbable comeback

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It’s hard to put into words how incredible the comeback was. Woodberry was actually losing in about the way some would have predicted against Blair Academy, a prep school from New Jersey. Star defender Doug Randolph was injured and some new faces on both sides of the ball were still trying to find their footing. Outside of that, Blair is ridiculously tough and stacked with top-tier talent including Temple-bound running back Jihaad Pretlow. They’d beaten what was, at least on paper, a better edition of the Tigers the year before. It was terrible and out of the ordinary to be down 33-7, but it wasn’t out of the question before kickoff.

And then everything got crazy. With a combination of a surprise new receiver in linebacker Greer Martini (three catches for 131 yards and two long touchdowns) and an explosion from first year starter Hunter Etheridge at quarterback — 244 yards and a 17 for 24 performance — Woodberry stormed back. The defense reversed the flow of the game entirely, holding Blair scoreless as the Tigers reeled off 36 straight points to complete an incredible comeback that won’t soon be forgotten at Woodberry.

No. 6 — Albemarle volleyball extends unbeaten streak, makes Group AAA tournament

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Forget the streak that Albemarle volleyball had, and that’s something that’s hard to do considering this is a team that was unbeaten heading into the Northwest Region tournament. The bottom line is that the Patriots are judged on the grand scale compared to its predecessors. That’s how it works when you, first play at the Group AAA level, and second have a program that’s won a state title as recently at 2008.

Getting to the big dance was more important than the record setting streak that Albemarle had. And facing Broad Run in the NW semifinals, both a bid for a state tournament and the Patriots unblemished record was on the line. It seemed somewhat unfitting that a team could lose one match all year and not advance to the big dance.

It took five games, something relatively unheard of for this Albemarle group that almost never dropped a set as they cruised along to Commonwealth regular season and tournament titles. With the match tied up at 2-2, the Patriots were able to punch their first ticket back to the Group AAA tourney since 2009 thanks to the thing that made it so potent all season long – it’s balance on attack and a willingness to share the ball to whoever had the best opportunity. That had everything to do with savvy senior setter Jessica Block running the show and her trust in her hitters, whether it was Sarah Woods (16 kills four blocks), Hannah Deal (18 kills, 10 service points) Chelsea Woodfolk (10 kills) or Lexi Brown (11 kills). That quartet came up with a huge performance to lead the way with Block paving the way and Caroline Porco doing all the dirty work on the back line at libero.

In the end, Albemarle, just one year removed from a massive rebuild, was able to win more games than any previous Patriot squad, but most importantly get back into the state tourney field where coach Mark Ragland’s team truly belong.

No. 7 — Charlottesville and Monticello girls soccer goes to eight PK’s, JD tournament semifinals

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With a Region II playoff berth, and, in turn each team’s season, on the line, Monticello and Charlottesville’s girls soccer teams went at each other in the Jefferson District semifinals. It was wide open soccer, from the opening kick, with Grace Paine scoring for Charlottesville just two minutes into the contest before Genevieve Lewis equalized it for Monticello. The teams traded goals during the second half too, and the 2-2 tie headed to extra time. 

After a full complement of overtime, there still wasn’t an answer and that’s when things got interesting. During penalty kicks the Black Knights nor the Mustangs could find an edge over the other squad, with the match still tied after the first five PKs. It kept going in sudden death penalty kicks and finally ended on the eighth kick with Charlottesville keeping its season alive while the Mustangs’ campaign ended in heartbreaking fashion. 

Many soccer purists don’t love penalty kicks, but when it comes to drama, there’s nothing quite like it, as the Mustangs and Black Knights proved this spring. 

No. 8 — Woodberry vs. St. Anne’s-Belfield boys lacrose OT thriller, VISAA quarterfinals

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They are Central Virginia’s two old guard elite boys lacrosse programs, always have been. Woodberry Forest and St. Anne’s-Belfield haven’t met as many times as they used to the last decade but after the Tigers fell I the first round of the VISAA Division 1 tournament to the Saints in 2012, these archrivals have taken the clash to its old, familiar level.

In the 2013 playoff meeting between STAB and WFS at Woodberry, the Tigers rallied out in front early on only to have the Saints roll back and make it a 1-goal contest going into the fourth quarter. A goal from St. Anne’s Connor Healy tied the game up to set up sudden death overtime.

To close out the fourth and for the first few minutes of overtime, both defense and goalkeepers stood tall, with neither team buckling under the pressure. Finally with three minutes left on the clock, Tiger’s sophomore Patrick Shea took a pass from James Hewell and brought an end to the drama.

It was an amazing, tense finish in a pure playoff atmosphere. It also had a great underlying story as the victory gave this year’s Woodberry senior class its first career trip to the VISAA final four. 

No. 9 — Monticello baseball comes back against Powhatan in JD debut

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The 2013 Jefferson District baseball slate started with the two teams that faced each other four times the previous year, the defending Group AA champions in Powhatan visiting a Group AA quarterfinalist in Monticello.

After four innings it looked like the Indians were simply going to run away with the game and earn a 5-inning run ruling. Instead what was a one-sided game swung in the complete opposite direction. Trailing 10-1, Monticello put together an unheard of 8-run rally with five of the runs coming with two outs. Monticello was able to tie the game up in the sixth when the game took  another turn.

From that point on it was a battle between relivers with the Mustangs Josh Malm and Indians Luke Scherzer escaping one jam after another. Finally in the 10th inning Monticello was able to break the tie on a passed ball that scored Alex McNair who also had a 2-run double to lead the rally back in the fifth.

The 11-10 outcome seemed all too unlikely after the way the game started, but it was the first of many JD wins for Monticello as they took the regular season crown. It was also the beginning of a strange slide for Powhatan, although it did not deter the Indians from racing back to win the JD tournament. So once again it was the Mustangs and Indians qualifying for the Region II tournament to represent the JD, something that seemed about right after the wild 10-inning 21-run contest back in the second week of April.

No. 10 — Western girls tennis makes the Group AA finals

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Too often in team high school tennis, there’s very little drama. It’s clear which team is in control from the outset.

But circumstances helped take the drama to an entirely new level when the Western girls tennis squad locked up with E.C. Glass in the Group AA semifinal. Rain on the outdoor courts forced the two squads to split six indoor courts with a boys semifinal on the other three. Glass got going in a big way in those first three matches, taking a 2-1 lead that appeared to put the Warriors on the ropes.

But Western rallied, reeling off four straight wins to vault into the state title game, the Warriors first title appearance in school history. Emily Kochard closed out the win with a victory at No. 1 doubles, but Claire Park perhaps showed the most resiliency. The senior won a marathon match, bouncing back from a major stumble in the second set to give the Warriors a 4-2 advantage.

It was all high drama in an unlikely place that will be remembered for some time in the local prep tennis community.

Honorable Mention

Fork Union football beats Benedictine in VISAA Division 1 semifinals

Orange softball beats James Madison in Group AAA quarterfinals

Madison softball falls just short in Group A Division 1 title game

Monroe baseball and Nandua go to extra innings in Group A Division 2 quarterfinal

Western Albemarle boys soccer falls in PKs to Broad Run in Region II quarterfinal

Charlottesville field hockey edges Western in overtime

Albemarle boys lacrosse beats Salem in Sectional battle

Monticello girls basketball beats Western Albemarle 45-43 in second regular season meeting

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