The script coming into the Region 3A West championship called for Western Albemarle to attack the edges. To watch quarterback Sam Hearn work the ball to his young, but gifted receiving corps via screens and then run to the outside. Wayenesboro, to its credit, did everything it could in coverage to force the Warriors to play a different game. And after the first half, Western and its coaching staff decided it was time to show what is different about this offense than in years past — that the Warriors, when they decide they want to — can play old fashioned smashmouth football.
“In the fourth quarter I really think it came down to the line play,” said Western coach Ed Redmond. “(We) just turned, gave it to our horse (in Oliver Herndon) and let the line do its work.”
If one thing was evident in the second half, aside from Western seizing the momentum that Waynesboro had in the first half, it was that Redmond’s offensive line was simply tiring out the smaller Little Giants unit on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Hearn was scrambling and picking up bigger gains. At running back, Herndon was moving the chains, finding holes and breaking tackles. While the big touchdown pass from Hearn to Henry Kreienbaum sparked Western’s 33-28 comeback, it was the ground game that fueled everything in the second half.
“They took away the things we wanted to do and so from that point, the chess match started,” Redmond said. “They were dropping a lot of guys in coverage and we felt like we just had to get after them upfront to establish some rhythm and get things going.”
And for an offensive line known in the past for its ability to protect Hearn to be able to throw down field, it was a showcase moment for this unit to demonstrate that they can be as dangerous running the ball between the tackles.
“We know that we get stronger in the second half,” said junior Sam Carey. “We can (wear down teams) there and that’s our bread and butter, what we plan for, running the ball inside and up the middle. We know that we when we need to we can go to that, run down the clock and get those extra yards.”
As for those yards, Herndon finished with 150 of them on 20 touches while Hearn tossed in 85 of his own. That Western was able to get the job done on the ground and not through the air was a bit of a change of pace for the program, and really, this unit up front. The Warriors are their most explosive when Hearn, Kreienbaum, Travis Daly and Derek Domecq are picking up big gains. But with that said, the Warriors are playing in the state final four because they adjusted and played physical, simple football in the second half against the Giants. And that’s going to matter going forward with Lafayette on Saturday.
“We just know that we have to work hard in everything we do,” Carey said. “We have to be able to run the ball when we need to and have to offer excellent protection in the passing game to give our quarterback the time he needs to throw.”
As for the protection and the run blocking, the Warriors’ coaching staff isn’t asking this unit to do anything complicated. Rather, the Western offensive line has to play assignment football and simply win the one-on-one battles up front with a couple of exceptions.
“We have some double teams to deal with linebackers but for the most part its just getting up field and making your block,” Carey said. “Really, for the most part it’s just straight up football.”
And nobody was more excited about the way Western played in the second half than Herndon. Behind the big fellas ahead of him — Carey, Michael Mullin, Bradley Fox, Logan Sprouse and Mathew Wozneak — he found one gap after another.
“They make it easy for me, they’re so tough up front,” Herndon said. “We really transformed from just a passing offense into an offense that really can run. They’re all great up front and so there’s no favorite side I go to.”
By the end of the fourth quarter when Western was putting together its game winning drive, the Waynesboro defense had its hands on its hips between plays, defenders breathing heavy and all the while scratching their heads as to how to slow down this offensive line and get their hands on Herndon.
“I think we just tired them out up front by pounding it again and again,” Herndon said. “They were still playing tough but our guys were just able to out-tough them.”
So while the Warriors will no doubt be cast as a finesse passing team heading into their meeting with Lafayette this week, that’s not all this team is at all. Behind this offensive line, Western can turn the dial and become a ground-and-pound squad That’s something this program has been missing in years past. That’s not the case this year, just ask Waynesboro. And as such, the Warriors are the lone Central Virginia team playing December football for a reason.
