Western Albemarle’s defense kept attacking. From every angle, with nearly every player.
“We’re not going to sit and take it,” said Western coach Ed Redmond. “We’re going to get after people. If we get beat, we’re going to do it aggressively.”
The Warriors kept the pressure on Albemarle’s offense all night long and with enough offense to get the job done, Western snagged a 21-12 victory over the Patriots in both squads’ season opener in Crozet Friday night.
Tommy Mullin led the assault, coming up with several fourth down stuffs of his own, plus perhaps the play of the game when he unleashed an explosive hit on Drake Bryant on a 2-point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter. Mullin met Bryant, a bruising back, at the line of scrimmage, and neither player ceded, with Mullin’s helmet flying off while Bryant slowed only to turn his shoulders. Bryant plunged forward again but two other Warriors wrapped him up and the Albemarle back appeared to fall just short of crossing the plane with the ball on a valiant effort a year after Western won the 2011 installment of the rivalry on their own two-point conversion.
“The guard hooked and I thought sweep immediately,” Mullin said. “I just reacted as fast as I could, went full speed lowered my shoulder.”
It had a seismic impact on the contest.
“He was lights out,” said quarterback Kent Henry. “He saved us on the two-point conversion — completely stopped the bleeding and changed the whole game for us.”
The stop left Albemarle still down 14-12 early in the fourth quarter. Albemarle attempted an onsides kick on the ensuing kickoff, but Western managed to recover. On that possession, Western’s offense got clicking after a slow third quarter that followed a three-play, 56-yard touchdown drive on their first possession and a long touchdown march in the second quarter.
“They were bringing so many guys we just couldn’t handle it,” Redmond said.
The Warriors adjusted though late, keeping a pair of backs in to max protect Henry. Things started moving immediately as they drove 65 yards in six plays with Henry capping it on a two-yard touchdown. The score put Western up by nine points and made for tough sledding for Albemarle in the closing minutes.
A pair of interceptions, one on a route miscommunication, the other on a deep ball, sealed Albemarle’s fate. Henry came up with the first of those picks and Trevor Harlow had the final one, his second interception of the night. Harlow was out most of last season with an injury but bounced back with a big game defensively despite having to mark Albemarle’s A.J. Willy who had a huge night.
“We knew that he’d be a big help to us coming and he really played well,” said Western’s Daniel Kuzjak
Kuzjak himself finished with three catches for 52 yards, with a 19-yard touchdown snag on the opening drive that came on a backshoulder fade that Kuzjak and Henry called at the line. Kuzjak also had a major impact defensively, wreaking some havoc in the backfield at times on blitzes.
Henry struggled a bit as the Warriors tried to adjust to a new no huddle offensive approach under Redmond. The junior still finished with 99 yards on the ground off 16 carries and another 135 through the air, completing 9 of 19 passes. The 135 passing yards including the Kuzjak touchdown and a Drapanas scoring catch from 20 yards out. Henry shook off the uneven offensive effort though with what turned out to be a critical blocked extra point on Albemarle’s first touchdown and the fourth quarter interception.
“It wasn’t pretty through the air or on the ground but we grinded it out and got it done,” Henry said. “The linemen helped me late in the game and we grinded through it and got the win — that’s all that matters.”
Western’s defense proved up to the task as the Warriors created a slew of turnovers. Dante Henry also had a fumble recovery for Western and Mullin himself hauled in an acrobatic interception on a tipped ball.
Still, the Warriors struggled to find an answer for Willy who broke out with seven catches for 182 yards including two for more than 50 yards. Nico Troche also helped bolster Albemarle’s offensive effort, scoring a pair of second half touchdowns while running for 98 yards. Peyton Alley threw for 186 yards in hid debut as the starter. Still, turnovers and failed fourth down conversions prevented the Patriots from capitalizing.
“They put a lot of pressure on us tonight and we came out flat,” said Albemarle coach Mike Alley. “We waited until the third quarter to play hard and we made some good plays out there but it wasn’t enough. They were blitzing us very hard and coming after us very aggressively.”
Albemarle will now have to wait until 2013 to avenge back-to-back narrow losses to the Warriors, but they can work out some frustration against Monticello in another rivalry tilt next week. Western will get a week off before heading north to face Liberty Bealeton.
