Fear the Spear: An Unofficial Blog of PHS Football

For the first 48 minutes of play in last Friday’s Region II quarterfinal, the Indians seemed be setting themselves up for one of the greatest upsets in the history of the program. All the breaks - or a majority of them, at least - seemed be falling pleasantly in their favor.  They fought valiantly, fueled by the thought that a victory really wasn’t all that far off, and took a inspiring 7-7 tie into the warmth of the visitor’s locker room.

But Briar Woods’ depth revealed itself over the final two quarters. The pendulum swung and the breaks began cascading down on the other side of the fence. When all was wrapped up, the Falcons’ were ultimately able to over come a lackluster first half and knock off the Indians by a score of 34-7.

It’s the second consecutive year that Briar Woods’ has ended Powhatan’s season in the playoffs. Last year, the Falcons knocked off the Indians 21-7 in the Region II championship game. Two weeks later, Briar Woods captured their second state championship in as many years at Liberty University. 

Despite the large discrepancy in the final score, the Indians, in fact, struck the first blow of the game - on a throwback screen play, of all possible plays.

It unfolded as follows: quarterback Joe Lewis rolled out to his left, planted his feet, and chucked the ball back across the field to running back Norris Goode, who had a sprawling field of grass stretched out before him. Goode caught the pass and sprinted 47 yards, untouched, for the game’s first score.

Oddly enough, while that 47-yarder was Goode’s longest reception of the night, he ended with only 41 receiving yards, thanks to negative gain later in the contest. A true statistical anomaly. 

The throwback screen was the first of several offensive wrinkles implemented by Coach Woodson in an attempt to keep the swarming Briar Woods’ defense at bay. The famous half back toss pass made an appearance, and was successfully executed for a ten-yard gain. Later in the contest, the throwback made another cameo, but the Briar Woods’ defense snuffed it out quicker than a dog on the hunt.

The night was filled with what-if moments, the biggest of which was a 61-yard touchdown run by Norris Goode early in the first quarter that was negated due to a holding call. Another such moment occurred late in the first half, when the Falcons recovered a Joe Lewis fumble on their own 39-yard line. Forty-eight seconds later, with a mere four ticks remaining in the first half, McSorley connected with Cam Serigne to knot the game at 7. 

The Indians also had an opportunity to convert on a 40-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead early in the first half, but the hold was shaky, causing kicker Jonathan Malcolmb to squib kick a line drive right into the thick of the offensive line.

Although Malcomb couldn’t convert on that field goal, he came up several big plays on defense. In addition to tallying his first interception of the season, he also recorded a season-high nine tackles.

The Falcons’ vaunted passing attack was every bit as potent as advertised - at least during the second half. Briar Woods quarterback McSorley struggled over the first 48 minutes, completing 5-of-15 passes and airmailing several passes that should have been automatic completions. 

But he finished the half with three straight completions, one for a touchdown, and would carry his hot hand into the second half. 

Although he didn’t attempt nearly as many passes over the last two quarters, it was the quality of his throws, not the quantity, that ultimately spelled defeat for the Indians. He completed four of five passes for 160-plus yards and three touchdowns, two of which were hauled in by wide out Devin Ramos.

It was truly a tale of two halves.

Although the outcome may not have been what the Indians’ or their fans hoped for, Powhatan can take solace in three accomplishments. First of all, they forced McSorley, who came into the game with only two interceptions, to match his season total. Secondly, they nearly broke the century mark on the ground (95 yards) against a team that had given up only 326 rushing yards during the regular season. Lastly, they’re only the second team to come within 28 points of beating the Falcons this season - the other is Broad Run, who lost a 20-15 nail biter back in week two.

The loss officially ends Powhatan’s season.  As for Briar Woods, they’ll continue the hunt for their third consecutive Division 4 state championship next week, at home, in the Region II semi-finals.

Critical Matchups

Trace McSorley vs. the Powhatan Secondary
The Falcons can beat you on the ground or through the air, but they leaned towards the later during the regular season. McSorley has put up Russell Wilson-at-Wisconsin type numbers in 2012, amassing the 1,700 yard mark and averaging over two touchdown passes per game. And he rarely turns the ball over, one of the key traits of a successful quarterback. He threw one interception and lost one fumble during the regular season. For the Indians to have a chance to take down the Falcons, the defensive line will have to put good pressure on McSorley and force him to make bad decisions. And when those bad decisions happen, the Powhatan secondary must be ready to capitalize.

Powhatan’s Front Line/Backfield vs. the Briar Woods Run Defense
Are you ready for a statistic that seems too farfetched to be true? Well here it is: the Briar Woods defense has only allowed 326 rushing yards all season. Powhatan rushed for more than that in four quarters last week against Charlottesville. Insanity. Coach Woodson seems to have struck gold with the Logan Allen/Norris Goode backfield combination, as the two combined for 200-plus yards and four touchdowns last week. One side has to break. Look for Woodson to throw in a few wrinkles to try and keep the Briar Woods’ confused and out of balance.

Prediction
The Indiansare going to have to play an utterly mistake-free game to keep this contest close. Briar Woods has played only one competitive game all season, and that contest came all the way back in week two against Broad Run, a game which the Falcons won 20-15.  In no other game has the opposing team come within four touchdowns of beating the Falcons. The most nip-and-tuck affair (if you can really call it that) Briar Woods has experienced, other than that one near-slip up against Broad Run, came against Tuscarora, a team that came into the match-up with a 5-0 record. Briar Woods dispatched the Huskies 35-6 - on Tuscarora’s home turf, mind you - without so much as bending a fingernail.

But, as the old adage goes, football sure as heck ain’t played on paper. So the cards are stacked in advance against the Indians; no one would deny that. But in a random universe, where chaos rules supreme and improbable occurrences happen on a daily basis, who’s to say a 5-5 team can’t come together and take down a 10-0 juggernaut?  A couple of turnovers here, a lapse in technique there, and, who knows, the Indians could sneak out of Loudoun County with one of the most improbable victories in program history.

All we can do is hope for the best. Good luck, Indians!

Briar Woods 30, Powhatan 21

Stats

• QB Trace McSorley (Jr): 120/177 (67%), 1789 yards, 24 TD, 2 INT. 51 rushes, 300 yards, 4 TD
• RB Cory Colder (Sr): 160 rushes, 835 yards, 13 TD
• TE Cam Serigne (Sr): 37 catches, 665 yards, 5 TD
• WR Devin Ramos (Sr): 27 catches, 454 yards, 5 TD
• WR Brandon Polk (So): 23 catches, 324 yards, 5 TD

Notes

• Briar Woods has won back-to-back Group AA, Division 4 State championships.
• Briar Woods defeated Powhatan 21-7 in last year’s Region II championship game. 
• Briar Woods has played three teams with seven or more wins in 2012: Tuscarora (9-1), Woodgrove (7-3) and Loudon County (8-1). The Falcons won those games by an average score of 43-7. In toto, they’ve outscored their opponents 423-64. 
• Briar Woods High School opened on August 29, 2005. The football program has suffered through only one losing season in its seven year history…2007, when the Falcons went 4-6.
  
  All player statistics lifted from www.bwhsports.org.
  
  

Thumbs Up

1. Norris Goode, who made his first start at runningback since week two against Midlothian, and Logan Allen, who was in the starting line-up at H-back for the first time all season, combined to turn in one of the Indians’ most prolific nights on the ground this season. Goode rushed for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 43-yarder on the first drive of the game that gave the Indians a much-needed early lead. Allen, on the other hand, nearly broke the century mark, running for 96 yards and two touchdowns of his own. His second score, a 25-yard run, gave the Indians a 30-19 cushion late in the fourth quarter. That touchdown turned out to be vital, seeing as the Black Knights scored one last time before the final whistle to shrink the Indians lead to 30-27.
 
2. The victory was Powhatan’s most important of the season for two reasons: (1) it guarantees the Indians a non-losing regular season and (2) it ensures that Indians will be on the field next Friday when the Division 4 playoffs officially get underway. For those who haven’t already heard, the Indians locked up the 8th and final seed in the Region II playoffs and will be traveling to Ashburn to take on Briar Woods (10-0) tomorrow night. The last time Powhatan finished under .500 was 2001, a year in which they went 4-6. They missed the playoffs that season, too, but haven’t since. Go ahead, Indian Nation…feel free to take a collective sigh of relief.

 
Thumbs Down

1. After going his first five starts without throwing an interception, Joe Lewis has now tossed four in his last two games: one against Charlottesville, three against Monticello. To make things even stickier, he failed to complete a pass in either of those contests. Lewis should be working closely his receiving corps and Coach Woodson this week in an attempt to improve his efficiency through the air, lest Briar Woods write the Powhatan offense off as strictly one-dimensional.
 
2. The Powhatan defense allowed over 200 yards rushing for the consecutive game. Two weeks ago, it was Monticello’s T.J. Tillery who lowered the boom (literally, on several occasions), running for 136 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone. Last week, against Charlottesville, the Black Knights utilized a plural approach: quarterback Rashard Davis ran for 154 yards, a game high, but it was runningback Chris Thurston who put points on the scoreboard (133 yards, 2 TD).

Critical Matchups

1. Joe Lewis vs. Charlottesville’s secondary
   Joe Lewis had the first lackluster performance of his varsity career against Monticello last week, and, not surprisingly, his sub-par numbers were a major factor in the large discrepancy in the final score. There’s no question that he has to be much more productive this evening. Charlottesville’s secondary hasn’t been particularly dominating this season, so he might be able to find some a few more holes than he did against the Mustangs. As has been said earlier this season, the burden is never going to be placed entirely on Lewis’ back, but he still needs to practice efficiency. If he can return to the form of game-manager, a role he played so well over his first five starts, then he’ll put the Indians in prime position to lock up a playoff spot.
   
   
2. The Charlottesville O-Line/Rashard Davis/Chris Thurston vs. Powhatan’s run defense
   Quarterback Rashard Davis and running back Chris Thurston are a downright fearsome duo in the backfield for Charlottesville. Last week, Davis and Thurston exploded for 268 yards against Louisa - a team that held Powhatan to a comparatively meager 137 yards on the ground. Powhatan’s rush defense looked about as sturdy as a hut made of match sticks against Monticello last week, surrendering 136 yards and 3 TDs to T.J. Tillery in the first-half alone. If Davis and Thurston find room to scamper early-on, things could get real ugly real quick for the Indians.

Prediction

• Nine weeks ago, you would have been extremely hard pressed to find anyone who would have picked Charlottesville to beat Powhatan on the final day of the 2012 regular season. Even if you wereable to find a brazen outcast that was willing to go against the prevailing wisdom he certainly wouldn’t have been taken seriously by many people. In fact, he probably would have been laughed out of the room and deemed a delirious scoundrel with a serious lack of Jefferson District football knowledge. After all, the two teams finished at complete opposite ends of the spectrum in 2011: the Black Knights finished in the dank confines of the Jefferson District cellar, while the Indians breezed through their regular season schedule and captured their tenth consecutive district championship.
  
  But a heck of a lot has changed in the last two-and-a-half months. Long-standing records have crumbled. District front-runners have been usurped. Surprising up-and-comers have emerged from the shady underbelly of the Jefferson District. Perhaps the most telling zeitgeist is located on the Virginia Preps Forum, where weekly “Pick ‘Em” contests are held and members are asked to choose the outcomes of a host of games. The Powhatan/Charlottesville matchup was one of the games on the dock. So far this week, fourteen members have made their predictions. Of those fourteen, only one has picked the Indians to come out on top. One. If that little nugget of information doesn’t give you some insight into the state of the Jefferson District in 2012, then I don’t know what will. Suddenly that delirious scoundrel from two months back doesn’t seem quite so out of touch, does he?
  
  But no so fast there, Scooter. Charlottesville may be rolling into Powhatan  hotter than a barrel full of ghost chilis, but don’t write off the Indians just yet. Tonight is senior night at Powhatan High. And, on top the subsequent hoopla and inevitable fanfare, the Indians will be fighting for two very meaningful distinctions: (1) a spot in the Division 4 playoffs and (2) a .500 record. Charlottesville has already locked up a spot in the Division 3 postseason, so tonight’s game doesn’t carry nearly as much weight for them as it does for the ol’ Orange & Black.
  
  I’m going against all the neigh-sayers on Virginia Preps and picking the Indians.

Powhatan 27, Charlottesville 21

Notes

• QB Rashard Davis: 47/102, 795 yards, 10 TD. 104 rushes, 1155 yards, 15 TD
• RB Chris Thurston: 142 rushes, 938 yards, 11 TD
• WR Davis Watson: 18 receptions, 231 yards, 4 TD
• Thurston had four touchdowns in a 46-16 blowout of Louisa last week.
• Charlottesville came within a two-point conversion of knocking off district front-runner Western Albemarle (9-0) on October 12.
• A win by Charlottesville will give the Black Knights their first first five-win season since 2002. In that season, they went 10-1 and made their only playoff appearance of the ’00s. A Charlottesville win would also give Powhatan their first losing regular season since 2002.
• Charlottesville has already clinched a spot in the Division 3 playoffs.
• Powhatan’s chances at making the Division 4 playoffs are surprisingly high, no matter the outcome of tonight’s game: a win guarantees the Indians a spot in the postseason, but even if they lose they’ll likely finish ahead of Louisa and Potomac Falls for the eighth and final seed.
• Charlottesville started the season slow, going 1-4 over their first five games. They’ve come on strong since, however, winning three of their last four. One of those wins was a 28-7 shellacking of Monticello, a team that whipped Powhatan 42-13 last week. It should be noted, however, that Jhalil Mosley did not suit up for the Mustangs in that contest.
  
  All player statistics lifted from www.scrimmageplay.com.

Meetings

• 2011: PHS won 56-26
  
  

Common Opponents

• Fluvanna: CHS won 41-34, PHS won 16-0
• Monticello: CHS won 28-7, PHS lost 13-42
• Western Albemarle: CHS lost 49-50, PHS lost 10-30
• Louisa: CHS won 46-16, PHS lost 22-27

Thumbs Up

1. No fumbles! Hey, ya gotta look on the bright side, right?!

2. For the first time in over two weeks, running back L.J. Jackson was Powhatan’s leading rusher. The shifty sophomore accounted for almost half of the Indians rushing yards and was the only Powhatan running back to find pay dirt. It was his first touchdown since the Western Ablemarle game on October 5.

3. Western Ablemarle, Greensville, Midlothian and Grafton boosted Powhatan’s power ranking by tallying victories last Friday evening. As poorly as this season has gone, the Indians are still sitting pretty in the Group AA, Division 4 playoff picture, hard to believe as they may be. It’s as simple as this: win against Charlottesville and they’re guaranteed a postseason appearance. Lose, and it’s possible that Louisa or Potomac Falls could sneak in, but those two teams would also have to have bonus points fall in their favor, which, according to virginiapreps.com, isn’t a very likely possibility.

Thumbs Down

1. After starting his varsity quarterbacking career with five straight games without an interception, Joe Lewis tossed three against Monticello, the first of which was returned 65-yards for the Mustangs’ first touchdown. Lewis finished the night without a single completion (0-7) and was pulled in the fourth quarter in favor of Wes Garrett, the starter through the first three games of the season.

2. The 29-point loss is the Indians’ worst since 2001, when they were drubbed 44-7 by Spotsylvania. Powhatan finished 4-6 that year, a record that the 2012 Indians will match with a loss this Friday. Also, the loss to Monticello is the first game in which the Indians have allowed 42 points since the 2008 Region I Championship, when they shocked 42-31 by Chancellor after blowing a seemingly-insurmountable 28-6 first-half lead.

3. At least two Indians were sidelined with possible season-ending injuries. Tyler Dobrucky, one of Joe Lewis’ most targeted receivers, dislocated his shoulder and was seen walking along the sideline in a sling during the second half. Mason Cabaniss, a linebacker that has come on strong as of late, was taken to the hospital with a possible concussion. Derek Dawson (leg) and Jake Salisbury (shoulder) were also dinged up, but both were able to finish the game on the field.

Anonymous asked: Was it a bad night or is Monticello pretty good this year?

Little of both, I’d say. Powhatan didn’t play well at all, but Monticello certainly had more athletes. They were quicker and much more physical throughout. I’m honestly surprised that they’ve lost two games this year…they looked that impressive.

Their quarterback, Jhalil Mosley (a JMU commit), is a straight up athlete, kind of like Louisa’s Zack Jackson but with a stronger and more accurate arm. The Indians defense was never able to get much pressure on him - kudos to the Monticello O’line.

The story of the game, though, was runningback T.J. Tillery. Kid’s like a bowling ball out there. Very low center of gravity. He rushed for 136 yards and 3 TD in the first half and spent most of the last 48 minutes on the bench.

We turned the ball over three times, too, and that’s never a good thing.

You can check out the highlights here, courtesy of scrimmageplay.com.

Hopefully we can bounce back next week! Thanks for the question.

Mike

Anonymous asked: Did everyone get out of last nights game healthy?

Very good question. Tyler Dobrucky has a dislocated shoulder and Mason Cabaniss may have a concussion. Also, Derek Dawson (leg) and Jake Salisbury (shoulder) came up lame, but both finished the game on the field.

Mike