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Richlands falls in state semifinals

Richlands (7) vs. Wilson Memorial (13)
Written: Aug 28, 2015
Article
By BRIAN WOODSON

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

FISHERSVILLE, Va. — Unfortunately for Richlands, the third time was a charm for the Hornets.

Wilson Memorial finally got over the hump to the 2A state championship game, scoring on a 10-yard run by Savant Swift in overtime to lift the Green Hornets to a hard-fought 13-7 state semifinal win over Richlands on a rainy Saturday afternoon on a muddy Steve Geiman Field.

“That has been our message since last season was over,” Wilson Memorial head coach Jeremiah Major said. “We have got to finish, whether it is finish a play, whether it is finish a drive, finish a game or finish a season, and they finished tonight.”

After losing the state semifinals in each of the last two years, the Hornets (13-1) were able to score the first and last time they had the ball, and that was enough to earn a berth against Glenvar for the state title next Saturday in Salem.

“It hasn’t set in yet, but when it does I will be bawling on the field, and rejoice,” Swift said. “This is just huge off our backs to make this community proud.”

Playing against a defense that had allowed just 58 points all season, it took the Blue Tornado (10-4) until late in the fourth quarter to finally score on a 4-yard run by River Michaels. Alex Bandy added the extra point and it was 7-7 with 7:36 left in the game.

"They are tough or they wouldn’t be here,” Richlands head coach Greg Mance said. “There is a reason they are 12-1. If you would have told me we were going to hold them to seven points, I would have said we would win the football game.”

For most of the day, Richlands had no answers on offense, with the Hornets picking off five passes, and the Blues were also victimized with 15 penalties for nearly 140 yards on a wet and rainy afternoon at a packed facility just outside of Staunton.

“No excuses, Wilson Memorial was the better team today and they are advancing and we are not,” Mance said. “The recipe for defeat is turnovers and penalties and we had them both today. We didn’t play well enough to advance today.”

Much of that was because of the Wilson Memorial defense, which missed out on its chance for an eighth shutout on the season, but still held the Blues to just 219 yards in the game.

“That is a great defense, we shut them down too, but they are a great ball club too and things came down to who wanted it more,” Michaels said. “We wanted it, but things just don’t come our way all the time.”

Michaels, who had thrown for 738 and seven touchdowns in three playoff games, struggled on the rain-soaked field, throwing for 189 yards, but also had four interceptions.

“(The weather) didn’t bother us, that is no excuse for it, “ Michaels said. “We didn’t play to our ability, but I am proud of each and every one of them.”

“I think the field was in great shape, it was a tougher environment last week (at Gate City),” added Mance. “We were just off our game today and give Wilson Memorial credit, a great defense and it is proven, They bend a little bit, but they don’t break.”

Thai Wright had three interceptions for the zone-based Hornets, while Hunter Carr had two, including a key pick in overtime.

Wilson Memorial scored on its opening possession, using its double wing offense to drive 66 yards on 14 plays, converting a 4th-and-4 along the way on a 15-yard scramble by quarterback and James Madison recruit Mack Cullen.

The Hornets finished it off on a 1-yard plunge by Jesse Trent, with Garrett McBee making the extra point kick for the 7-0 lead with 4:44 left in the quarter.

“That is a good football offense, you don’t see it, it is hard to practice for,” Mance said. “I knew it would take us a series or two to get adjusted to their speed and technique of it because the scout team can’t simulate it.”

Richlands was stingy the rest of the way, creating a pair of turnovers, including an interception by Cory Alicie, a fumble recovery from Danny Anderson, and two blocked punts by Austin Holmes.

“They got after us, they were big, and they were physical,” said Savant, who finished with 114 yards on the ground. “That was definitely one of the most physical teams we have seen this year.”

From that opening score by the Hornets, it was all defense, and penalties...lots of penalties. It seemed at times there was laundry on the field after every play. Richlands had 15 for 139 yards, while the Hornets had 11 for 112 yards.

Wilson Memorial finished with 285 yards on offense, but it took 62 carries of the football to get 265 of those on the ground. Cullen completed one pass for 20 yards.

“We played great defense, they have got a tough offense, but offensively we probably had eight or nine penalties, maybe more on offense today,” said. “We just were not sharp, I think that had a lot do with it, but the penalties beat us.”

Richlands actually had more chances close to the end zone than the Hornets. Michaels threw 38 times, completing 16 for 189 yards, but had four costly interceptions. Zeke Vance attempted one pass and it was also picked off. Chace Collins led the Blues with four receptions for 81 yards.

“I think they got a little frustrated, but I really thought we played really well on the defensive side and special teams side, I was very pleased,” said Mance, whose Blues finished with 30 yards on the ground. “I was very disappointed in our offense, and I am in charge of the offense and we just kept coming up with penalties...”

“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities...The mark of a good football team is you have got to execute and you have got to be sharp. When you are playing the best defense in the state in double-A, you can’t make mistakes and you can’t make penalties.”

Both teams traded punts after the Richlands touchdown, with the Hornets having the ball last in regulation. Going to the wildcat formation for the first time all season, Juh-Kwquan McCauley _ who has been hampered by an ankle injury _ was able to drive Wilson Memorial to the Blues’ 22-yard line.

Wilson Memorial sent out McBee to attempt a 39-yard field goal, but it was well short of its target, setting up overtime.

Richlands got the ball first from the 10, getting to the 4 on a pass interference call. Michaels rolled out on third down and attempted to throw the ball away, but Carr jumped high and picked off the pass in the right corner of the end zone.

“Our defense has been playing well all year and making plays when they had to,” Major said. “Hunter Carr went up and made the play.”

"That tells you are off when you are trying to throw it out of bounds and we throw an interception when he is trying to throw it away,” added Mance. “River wasn’t on his game today and we kind of go through him.”

Wilson Memorial then scored on its first play, with Savant following the blocking of 225-pound tight end Justin Leary and 260-pound Justin Koogler on the ‘power right’ into the end zone for the winning points.

“When we went with our chance we went with our bread and butter and we do what we do,” Major said. “That is the play we practice about 100 times a day in practice, the kids stepped it up when we had to and scored when we had to.”

That set off a celebration among the Hornets, which finally saw two years of heartache come to an end. Barely.

“Absolutely, that is the thing about these kids, they are resilient,” Major said. “We wanted to make sure they stayed hungry and they weren’t just satisfied with getting here.”

Richlands, which started the season at 0-2 — including losing a 22-point fourth quarter lead in a loss to Union — still made its deepest progression into the postseason since falling in the Division 3 state title game in 2010.

"That is what I told the kids, gosh almighty, you were 0-2...and now you were one play from going to the state championship game,” Mance said. “I am proud of them, my heart is bleeding for them right now because in my heart we had an opportunity to win this ball game if we had played sharp on offense today..

“We battled to the end. We didn’t have our ‘A’ game today and when you are not on your ‘A’ game in the state semifinals you are going to get beat. You look at turnovers and penalties, we preach that all the time.”

bwoodson@bdtonline.com,

Twitter @bdtwoodson

at Steve Geiman Field

Richlands..........................0 0 0 7 0 — 7

Wilson Memorial..............7 0 0 0 6 — 13

First Quarter

WM: Jesse Trent 1 run (Garret McBee kick) 4:44

Fourth Quarter

RL: River Michaels 4 run (Alex Bandy kick) 7:36

Overtime

WM: Savant Swift 10 run

———

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: RL 13; WM 16. Rush-yards: RL 17-30; WM 62-265. Pass yards: RL 189; WM 20. Comp-Att-Int: RL 16-39-5; WM 1-7-1. Total yards: RL 219; WM 285. Fumbles-Lost: RL 0-0; WM 1-1. Penalty-yards: RL 15-139; WM 11-112. Punts-Avg: RL 1-39; WM 2-33.5

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: RL Brandon Waldron 8-29, Griffin McCauley 5-21, Chace Collins 1-(-5), River Michaels 3-(-15); WM Savant Swift 21-114, Juh-Kwquan McCauley 17-67, Jesse Trent 15-41, Connor Chapman 7-30, Mack Cullen 2-13.

Passing: RL River Michaels 16-38-4 int-189-0, Zeke Vance 0-1-1 int-0-0; WM Mack Cullen 1-5-0-20-0, Brandon Gochenour 1-0-0-0-0, Savant Swift 1-0-1 int-0-0.

Receiving: RL Chace Collins 4-81, Zeke Vance 4-49, Austin Atkinson 2-22, Brandon Waldron 2-18, Cade Mullins 3-14, Griffin McCauley 1-5; WM Justin Leary 1 -20.

Takeaways: RL Cory Alicie int,Danny Anderson fr; WM Thai Wright 3 int, Hunter Carr 2 int.
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GAME SCOREBOARD
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Richlands 0 0 0 7 0 7
Wilson Memorial 7 0 0 0 6 13
GAME OF THE NIGHT ARCHIVE
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