Seesaw affair has Colonels besting Generals 33-28 in the final Quarter
Altavista High School, Altavista, VA – In a Friday night thriller with four combined TD’s in the final minutes of each half, it was fourth quarter action that decided the game. Generals RB 7 Elijah Jackson (163, 2TD) struck first in the final stanza.
The senior cruised 45 yards for the score off a direct snap, giving William Campbell their first lead of the half. “Our offense did what they were supposed to do,” WC’s Coach Danny Broggin said after the game, “but we did not execute on defense.” Sure enough, Altavista’s RB 6 Ja’Corian “Speedy” Davis (138 yards) found a hole in the General’s “D” and zoomed 40 yards to the goal line.
RB 8 Rosser Farmer (5/24 yards TD) finished the job with a 2 pointer putting the hometown Colonels up 26-22. The General’s still had time. Jackson was Campbell’s primary option and had dominated the game with his feet, but it wasn’t the night for his arm. On his first pass attempt, Altavista’s 9 Wesley Harmon intercepted the football. Fifty-nine yards later, Colonel’s RB 2 Ladainian Stone (15/163 yards, 3TDs) found the end zone. Down by 11 with less than half a minute left, no amount of last second heroics could bail the visiting team out. “We just showed that we can be a second half team,” Colonels Coach Matt Deloach said after the game. “It was a great win for our kids and our fans as well.”
Despite the result, William Campbell started the night off strong on both sides of the ball. On defense, the Generals forced the Colonels to go three and out on their first two drives; Altavista’s only three and outs of the game. The first drive, WC limited Stone to two yards over two carries. On the second the squad in white capitalized on a third down bobbled snap to force a Colonels punt. The General’s first possession on offense caught fire thanks to RB 2 Xavier Daye (5/56 rush yards 1/2 18 rec. yards) who set up the early TD with a breakaway 58 yard dash up the middle. RB 14 Trayzon Wooding (5/10 yards 2TD’s) finished the job for six, followed up by 10 Anthony Boyd for the two point conversion. With the help of QB 3 Montevius Thompson (5/16 rush yards, 5/12 114 pass yards), who averaged 22.8 yards per complete pass, the Generals made their way inside the twenty. A potential 16-0 lead was looking like a given before a holding call pushed the visiting squad back to the 24. Jackson made up the ten yards, but on third down Stone brought “number 7” down behind the line for a loss.
A pass interference flag on fourth down moved the Generals four yards away from first and goal, but the Colonel defense banded together and stopped WC a yard away from a near guaranteed two TD swing. After the red zone stop, the momentum shifted in favor of the home squad. From the five yard-line, Altavista’s Stone went to work, stiff arming his way 48 yards into General’s territory. Farmer added ten yards to the drive and Stone finished what he started; the junior trucked his way 26 yards for his first TD. Farmer punched in the two point conversion to tie things up 8-8. The Generals couldn’t get it going on the other side of the ball, throwing three incomplete passes in a row to put the football back in the Colonel’s hands. The drive went nowhere, setting up an unconventional turn of events on Altavista’s punt. 9 Wesley Harmon averaged 44.6 yards per punt on the night but this attempt wouldn’t be factored in. The snap was low and Harmon bent down to field the ball with his knee hitting the ground. He was ruled down 12 yards from the line of scrimmage. One slip up ended up being worth around 56 yards and situated William Campbell inside the 20 with two minutes in the half. The Generals were quick to capitalize on the gifted field position as Thompson drilled WR 1 Shy’Tariuse Palmer (2/4 47 receiving yards) for first and goal followed by Wooding’s second TD with 34 seconds left. Altavista stopped Boyd’s try for two and the home fans prepared for their team to head to the locker room down six. But Altavista wasn’t done.
Davis fielded the kick, spun, dodged and sprinted his way 71 yards to William Campbell’s 22 yardline. With 0.0 on the clock QB 4 Jordan Pippin (3/4 36 pass yards TD 7/23 rush yards) arched a pass over the middle to WR 3 Jamari Slayton (1/2 14 rec. yards TD 1/1 1 rush yard) for the game tying TD. The Colonel’s two point conversion missed the mark, 14-14 at the half. After attempting two tosses in the first half, the buzzer beater TD pass emboldened Pippin in the opening second half drive. The Senior hit Farmer for 12 yards and 5 Evan Scruggs for another 10 followed by a pitch to Davis for a 27 yard pickup. Stone picked up another 19 yards before breaking into the end zone for his second TD. The Colonel’s two point conversion failed, but they had a 20-14 lead. Thompson was the main man for the General’s on their drive, he beamed Palmer for 27 yards despite Altavista’s third down Jaws theme blaring over the speakers. The next play, WC’s QB hit Jackson for another 20 yards.
The General’s fans came alive but 25 yards worth of penalties stopped the drive in the dust. It felt like a yellow hit the ground every other play, when the game clock expired, 24 penalties had been called for a total of 205 lost yards between the two teams. With 20 seconds on the board after Stone’s dagger TD in the fourth, William Campbell resolved to not go down without a fight. Down 33-22, the ball was kicked and Jackson fielded it, running 77 yards to the end zone in ten-seconds flat. The Altavista lead was too much, and the General’s subsequent two point conversion and onside kick attempt failed, ending the contest 33-28 Colonels. Next week, Altavista hops on the buses to take on Appomattox in an effort to earn a 4-1 record and William Campbell hosts Nelson County to try and get back to .500 at 3-3. – Graham Whitaker
OFFENSE
RUSHING: Altavista– Ladainian Stone 15/163 3TD’s, Ja’Corian Davis 7/67yds, Rosser Farmer 5/24yds TD, Evan Scruggs 1/4yds, Jamari Slayton 1/1yd William Campbell– Elijah Jackson 10/60yds TD, Xavier Daye 5/56yds, Montevius Thompson 5/16yds, Trayzon Wooding 5/10yds 2TD’s, Anthony Boyd 2/10yds
PASSING: Altavista– Jordan Pippin 3/4 36yds TD William Campbell– Montevius Thompson 5/12 114yds, Elijah Jackson 0/1 0yds INT
RECEIVING: Altavista– Jamari Slayton 1/2 14yds TD, Rosser Farmer 1/1 12yds, Evan Scruggs 1/1 10yds William Campbell – Shy’Tariuse Palmer 2/4 47yds, Savareay Charlton 1/5 29yds, Elijah Jackson 1/1 20yds, Xavier Daye 1/2 18yds
PUNTING: Altavista– Wesley Harmon 3/44.6yd avg. William Campbell– Shy’Tariuse Palmer 2/53.5yd avg.
SCORING
1st quarter
William Campbell – 1yd Wooding rush: 2-pointer Boyd rush 7:05
2nd quarter
Altavista – 26yd Stone rush: 2-pointer Farmer rush 8:03
William Campbell – 3yd Wooding rush: 2-pointer failed 0:34
Altavista– 14yd Pippin pass to Slayton: 2-pointer failed 0:00
3rd Quarter
Altavista– 1yd Stone rush: 2-pointer failed 6:25
4th quarter
William Campbell– 45yd Jackson rush: 2-pointer Jackson pass to Charlton 8:17
Altavista – 1yd Farmer rush: 2-pointer failed 4:39
Altavista – 10yd Stone Rush: Harmon PAT 0:20