Group 3A – State Semifinals
Bulldogs move on to State Finals with dominant win over William Byrd 49-6
Bulldog Stadium, Lynchburg, VA – Bulldog RB/S 8 Gideon Davidson (20/223,4TDs) stole the show again in Saturday’s 49-6 win over William Byrd in the Group 3A state semifinals in Lynchburg. Only a Junior and a Clemson Tiger commit, Davidson torched Byrd for 4TDs, the first one coming from 60-yards out with less than a minute gone. He is a special player. LCA Coach Frank Rocco said as much after the game, “A lot of things we do, is to try to get people out of sync, and create edges and create power angles… Gideon is a phenom. We’ve got an offensive line that knows what they’re doing and create seams. We get Gideon into a seam and let him do his stuff.” Davidson doesn’t do it alone. That big LCA line has created opportunities for the Bulldogs all year. After the 7-0 start, LCA followed that up with with a 1-yard TD run by backup QB 5 James Deyo four minutes later. Davidson added to the lead on a 1-yard run of his own. Special teams got into the act only 5 seconds later with a fumble recovery in the end zone of the kickoff by TE/LB 22 Weston Woodward.
Things slowed a bit in the second quarter, as Byrd moved the ball and the ‘sticks’, but couldn’t produce points. Davidson reeled off another long TD run. This time from 62-yards out. LCA led 35-0 before Byrd WR/RB 40 Walter Barrows show the spark that had made Byrd so dangerous all year. Barrows took the following kickoff, jogged right then cut up field and outran the field to the end zone. The PAT was blocked and LCA led 35-6 at the break. LCA’s defense was dominant as well. Three interceptions, two by WR/DB 11 Dalton Nesselrotte, and the last by DB 1 Jayden Cowart, plus two fumbles gave the ball back the explosive Bulldog offense. LCA added two more TDs, a 10-yard run from Davidson and a 57-yard dart by RB 24 Elijah Castenada (8/113,TD) in the fourth. LCA will now face Lafayette a 17-7 winner over Brentsville District next weekend in the state finals. – Cap’n Crunch
OFFENSE:
Rushing:
LCA– Gideon Davidson 20/223,4TDS, Elijah Castaneda 8/113,TD, Jaden Coward 1/1, James Deyo, 1/1,TD, Jeb Moon, 2/(-9) William Byrd – Israel Hairston 13/34, Brayden Andrews 4/15, Walter Barrows 3/(-1), Elliot Gaines 1/6
Passing:
LCA– Jeb Moon 7/8,66 William Byrd – Israel Hairston 11/23,76,3INTs
Receiving:
LCA– Reagan Burgess 2/26, Dalton Nesselrotte 1/12, Josh Pillai 1/10, J.D. Murphy 1/10 William Byrd – Jerrett Shepherd 3/39, Dom Dulak 4/23, Brayden Andrews 1/11, Cooper Minnis 1/4, Walter Barrows 2/(-1)
Returns:
LCA– Gideon Davidson 2/41 William Byrd – Walter Barrows 2/86, TD, Brayden Andrews 2/16, Jerrett Shepherd 1/8,
Punting:
LCA– N/A William Byrd – Israel Hairston 2/31 yd avg
Scoring:
First Quarter-
LCA: Gideon Davidson 60-yard TD run; Ryan Petit PAT 11:02
LCA: James Deyo 1-yard TD run; PAT No Good 7:09
LCA: Gideon Davidson 1-yard TD run; Gideon Davidson 8-yard 2ptr 2:32
LCA: Weston Woodard 3-yard TD on Fumble Recovery; Ryan Petit PAT 11:02
Second Quarter-
LCA: Gideon Davidson 62-yard TD run; Ryan Petit PAT 11:02
William Byrd: Walter Barrows 89-yard Kickoff Return for TD; PAT blocked
Third Quarter-
LCA: Gideon Davidson 10-yard TD run; Ryan Petit PAT 11:02
Fourth Quarter-
LCA: Elijah Castaneda 57-yard TD run; Sam Mejia PAT 11:02
