PREP FOOTBALL: STAB offense looks sharp despite loss

Despite its loss to Fork Union this past Friday, St. Anne’s-Belfield enjoyed success on offense all night.
The Saints got another productive outing from junior running back Aaron Clark, who paced the ground game with 153 yards on 20 carries.
Clark’s longest run of the game came in the first quarter, as he broke numerous tackles for a 24-yard jaunt.
It marked the second straight game the speedster from Raleigh, N.C., eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark. He finished with 139 yards on five carries, including an 80-yard touchdown run in his first carry for the Saints.
Not to be outdone was senior quarterback Howie Long, who had a hand in all four of STAB’s touchdowns.
He connected with Alex Asher for two TD passes and found Michael Battle in the end zone. Long, who was 15 for 25 for 212 yards passing, also ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder who is headed to UVa to play lacrosse, hooked up with seven different receivers in the game.
“Aaron [Clark] was awesome all night, he played real well,” said STAB coach John Blake. “Our offensive line played really well — I was very pleased with the way we ran the football, and Howie [Long] was great. But we made too many mistakes to pull it off.”
STAB (0-2) is off this week, and returns to action on Sept. 19 at Trinity.
CVA record watch
Last year, every major career
offensive mark in Central Virginia fell, with Monticello’s Daniel Lieb (receiving), the Mustangs’ Takeem Hedgeman (rushing) and Blue Ridge’s Chad Byers (passing) all taking the top spots.
Lieb’s record is now officially under threat.
St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Alex Asher, officially pulled down 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Fork Union on Friday, bringing the senior’s total to 2,067 yards. That puts him just 450 yards behind Lieb’s total of 2,517 yards.
Asher began his career at Western and then shifted to St. Anne’s. He has been moved to tight end this season by the Saints, and has offers from Ohio University, Richmond, Liberty and James Madison on the table currently.
We’ll be tracking Asher’s progress toward the mark throughout this season. 
Litkett looks good
Aaron Clark was not the only running back that turned heads in the St. Anne’s-Fork Union game.
FUMA got a stellar performance from Louis Litkett, who rushed for four touchdowns, including the game-winner, a two-yard run, with 11 seconds to play. The
5-foot-10, 166-pound back powered the Blue Devils’ offense, finishing with 208 yards on 25 carries.
But Litkett knows to give credit where credit is due. Fork Union’s linemen — Russell Bodine, Skyler Allen, Jason Komey, Mark Shuman and Ryan Sims — paved the way up front.
“The offensive line just worked hard all day and I think we came together as a team,” Litkett said. “We’ve all been working hard all week, but most of the credit has to go to my linemen, because without them I couldn’t do anything. This was a big win for us. [STAB] played a great game, this is a great team —it was a wonderful opportunity for everybody. We’ll just take this as a learning step and move on to the next team next week.”
FUMA travels to Hargrave Military Academy on Friday.
A battle within the battle
Brud Bicknell used to be an assistant under Rick Vrhovac at Albemarle and he’s coached against him for a decade, but apparently the Patriots’ coach still has at least one trick Bicknell can’t pin down.
“I suppose after playing him for 10 years I should expect it from Rick, but he doesn’t play the same [defensive] front he plays all preseason when he plays us,” Bicknell said. “We didn’t guess right with what he was going to do and it took us awhile to make adjustments.”
That curveball by Vrhovac was a big reason the Patriots got a tremendous amount of pressure up the middle on Monticello quarterback Michael Graham in the first half. That pressure contributed in a big way to the Mustangs’ early frustrations before Monticello righted the ship and pulled off a 19-12 victory.
“I’ll call Brud tomorrow and tell him I planned on that one for him,” Vrhovac said. “Brud and I are good friends and I think the world of him. There’s only one night a year I don’t like him and that’s over now. He’s got bragging rights for a year, so I’ve got to suck it up.”
Injury update
A pair of local playmakers suffered injuries on Friday, but neither appears to be extremely serious.
Monticello’s Hines Banks sprained his ankle in the Mustangs’ slugfest against Albemarle, leaving in the second half after injuring it during AHS’s Zach Vrhovac’s touchdown catch.
Banks is doubtful for this week against King George according to Monticello coach Brud Bicknell, but other than the senior’s injury, Monticello escaped its season opener unscathed.
Charlottesville’s Kevin Leatherwood also suffered an ankle injury against Harrisonburg, re-entering the game and playing through the pain. Leatherwood’s injury is also not a break, and he is
currently day-to-day as far as availability for Friday.
Lions improve to 2-0
Louisa County posted an impressive win over Powhatan (21-0) this past week, in a game that was shifted to Thursday because of the threat of rain from Tropical Storm Hanna.
With the win, the Lions are 2-0 in the young season. Louisa won its opener over Eastern View on Aug. 29.
Against Powhatan, Louisa got a second-quarter touchdown from Anthony Hunter and never looked back. Hunter, who finished with 120 yards, is the team’s leading rusher this year, with 187 yards on 34 carries and three touchdowns.
Kerry Wynn had an interception return in the third quarter to help secure the shutout. Wynn has six catches for 119 yards this season.
The Lions’ defense wasn’t too shabby either. It held the Indians to 186 total yards in the shutout.
Louisa plays host to Spotsylvania on Friday.