Eagles win CD battle

Colonial Forge ran its Wing-T offense to near perfection against Albemarle as it rolled up 270 yards on the ground on Friday night.

The Eagles built a big second-half lead from which the Patriots couldn’t recover en route to a 45-23 Commonwealth District win.

The Patriots mounted a comeback, scoring 16 fourth-quarter points, but penalties proved disastrous for the home team.

Albemarle (3-2, 1-1 Commonwealth) racked up 115 yards in penalties.

“They flat out took it to us and beat us,” said Albemarle coach Rick Vrhovac. “We had a very good football team come in here and play us very tough. We did not respond well to the challenge.”

For a while, the game took a backseat, as AHS senior lineman Kyle Jones went down just before halftime on a scary play. He lay face down on the field, motionless, before being carted off on a stretcher. Vrhovac was still awaiting word on his condition after the game.

The injury was no doubt a blow to the Patriots.

“After Kyle got hurt, our heads just went south,” Vrhovac said. “We totally forgot what a team was — it was all about I and not about us. That’s something we’ve got to get back to.”

The Eagles (2-0, 3-2) got down to business after the break, and used their fullback, Laith Shannon, to pull away. Shannon scored two TDs — on runs of five and two yards—to help the visitors pull away. The Patriots had no answer for Shannon, who was the workhorse, toting the ball 13 times for 111 yards.

“That’s what the definition of fullback is,” said Colonial Forge coach Bill Brown. “A kid who will run inside and twist and turn and power and keep his legs moving and take hits but keep the pile going — that’s a fullback. He gives us a great inside attack.”

Albemarle did finally get its passing game going, as quarterback Jeremy Robinson hooked up with Andrew Frazier for a spectacular 44-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 31-15. Then the Patriots recovered a fumble and seized the opportunity after the Eagles’ mistake.

Robinson connected with Zach Vrhovac four times on the ensuing drive for 52 yards before punching it in himself from one yard out. Robinson completed the 2-point conversion on a reverse to bring the game within reach (31-23). Vrhovac was Robinson’s favorite target on the night, as he hauled in a team-high eight passes for 117 yards.

Albemarle tried an onside kick, but it was too short, which set up good field position for Colonial Forge. It took the Eagles five plays to score, as Shannon bulled his way up the middle for a 2-yard TD run to take the wind out of the Patriots’ sails.

Albemarle plays host to Massaponax next week in its Homecoming game.