Hunter lifts Hornets to narrow win over Warriors

Add another page to the Quintin Hunter scrapbook. Orange County’s senior quarterback made another memory Friday night.

With his team down two touchdowns midway through the fourth quarter, Hunter and the Hornets (6-3, 4-1 Jefferson) stormed from behind to take a thrilling 36-35 decision over Western Albemarle in the season finale for the Warriors.

Hunter – who will suit up for the University of Virginia next season – made himself right at home in the Charlottesville area last night, going 7 of 10 for 149 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion on Orange’s final two possessions to give his team a victory it won’t soon forget. 

First, Hunter hooked up with Amir Waller for a 57-yard scoring strike to cut the Western lead to 35-28 before a Dominique Walker 4-yard touchdown run brought the Hornets to within a point at 35-34.

Orange coach John Kayajanian decided to go for two and the win and naturally kept the ball in the hands of his best player.  Hunter responded with a quarterback draw up the middle that gave Orange the improbable win.

“We had a great opportunity.  We were just inches away from victory and we want to take those chances,” said an emotional Hunter after the game.

The decision to go for the win might have been nerve-wracking for some, but Kayajanian knew he wanted to seal the deal in regulation.

“I didn’t want to go to overtime,“ he said. “I didn’t want to put the kids in a situation where we go to overtime and give up some points and get beat.  With Quintin back there I thought we could make a play and get out of here.

As incredible as the Orange comeback was, it almost didn’t matter.  Western (4-6, 3-3) got the ball back with a minute to play and quarterback Stephen Schuler calmly guided the Warriors down the field and into field-goal range with five completions before stopping the clock with less than 10 seconds to play.  But kicker Dominic Losco – who drilled all five of his extra-point attempts – pushed a 23-yard field goal wide right to end the game.

In fact, it was Schuler who looked to be the dominant quarterback in the game prior to Hunter’s late-game exploits.  After senior running back Schuyler Wilkerson was wheeled off the field on a stretcher near the end of the third quarter, Schuler rallied his troops and led the Warriors on back-to-back scoring drives, hooking up with Christophe Drapanas on touchdown passes of 29 and 39 yards, respectively.  Schuler finished the game 19 of 28 with 251 yards and 3 TDs.

But in the end it was Hunter who stole the show and the game away from the Warriors on Senior Night with 378 yards of total offense.  Hunter went 15 of 26 for 283 yards and two scores through the air and added 95 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground for the Hornets, who overcame four turnovers on the night.

“We didn’t play well coming off that big emotional win over Louisa last week and we came out flat.  We turned the ball over and had some penalties that really hurt us but the kids found a way,” Kayajanian said.  “I give the kids a lot of credit for not quitting and coming out with a win.”