Patriots take on Colonial Forge

Much has been made of Albemarle’s offense and its big play ability, but four games into the season, the Patriot defense has done its share of the heavy lifting as well.
Start with last week against North Stafford. The Patriots forced five turnovers in a 35-7 rout.
“The defense recovered three fumbles, forced two interceptions and blocked a field goal,” said Patriots coach Rick Vrhovac. “They got us the ball six times. If you can’t win getting the ball back six times there’s something wrong. The defensive side of the ball is just doing a great job right now.”
That’s good news for Vrhovac as he’s going to need both units to continue playing well for his squad to improve to 2-0 in the Commonwealth district by beating a balanced Colonial Forge team.
“We’re going to see a completely different game Friday night,” Vrhovac said. “It’s not going to be a sloppy game. It’s going to be smash mouth football.”
Perhaps the strongest part of this defense is its depth. There isn’t just one player doing all the work. While Kendall Ravenell has created havoc as a ball hawk, piling up 19 tackles last week, defensive end Jon Pfeifer and linebacker Brandon Spitzer have helped to balance out the unit. Last week Spitzer had 17 tackles and a forced fumble while Pfeifer recovered two fumbles.
With Stephen Washington and Zach Vrhovac among others in the secondary, the Patriots have talent in all three tiers of the defense. Albemarle has held opponents to an average of 11 points a game.
“We’ve scored 138 points in the first four games,” Rick Vrhovac said. “So if the defense continues to average what they are I’d be very happy.”
Looking towards Colonial Forge, the defense will have their hands full in getting past an oversized offensive line. Albemarle is also focusing on making sure they don’t get hooked by the deceptive Wing-t offense that the Eagles run.
“We’re going to have to be disciplined,” Spitzer said. “Before everyone could just run to the ball. But they run a lot of misdirection and a lot of play-action so everyone has to play their role and not over commit.”
Sniffing out trickery all starts in the trenches, and Pfeifer and his lineman know what they need to do.
“We have to stay at home,” Pfeifer said. “You never know what they’re going to do. You just need to stay in your zone, read your keys and lineup properly. The play starts before the snap. As long as we’re in our right gaps everyone knows the play.”
Beating Colonial Forge could go a long way as Albemarle hopes to continue to play better against strong competition, particularly with defending Commonwealth champion Brooke Point on the horizon.
“Last week against North Stafford we were just seeing where we were,” Spitzer said. “As the season goes along, the schedule gets harder and harder. So Colonial Forge is a good stepping stone.”
The Patriots host the Eagles tonight at 7 p.m.