Patriots win county matchup

Albemarle’s Jeremy Robinson certainly doesn’t dwell on the past. The senior quarterback and the rest of the Patriots shook off last week’s loss to Monticello and bounced back to beat county rival Western Albemarle on Friday night.
Albemarle used a second-half surge, powered by its effective passing game, to pull away from a pesky Western Albemarle team for the 35-13 win.
The Patriots (1-1) got a stellar performance from Robinson, who threw for four touch-downs. He connected with six different receivers for 236 yards passing.
“Jeremy had a good game last week [at Monticello]. Everybody’s going to look at a mis-take that happened late in the game, and they’re going to judge him, but the game is 48 minutes long,” said Albemarle coach Rick Vrhovac. “Jeremy is a great young athlete, a great young leader, and he did a great job tonight. He just came out and led our team. He threw the ball on the run tonight, which is something we know he can do. He did an excellent job.”
The Warriors (1-3) scored on the opening drive as Stephen Schuler hooked up with Matt Foley for a 25-yard touchdown to take the early 7-0 lead. But Albemarle answered, as Robinson found Zach Vrhovac, who made an outstanding play in double coverage in the end zone. The 29-yard pass play tied the game. The Patriots added another TD before halftime on an 11-yard TD from Robinson to Jordan Hill.
Western used its stingy defense to stay in the game, but except for its opening drive struggled on offense. The Warriors only other score came with less than 30 seconds to play on a Schuler to Dominic Losco pass (24 yards).
Robinson threw for two touchdowns in the third quarter – to Ty Molinaro (16 yards) and Andrew Frazier (12 yards) —as Albemarle wore down Western Albemarle in the second half.
“We got really tired. That’s a big, strong physical team and they execute very well,” Western Albemarle coach Ed Pierce said. “Our kids fought all night. But you’ve got to hand it to them, they’re a very good football team.”
Besides Robinson, who rushed for 36 yards on nine carries, a host of other running backs got in on the action. Mayn Francisco, Jervon Speller, Marvin Tarpley and Andre Roberts all got touches for the Patriots. Roberts, who replaced Robinson at quarterback in the fourth quarter, found the end zone from 19 yards out to complete the scoring for Albemarle.
“Going into it we felt like our speed was going to be a factor,” Vrhovac said. It definitely was in our favor tonight.”
Next week, Albemarle takes on Charlottesville while Western Albemarle plays host to William Monroe.