Pats shut down depleted Knights

Albemarle used a well-rounded team performance and excelled in all three phases of the game in a win over a battered and outmanned Charlottesville team Friday night.
The Patriots exerted their dominance throughout, using a flurry of first-half scoring to build a lead they would never relinquish en route to the 56-7 win.
Quarterback Jeremy Robinson had two touchdown passes, Zach Vrhovac scored twice and Jervon Speller also had a pair of touchdowns in the victory.
“It’s a total performance by our team. A lot of people participated, a lot of people contributed to the win tonight,” said Albemarle coach Rick Vrhovac. “A lot of times you see the same names in the paper, but it was nice tonight. Greg Burton came in and had a lot of runs at the end and Jervon Speller had two touchdowns.”
The Black Knights played with an injured Kevin Leatherwood, who is still recovering from an ankle injury and without several critical members of the team, who, according to Charlottesville coach Chris Fraser, are no longer with the program.
Albemarle (2-1) got right down to business after forcing CHS to go 3-and-out on its opening drive.
Robinson burst up the middle and then broke away for a 32-yard gain, which eventually set up a pass across the middle to Jordan Hill for the 31-yard touchdown.
The Albemarle defense continued to push the Black Knights back, and forced the visitors to punt on their own two-yardline. The Patriots got the safety on the ensuing punt and the 9-0 lead.
“We did a really good job on our kickoffs — Dwayne [Jones] really pinned them inside the five,” Vrhovac said. “Our coverage on our kickoff team was awesome.”
It continued to go downhill for Charlottesville as Albemarle capitalized on every opportunity.
The Patriots got the ball back and immediately scored again as Robinson connected with Vrhovac for a 6-yard play.
The Black Knights got the ball back, but not for long. Leatherwood was nearly intercepted by Thomas D’Agostino, then on the second play of the drive Charlottesville fumbled and Albemarle recovered.
The turnover set up another score, as Vrhovac made his way in from nine yards out to put the home team up 23-0. The Patriots quickly added another on a Mayn Francisco TD.
“We’re outmanned, there’s no doubt about it — we’re just physically not close to them yet,” Fraser said. “I liked the fact that our kids fought the entire time. That’s the best tribute to their character now.”
Charlottesville, which didn’t get a first down until the second quarter, scored its lone touchdown as Jermaine Rush rumbled in from one yard out. Leatherwood set up that drive with a couple of nifty throws by Leatherwood, who connected with Adrian Thurston for two passes for 54 yards.
Both teams enter district play next week, as Albemarle travels to North Stafford for a Commonwealth District matchup, and Charlottesville plays host to William Monroe for its Homecoming game.