Sam Hearn leapt up and picked off the pass with a little over six minutes to play, and with Western Albemarle down eight points, it seemed like the stage was set for a Warriors comeback.
But on a night where after the first quarter nothing went quite to plan for the Warriors, even a break like that came paired with a mistake in a 34-20 loss to Brookville Friday.
“You can’t do that, you can’t beat yourself, but credit to Brookville they played a nice game,” said Western coach Ed Redmond. “It is what it is, we’ll figure it out, fix it and keep moving forward.”
The Warriors fumbled it away on the very next play, giving Brookville a chance to milk some clock. Western managed to force a turnover on downs and get one last chance, but Brookville’s defense again stood the test. This time, a Tarrell Poe interception on the final play led to a long touchdown return as time expired and completed a shutout final three quarters by the Bees.
“Scoring 14 points on defense, I’m a little bit more than thrilled,” said Brookville coach Jon Meeks. “We only scored 14 on (offense) last week so if your defense is playing that well and scoring (that’s good).”
Western’s earliest costly mistake came when Andrew Bell stripped a Western ball carrier on the second play from scrimmage and promptly raced 25 yards for a touchdown. The strip and score came a play after Sam Hearn was sacked as the Bees set the tone early on defense.
“I thought our kids adjusted well and we were able to run successfully and it seemed like it was going to be one of those donnybrooks, one of those back-and-forthers,” Redmond said. “But credit Brookville they put their feet in the ground and they had some big stops. We just didn’t execute offensively after that first quarter.”
Western ripped off three touchdowns in that first quarter, with Oliver Herndon scoring from seven, four and 43 yards out. But the Warriors’ rhythm fell apart after that opening frame, despite the fact that Western defense had some big-time moments, including a goalline stand to end the first half where the Warriors stonewalled the Bees at the one yardline.
Brookville pulled ahead with a 35-yard touchdown pass by Dylan Onuffer, taking a 21-20 lead. From there, Brookville looked to milk clock and control possession and they used a lot of different players to do it. An array of ball carriers toted the ball for the Bees as Meeks looked to keep several key athletes who were playing both ways fresh.
“We do have a lot of different guys and we have a couple of guys that are our feature guys, but they’re playing both ways, they need a breather,” Meeks said. “It really was just next man up and the next guy just seemed to do something.”
Four Brookville players carried the ball five or more times with Deion Jackson’s 54 yards on eight carries and Andrew Bell’s eight carries for 52 yards leading the way. Quarterback Dylan Onuffer threw for 143 yards with the bulk of that coming on an 81-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the opening half. The 2-0 start for Brookville, who beat Albemarle 21-0 at home last week, is a huge step in the right direction for the Bees.
“Coach Redmond is unbelievable, what has he lost five games in five years?,” Meeks said. “Playing Western with that guy at the helm you know you’re in for it. We preached it all week that if you can play with Western you should be able to play with anybody.”
There were several other instances on the night where mistakes cost Western dearly right after the Warriors made a big play. Like when Derek Domecq raced for a long return immediately after Brookville took the lead, but a hold away from the ball brought it back. It seemed each time Western was poised to take control, Brookville or a bad break took it away, and the Bees were at least for a night masters at capitalizing on those errors.
Western will look to bounce back at home against Spotswood while the Bees’ tour of Albemarle County is now over. They face Gretna Friday looking to move to 3-0.
