By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplay.com contributor
GOOCHLAND — Despite a bizarre week in which its regular-season finale was canceled and its first-round playoff opponent was switched Monday afternoon, the top-seeded Goochland High School football team took care of business against No. 8 seed Independence in the Region 3B quarterfinals on Friday night.
The Bulldogs, last year’s state runner-up, used an efficient ground game to break to an early lead and let their defense do the rest en route to the 42-6 win.
That’s the ninth-straight season that Goochland has won its first round playoff game. Goochland will take on Skyline, a winner over William Monroe, in the semifinals.
“It really doesn’t matter who’s lined up on the other side of us or what opponent we have, we just know we’re going to stick to our game plan and prepare like we always do and we have to perform to our best ability,” said senior Devin McCray, who finished with 190 yards of total offense.
Goochland (9-1) jumped ahead early, scoring on its first two possessions with runs by Dakahri Burgess (six yards) and Connor Popielarz (one yard).
The Bulldogs’ defense, led by Will Stratton and Kindrick Braxton, clamped down, forcing the Tigers (2-9) to go three-and-out on their next series.
McCray, a 6-0, 175-pounder, helped provide a spark for Goochland moments into the second quarter as he capped an 80-yard touchdown catch and run from C.J. Towles, racing down the left sideline for the score. Tyler Black converted the point after attempt to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 21-0. The freshman kicker finished 6 for 6 on PATs for the night.
“[Coach] Fruth saw that we could get the edge and that’s exactly what we did,” McCray said. “Everybody blocked well and big plays happen when people do the small details.”
Goochland, which donned its black uniforms for the contest, maintained a 21-0 halftime lead as its stingy defense was able to keep multi-dimensional quarterback Brian Courtney in check.
“It would have been nice to have scored some more points early on, but we got in our own way,” Goochland coach Alex Fruth said. “But once you get that, you kinda get the kids the feeling like ‘Hey, we’ve got this game in control.’ The defense did a really great job. That’s a tough offense to get ready for, that’s a physical style of football.”
Goochland tacked on scores from Quincy Snead and Towles (who went 7-for-11 passing for 165 yards) before giving up a late TD to the visitors. Courtney connected with Josh Hand for a 52-yard pass play with 2:41 remaining to get the first-year varsity program on the board.
Popielarz, a junior running back, sprinted in from 15 yards out for his second TD of the night to complete the scoring.
The Bulldogs, who moved up to Class 3 this season, didn’t play flawless football. Goochland was plagued by penalties all night, and Fruth knows his team needs to erase those mistakes in order to move on.
“We’ve got to play sound, clean football because good teams don’t do that,” Fruth said. “If we don’t, we’re going to be collecting pads on a Monday sooner than we’d like to.”
Goochland, which captured state titles in 2006 and 2012, has a long history of advancing deep into the playoffs.
McCray, one of 16 seniors recognized at halftime, said the team is happy to be back in a familiar spot.
“It’s very exciting and it’s what we expect. We have high expectations and we expect to make it back to where we did last year,” McCray said. “We just can’t make stupid mental mistakes and play our normal game.”
The Bulldogs will host No. 5 Skyline on Friday.
