By Ben Sheridan / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
It was a slow start for the Warriors on both sides of the ball.
But the Warriors didn’t let that be the end of the story.
Western rolled in the second half to secure a 38-13 win over Charlottesville Friday night, the Warriors’ second win in a row after holding off Fluvanna’s own second half charge a week ago.
“We came into the second half just trying to do what we do, we’re a tough, physical football team and we try to go out and dominate the line of scrimmage,” said Western Albemarle’s Austin Shifflett.
They weren’t getting that kind of dominance early on. The night began with the Black Knights marching the ball down the field for 77 yards on 15 plays — taking up just over eight minutes worth of game time — ending with a rushing touchdown from Jaleom Adams-Mallory, who finished with 52 yards rushing for the game. That drive gave Charlottesville a 6-0 lead, but shortly after, it seemed like the Warrior offense was on track to match it, before the drive was stalled near the goal line. The Warriors settled for the field goal, making it 6-3.
In the second quarter, both defenses forced punts early on before Charlottesville got the ball back, and proceeded to go on an 11-play, 52-yard drive that ended with a touchdown from Isaiah Washington, who led the Black Knights with 102 yards on the ground. That gave the Black Knights a 13-3 lead with 40.3 seconds left before the half, and the Warriors knew that they needed to find something on offense.
“We thought that we really needed to get some points on the board, Charlottesville was controlling the possessions, and we really needed to get something before the end of the half,” Shifflett said.
They got something going as Carter Shifflett found Breaker Mendenhall for a 44-yard touchdown just before halftime, making it a 13-10 game at the break.
“I was just trying to catch the ball, Austin’s a great running back so a lot of teams focus on him which opened up the opportunity for the pass there,” said Mendenhall.
Carter Shifflet finished with three total touchdowns and 65 passing yards for the Warriors while Austin Shifflett with 176 yards and a score on 17 attempts. That catch by Mendenhall late in the first half gave Western the momentum going into the break, but the team knew they still had work to do in order to secure the win.
Western’s second drive in the third quarter was capped by a 44-yard touchdown run from Austin Shifflett, giving them their first lead of the game at 13-17. The Western defense felt the momentum as well, forcing two punts on the Black Knights’ two third quarter drives.
“I thought the defense played really well, it’s hard to play against a triple option offense, and I thought we did well tonight,” said Mendenhall.
Then came the fourth quarter, and the Warriors began to take total control of the game, starting with a 19-yard score from Carter Shifflett to make things 24-13.
Mendenhall picked off a pass on Charlottesville’s next possession, which the Western offense turned into another Carter Shifflett touchdown run. Western tacked on a 12-yard touchdown form John Buetow late.
Wins can give teams confidence, but the Warriors know that there’s still work to do in their next game with a rivalry tilt against Albemarle coming up.
“We’ve gotta start with a fire and not wait until the second half to kick it into gear,” said Shifflett.
Charlottesville will make the short trip to Monticello next week.
