By Drew Goodman / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Not wanting to yield any points on the first defensive series of his senior year, Western Albemarle linebacker Jack Lesemann implored his veteran unit to step up after visiting Broadway marched deep into Warrior territory.
On the ninth play of the drive, the Gobblers put the ball on the turf, and Lesemann pounced on the ball for a much needed momentum shift for the Warriors.
The early fumble recovery may have been Lesemann being in the right place at the right time. But in the second half, the Warriors’ senior laden unit asserted themselves and made their presence felt against a group of Broadway receivers that caught everything early on as Western picked up a 17-6 victory in the Warriors’ season opener.
In addition to the fumble recovery, Lesemann picked off a pair of Nicholas Lohr passes and fellow senior Jack Weyher also notched two interceptions. The Western Albemarle defense notched six total takeaways on the night, winning the turnover battle 6-1, and eventually, the ballgame.
In a play that emblematic of the night, Broadway’s final offensive play was Lesemann’s second pick.
The Gobblers (0-1) went 13-for-15 through the air in the first half, but Weyher set the tone for a rough final 24 minutes for the visitors by intercepting a Lohr pass at midfield to open the third quarter.
In addition to the timely picks, Western’s defense began to limit Broadway on third down in the second half, and took away a great deal of what was working for Lohr and company in the first.
By limiting the Gobblers to next nothing on the ground, the Warriors were able to shift from a zone defense to a man-to-man alignment, squeezing Lohr into shorter passes in tighter windows.
“I thought [the defense] stepped up.” Western Albemarle head coach Ed Redmond said. “Going into the season, the expectations were pretty high for our defense. We’ve got a lot of guys with experience on that side of the ball… Expectations are very high, so I’m pleased to get six turnovers on a kid that can throw the ball around like that.”
With the win, Redmond improved to 7-0 all-time in season openers at Western Albemarle. Both Western takeaways in the first half resulted in the home team’s lone touchdowns on the night.
The Warriors’ defense is littered with seasoned veterans, but Redmond trotted out a bevy of unfamiliar faces on offense in Friday’s game.
Junior quarterback Carter Shifflett made his varsity debut under the lights in Crozet, while sophomore Austin Shifflett took on the role as the starting tailback. As has been the case with the Western offense under Redmond, the quarterback played a sizable role in the rushing attack. Following the fumble recovery by Leesman, Carter Shifflett dashed 67 yards to the end zone to put the home team on the board.
Then, an interception return by Wyatt Thomas set Shifflett up for a 19-yard touchdown run, and the junior found Weyher on the two-point conversion to put the Warriors ahead 14-0.
Shifflett led Western Albemarle with 97 yards rushing, including the two long scoring plays. Austin Shifflett had a solid debut as a full-time member of the varsity squad, finishing with 74 yards, highlighted by an emphatic 34-yard gain in the third quarter to keep a drive alive.
The offense did a nice job of not putting the defense in any dicey situations, and did not turn the ball over until Saunders fumbled into the end zone with less than one minute to play.
With a defense that returns plenty of juniors and seniors, Redmond was perfectly fine with allowing his first time starter get his feet wet in his inaugural varsity game.
“I thought Carter managed the offense,” Redmond said. “He was consistent in his play. He managed the game that we presented him. We didn’t ask him to do a lot… We gave him a very manageable game plan.”
Carter Shifflett may be short on game experience, but the long-time Western Albemarle football fan makes up for it with his knowledge of the program. Over the years, Carter Shifflett watched Kent Henry, Sam Hearn, and more recently, Derek Domecq post storied careers in Crozet and hopes to emulate his childhood heroes sometime in the not-too-distant future.
“You go to games when you’re younger and being the starting quarterback at Western (it’s) guys like that,” Carter Shifflett said. “So it was big to come out here and follow that legacy.”
The Warriors will take next week off before hosting Lord Botetourt on September 7.
