By Drew Goodman / Scrimmageplay.com contributor
With the exception of last week’s win over Louisa, the Western Albemarle football team has not exactly stormed out of the gate offensively in the first quarter of games this season.
The slow starts have at times led to early deficits, and head coach Ed Redmond wanted to ensure that his team began Friday’s 41-0 road win at Fluvanna on a positive note.
As soon as the Warriors took the field, Redmond dialed up a deep ball, and quarterback Derek Domecq responded by delivering one of the most impressive throws of his career.
On Western’s first offensive play of the game, Domecq threw a dart to Jack Weyher, and the sophomore snagged the ball in stride for a 75-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown.
“We were just looking for a play that we knew that we could run and that we could execute, and coach Redmond called a great play,” said Domecq of the 75-yard touchdown pass. “[Weyher]” is an easy target, and I know he’ll catch the ball.”
The Warriors rode the momentum of the early scoring play, and used four touchdowns from Domecq to cruise the win over Fluvanna.
Domecq accounted for 179 total yards, with 75 of them coming before most fans had even taken their seats.
Following a quick three-and-out from the Western defense, Domecq took the field looking to build off of last week’s upset win over Louisa. Despite standing behind a banged-up offensive line, Domecq stood tall in the pocket and hit Weyher with a beautiful pass over the middle, right into Weyher’s hands.
Weyher did the rest, by out running his lone defender for roughly 50 yards, to give the Warriors that coveted fast start that they were looking for.
“Our plan is to always to try be aggressive early. We’ve been so slow starting until last week, and that’s really been a point of emphasis,” said Redmond. “We want to get some points and get some stops early. I think it helps our kids; it energizes them and gets us through that early barrage where we got behind earlier in the season.”
With the exception of the early Domecq-to-Weyher scoring strike, Western (4-4) capitalized on three Fluvanna turnovers, and scored off of great field position for most of the night.
Domecq and Weyher hooked up again in the second quarter for a 10-yard touchdown to put the Warriors ahead 21-0.
Weyher finished Friday’s triumph with four catches for 91 yards and two scores. The sophomore also made his presence felt on both special teams and defense. Following a muffed punt by the Flucos in the second quarter, Weyher raced down the field and played John-ny-on-the-spot for the Warriors, to set up a 20-yard touchdown run from Darren Klein.
Then, just before halftime, Weyher picked off a pass and returned it into Fluvanna territory.
“Weyher, he’s not a sophomore anymore. His sophomore year is almost over, and he’s developing really well,” said Redmond. “We really like Jack and his ability, and like I said, he’s really grown up this season, and he has really turned into one of our playmakers.”
With the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, Weyher, Domecq, and the bulk of Western’s upperclassmen on offense headed for the bench early, which paved the way for backup quarterback Peter Slechta and the reserves.
On the final play of the game, Sletchta rolled out and hit a wide-open Dylan Hahn in the end zone for the senior’s first catch of the season.
The fourth quarter provided one of the few highlights on either side of the ball for Fluvanna. Midway through the final frame, Antonio Washington made a nice grab in mid-air to pick off Slechta and the Warriors.
The Fluvanna defense had its moments, but the offense could never respond to the play of its counterpart. Western Albemarle held the Flucos to just 101 yards of total offense. Fluvanna did not snap the ball in Warrior territory in either the second or third quarter, and finished the game with three turnovers.
“We made a few costly mistakes, but we really played a touch game,” said Fluvanna head coach Steve Szarmach. “[Western Albemarle] is a very good opponent; they’re a tough team, but we played a really good game. The couple of big mistakes hurt us, but played really tough gritty football.”
Jordan Melton led the Flucos with 43 yards rushing. Fluvanna tried all night to get the ground game going, but the Western Albemarle defense limited the home team to just 3.1 yards per carry. Late in the second quarter, junior Luke Tenuta seized a fumble deep in Fluvanna territory, to set up a four-yard run to pay dirt from Domecq on the Warriors’ ensuing offensive play.
The victory nudges Western to .500 on the season for the first time since September 23. Sitting at 3-2 in the Jefferson District, the Warriors are technically not out of the race for their fourth league title in five years.
Western will close the season with two very important rivalry tilts, beginning next Friday night at home against Charlottesville. The Warriors have had several meaningful battles with CHS in the Redmond era, and the fifth-year head coach knows that next week will be no different.
“It’s a grind; We just gotta get home, get healed up, try to get through practices, and just prepare,” said Redmond. “We have a of respect for coach [Eric] Sherry’s team. They’re going to come to Crozet ready to play football and we know that.”
The Flucos will welcome Powhatan to Fluvanna County for senior night next Friday.
