Western Albemarle made short work of Warren County Friday night, building a big halftime lead en route to a 49-28 road win.
The Warriors jumped out to a 14-0 advantage with Austin Shifflett scoring twice in the first quarter from 43 and 16 yards out. Then Carter Shifflett got in on the act with a 12-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, followed quickly by Aidan Saunders picking off a pass and returning it to the one yardline. Saunders cashed in on his own pick with a 1-yard touchdown run and the Warriors were rolling 27-0.
After Warren County got on the board with a 3-yard touchdown run, Jack Weyher extended the Warriors’ lead back out to 34-7 late in the first half with a 2-yard touchdown.
Western kept it rolling early in the second half with Peyton Miller returning an onsides kick attempt by Warren for a 50-yard touchdown to open the third quarter. Saunders tacked on another touchdown less than a minute later to extend Western’s lead to 49-7.
The Warren County offense got going after that with three late touchdown passes and managed to pile up 269 yards through the air, but with all the big plays, Saunders’ pick and Miller’s kick return, Western didn’t have a chance to accumulate much yardage.
Austin Shifflett finished with 100 yards on 13 carries including his two early touchdowns and Carter Shifflett went 6-for-8 for 82 yards on the night. Western’s defense had three sacks and Sayer Brown had 3.5 tackles for a loss. Bronson Brown had six total tackles, five of them solo, one of the sacks two TFLs.
The Warriors will take on Fluvanna County Friday in a critical Region 3C matchup that will help determine both teams playoff seeding.
