For Blue Ridge coach Del Smith, it was one of those game’s that just would not end. While the Barons were up a healthy margin and never allowed visiting Virginia Episcopal to get closer than two possessions from the lead in the second half, penalties and miscues kept Smith’s squad from delivering the knockout blow sooner than he would have liked.
But in the end, the scoreboard read properly for the Barons, with Blue Ridge picking up a much needed Old Dominion Football Conference win at home, 41-27.
“I told the guys I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed like this after a win, in terms of playing the game all the way through.” Smith said. “However, we felt like we could score on (VES’s) defense and we did. We also got some plays on the other side of the ball, and really in all three facets of the game and that was the difference maker for sure.”
The Barons held the ball for just six minutes in the first half, but that had more to do with capitalizing on opportunities as quarterback Andre Roberts ran for a 73-yard touchdown to open up the scoring midway through the first quarter. Darryl Smith added to the lead moments later when he intercepted Bishops quarterback Daniel Alexander at midfieled and returned all the way back to the endzone.
Smith also caught a 39-yard pass from Roberts and tapped his left toe to complete the catch on the sideline early in the second quarter which set up a 10-yard touchdown run from Barons running back Mayn Francisco, the first of his three scores on the day.
Four minutes after picking up his first rushing touchdown Francisco punched in his second, this time a 17-yard scamper to make it 28-6 in favor of Blue Ridge. And not a half minute later, the Barons forced a VES punt which was smothered on a block by Terrence Barnes and recovered by Cameron Anderson in the Bishops’ endzone to make it a 29-point lead going into halftime.
VES came out in the third quarter and trimmed the deficit to 22 points when Alexander passed for his second touchdown of the day on a 23-yard strike to Tyler Stevens. However, the Barons’ offense answered right back with an even bigger play three minutes later when Francisco took a screen pass from Roberts 56 yards to make 41-13.
It was then that the Barons endured their struggles as penalty after penalty kept VES’s drive’s alive, and the Bishops capitalized twice in the fourth quarter, once on a 3-yard underneath pass for a touchdown to Zack Jones, and again four minutes later on what looked like a sure interception for the Blue Ridge defense, but instead wound up as a 27-yard touchdown reception for Stevens.
“That’s kind of been our MO on the year,” Smith said. “That was a play where both players could have made the interception and didn’t. We’re a team where everyone is waiting on everyone else to step up. We’re going to find out soon if anyone is willing to do it.”
Nonethless, that was as close as the Barons allowed the visitors to get. Blue Ridge recovered the ensuing onside kick and Francisco then took matters into his own hands and hammered the ball on the ground all the way to the 6-yard line before Roberts took a pair of knee’s to end the game.
“It was an interesting game, but it felt kind of long because (VES) was able to control the ball for so long with their passing attack,” Francisco said. “But we kept fighting and came away with victory.”
Both Francisco and Roberts finished with more than 100 yards rushing. Francisco piled up 140 yards on the ground and finished with 196 total yards of offense and three touchdowns. Roberts had 120 yards on 5 of 11 passing and 105 rushing yards on his seven attempts.
Defensively, Clemson-bound Isaiah Battle had a forced fumble while Smith and Robin Moore each had an interception.
Blue Ridge (5-3) travels to Atlantic Shores on Saturday at 1 p.m.
