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Bouncing back: Blue Ridge blows past Covenant

Photo: Ryan Yemen

The offenses were rolling in the first half. But when Blue Ridge’s defense came up with a red zone stop late in the second quarter, the tide turned decidedly in one direction. After a great battle early, the Barons were able to seize control and keep momentum on their side for the entirety of the second half to secure a 41-14 win over Covenant.

 

“I was worried at times in the first half,” said Blue Ridge coach Tim Thomas. “They hung in there but I think the good thing was we broke them from scoring there at the end of the first half. That kind of gave us the momentum. We said if we came up with the stop, we get the ball to start the second so we might be able to get the game here.”

 

With the Eagles trailing 20-14, things looked alright for Covenant late in the second as they were driving deep into Blue Ridge territory. However, the game changed quickly as after a fourth down stop from the Barons’ defense, quarterback Xavier Kane scrambled only to find Sammy Fort who took a short reception 82 yards to the house. After Kane picked up the 2-point convert on the ground, the Barons went into the break up 28-14.

 

“That’s the first time we’ve run that route correctly,” Fort said. “We just broke it for a long one and started going from there.”

 

Covenant was without quarterback John Huemme in the second half because of injury, and from there, it was more big plays from Fort who made it 35-14 late in the third thanks to a 60-yard touchdown dash. Blue Ridge wrapped up the scoring in the fourth with a 25-yard touchdown run Aden Britton. It was the first home game for the Barons since October 22 of last year against Virginia Episcopal making it the first win in St. George in 336 days.

 

“They came out strong and stopping their running back (Donovan Jackson) was tough and he’s a big guy but I thought we made good second half adjustments,” said Kane, who also plays safety. “We made gap assignments, stayed coachable, let the coaches do their thing and came out and stopped (Covenant) there in the second half.”

 

Everything before the big fourth stop in the second was back-and-forth, particularly the first few minutes of the second frame. Blue Ridge scored on it’s opening a possession, a long drive capped by a 10-yard scamper from Kane. Early in the second the Eagles put together a long drive of their own with Donovan Jackson doing the heavy lifting and Huemme capping it with a 1-yard keeper to even things at 7-7 with 11:56 until the break.

 

“What was working was what we’ve been doing all year — play hard, block well, making our reads and taking what the defense gives us,” said Covenant coach Seth Wilson. “On the defensive side of the ball we moved some players into some spots where we thought some things would work. But because (not everyone) had played there before we made some mental errors and that’s my fault since I’m the defensive coordinator. I didn’t have them quite prepared.”

 

The Barons wasted little time responding as Fort scored just over a minute later on a 12-yard run. On the next play from scrimmage, the Eagles answered with Jackson breaking off an 80-yard run to the endzone to give Covenant its only lead of the game at 14-13 with 10:36 in the second. Blue Ridge opened up the playbook on the next drive with Kane passing down field. A 17-yard TD pass from the quarterback to George McGuire made it 20-14 in favor of Blue Ridge with 9:18 remaining in the second.

 

On the day, Kane was 8-for-9 passing with 186 yards while rushing for 76 yards on eight carries. Fort finished with 124 yards on eight carries and had one catch for 82 yards. McGuire had five catches for 70 yards.

 

“It’s always great to bounce back,” Fort said. “We’re going to be hot going into our next game and last week’s loss hurt but we bounced back right. We had a great week of practice and came out on top.”

 

Blue Ridge (2-1) travels to North Cross on Thursday in a rematch of last year’s VISAA Division 2 championship. Covenant (3-1) will look to bounce back from its first loss as it hosts Hargrave on Friday.

 

“Our season is not over,” Wilson said. “It’s all on us. We beat ourselves up and we’ve just to fix that.”

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