By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
GOOCHLAND – One measure of a good team is how it responds to adversity.
And with Friday’s playoff game against King William on the line, Goochland once again rose to the occasion.
Clinging to a 16-12 lead, the Bulldogs got a boost from freshman Jordan Jefferson. With 37 seconds remaining in the game and King William faced with fourth-and-goal on the Goochland 1-yard line, D.J. Johnson took the pitch from quarterback Freeman McPhearson and went to his right. But Jefferson was right there, and pulled Johnson down just shy of the goal line to preserve the Bulldogs’ perfect season with the Group A, Division 2 quarterfinal win in front of a raucous home crowd.
“He’s one freshman other coaches shouldn’t pick on because he’ll make you pay,” said Goochland coach Joe Fowler of Jefferson, who also made game-changing plays in critical matchups against Buckingham and Amelia this season. “When [Johnson] started running his way, I felt pretty good, because he’s pretty good.”
Goochland held a 7-6 halftime lead, but a third-quarter turnover set up the Cavaliers’ second score. On third-and-goal, Shaun Chandler found his way in the end zone from one yard out and the visitors regained the lead. The two-point conversion attempt failed, and King William took a 12-7 advantage midway through the quarter.
The Bulldogs (13-0) answered, using an 8-play drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Jake Martin. On the conversion attempt, Martin, who rushed for a team-high 54 yards on 12 carries, was stopped short, giving Goochland a 13-12 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Mason Engel picked off McPhearson’s pass to give the Bulldogs the ball on the King William 20-yard line with 10:05 to play.
Goochland struggled to move the ball on the drive, but Colby Cooke converted a 31-yard field goal to give the home team a cushion with 8:00 left in the game.
Then, the Cavaliers (12-1) proceeded to march down the field led by McPhearson, who was a menace to the Bulldogs with his feet and his arm. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound junior toted the ball 13 times for a game-high 75 yards and passed for 181 yards. He accounted for 50 yards before Goochland’s defense thwarted the final drive.
It wasn’t the first time the Bulldogs used late-game heroics to secure a victory this season, as Goochland survived thrilling finishes against James River District foes Buckingham and Amelia.
“We’ve been in some tough ballgames, and we really felt like that would be to our advantage tonight,” Fowler said. “[King William had] been blowing people out all season and hadn’t really been in any super tight ones, so we’d hoped when the pressure got high, our kids would stand tall, and they did.”
Goochland, which secured a Group A title in 2006, will play host to Wilson Memorial, a winner over Dan River, in next weekend’s semifinals.
