By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
GOOCHLAND – One measure of a good team is how it responds to adversity. On Friday night, the Goochland football team passed that test with flying colors.
The Bulldogs bounced back from several turnovers and got a stellar effort from its defense as it dispatched James River District rival Buckingham 28-7 in the Group A, Division 2 East Section quarterfinals.
“That was one of the hardest-hitting ball games we’ve been in in a long time,” Goochland coach Joe Fowler said. “We put the ball on the ground three times and they recovered them and I was so proud of the way our kids bounced back from that. We talk all the time about not getting too happy when something goes right and not getting down when something goes bad. I really felt like we did that tonight.”
Goochland (10-2) advances to play King William on Friday in the semifinals.
The Bulldogs, who led 14-7 at halftime, got a boost from their defense in the third quarter.
After an interference call on Buckingham on a punt, Goochland was given the option of taking the ball at the spot or forcing the Knights to kick again. The Bulldogs opted for the re-kick and the decision paid off, as senior Nathan Adams blocked the punt to give his team the ball at the Knights’ 3-yard line.
It took two plays for Goochland to score, as quarterback Jordan Jefferson punched it in from 1 yard out, one of his three touchdowns in the contest. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 21-7 after the point after attempt by Raleigh Marria. The multi-talented Jefferson finished with 75 all-purpose yards.
“I was thinking it was going to take a crazy play like that to get some momentum going and change the scheme of the game,” said Adams, who also caught a touchdown pass in the first half.
Buckingham’s Curtez Johnson recovered a fumble later in the third and the visitors were able to move the ball into Goochland territory until Connor Saunders sacked Cam Johnson for a loss of eight. On fourth down, Adams chased down Johnson again for a loss to give the Bulldogs the ball back.
“A couple of plays and the blocked punt kept us in the whole the second half and we couldn’t block their middle linebacker [Adams],” Buckingham veteran coach Craig Gill said. “I’m proud of my young men. A lot of people didn’t think we’d go as far as we did, since we lost a lot last year. We had a great week of practice and we came in prepared, but they made the plays and we didn’t.”
Goochland forced Buckingham (9-3) to turn the ball over on downs on their following possession as well before using a long, methodical drive to put the game out of reach as Jefferson tacked on a 1-yard TD run with 1:58 to play.
Another highlight for the Bulldogs was freshman quarterback Reid Chenault, who provided a spark just before halftime as he hooked up with Adams for a 34-yard touchdown strike on an impressive throw over the middle. Chenault finished 3 for 4 passing for 95 yards.
For Buckingham, Cam Johnson paved the way with a game-high 87 yards on 20 rushing attempts while Kyree Koonce added 60 yards on 20 carries.
Goochland, which advanced to the Group A final last season, is in a familiar position in the postseason.
“We’re thrilled to be playing [this time of year],” Fowler said. “It’s one of our goals around here. Coach [Dan] Summitt and I talk every year we want to win double-digit games because we feel like that’s the mark of a great program. We’ve been able to do that for six of the past eight years and that’s something we’re very proud of, but we don’t want to be complacent with what we’ve done, we want to win a few more.”
