It’s clear that teammate Mahki Washington was weighing heavily on Albemarle football’s minds after the Patriots’ senior running back was lost last week to a season-ending injury.
Albemarle senior Jake Rombach wore Washington’s No. 6 jersey.
Albemarle sophomore Ebenezer McCarthy, Washington’s understudy before the season started, wanted to carry the load in Washington’s honor.
Washington can be proud of the effort as Albemarle fought off a Charlottesville team that fought tooth and nail all night and won 27-23 to give the Patriots their third win of the season.
“I missed Makhi a lot, I knew I had to fight all I could for him — I look up to him a lot,” McCarthy said. “I knew I had to step up and the o-line stepped up big this week.”
Albemarle was intent on putting the ball in McCarthy’s hands in the second half and it proved to be a smart move as he piled up 260 yards on 30 carries. He carried the ball six straight times for 51 yards on the first drive of the second half.
“I talked to him tonight about how the plan was to establish the line of scrimmage,” said Albemarle coach Brandon Isaiah. “He’s just the type of kid who’s ready to do whatever I need him to do. He just kept telling me I’m good. My hats off to him and the offensive line.”
McCarthy then picked up 64 yards on the next drive and Albemarle appeared set to put the game away, already leading 20-9 with less than a minute to play in the third quarter. But a botched exchange just outside the 10-yard line led to a fumble. Charlottesville’s Lamont Bullard scooped it up and raced 88 yards for a score to pull the Black Knights to within one score at 20-15.
Charlottesville subsequently forced a punt and quickly cashed in, with Isaiah Washington racing in from 51 yards out, part of an all-out, 181-yard effort for the Black Knights’ senior in his final high school game after being hurt against Western two weeks ago.
“I just wanted to give it everything I had — we didn’t pull through but even at 0-10 we fought the whole way,” Washington said. “We fought and fought and fought. That’s what Black Knights do — we fight.”
Washington powered in for the two-point conversion and a 23-20 lead with 6:33 to play, forcing Albemarle to try and find an answer with time running out. The Patriots didn’t panic and drove 80 yards for a touchdown, with a mix of Jake King throws to Robert Jones and McCarthy runs, with a 29-yard touchdown pass from King to Torry Green capping the drive. Green had three touchdown catches on the night with 146 total yards on four catches.
“Every time we play these guys it comes down to the very last play,” Isaiah said. “He wanted the ball and I was just trying to tell him to be patient, then we hit him and then in the clutch, Jake delivers that ball and (Green) not only catches it, but takes it the house.”
Charlottesville had one last shot, and Washington drove them to the 26 yardline but the drive stalled there and a turnover on downs allowed Albemarle to get in victory formation and celebrate its third victory of the year.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, that they were going to fight until the very end, they’re a hungry team,” McCarthy said. “We weren’t going to let them come back like that, we knew we had to fight to get that win.”
The Patriots’ King finished 10-for-15 for 188 yards including the three touchdowns to Green. Robert Jones chipped in with five catches for 42 yards, including critical 10 and 11-yard gains on the game-winning 80-yard drive.
The loss wraps up Charlottesville’s campaign with an 0-10 record as the program was beset by a wave of injuries similar to the injuries that engulfed the team last year.
Albemarle, who’s also been pretty banged up, will complete the regular season next week at home against Louisa County before moving in Region 5D play the week after that.
