By Jimmy LaRoue / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
KING WILLIAM – Maybe King William isn’t as big, as fast or as strong as Amelia or Goochland. Maybe the Cavaliers simply aren’t as good, as Buckingham coach Craig Gill indicated after the game.
But there’s no maybe about King William’s dominating defense, which held the Knights scoreless in the first half, forced four turnovers and scored twice in the second half. And there’s no maybe about the result, as the Cavaliers pulled away for a convincing 32-14 home win Friday over Buckingham in the second round of the Group A, Division 2 Eastern Section playoffs.
“They’ve got a good team, but I don’t think they’re as good as Goochland or Amelia,” Gill said. “But we couldn’t get any consistency on offense. We’d get a good play, then get a bad play.”
King William first-year coach Jim Henderson said it was a tougher game than people might have expected given that both teams averaged 46 points-per-game operating in spread offenses coming into the quarterfinal matchup.
“That was a very tough, physical football game,” Henderson said. “I know a lot of people talk about spread teams throwing it all over the place and being finesse teams, but man, that was two power football teams tonight that were out there playing. We just line up differently than most power football teams.”
Henderson noted that while others may have underestimated King William, the Cavaliers are well-tested, having beaten a 9-1 Division 1 Tidewater District foe in Matthews, 59-14, and then defeated a Division 2, two-seed in Washington & Lee, 38-13. That’s not to mention last season’s playoff run and an opening round playoff win over East Rockingham.
“We’ve got to win our games when we’ve got opportunities. … When you have opportunities to step up and play those other teams, you’ve got to win those matches,” Henderson said. “I was glad to see our kids step up and battle, and we beat a Region B team tonight, and hopefully we can get a little bit of respect back this way.”
Gill said he thought the halftime adjustments would pay off for the Knights, but the mistakes, fluke plays and turnovers snowballed as they had difficulty coping with King William’s speed. The Knights also had breakdowns in thier blocking schemes and lacked consistency in the running game, he said.
“They had a scoop-and-score, and then we had a deflected pass they picked off and we just had three or four bad things happen there–turnovers,” Gill said. “That’ll beat you every time. I’m proud of the boys, though.”
Dating to last season, King William (12-0) has now won 23 of its last 25 games, while Buckingham finishes at 9-3, with its other losses coming against James River district opponents Amelia and Goochland. The Cavaliers travel to Goochland next Friday to take on the 12-0 Bulldogs, who defeated Central-Woodstock 45-7.
The Cavaliers appeared to have plenty of size, strength and speed to more-than-match up with the more-heralded Knights.
After a half of missed opportunities for the Knights – they drove inside the King William 20 on their first possession and came away with nothing, and had a potential 46-yard touchdown called back on their second possession on a penalty – they unraveled in the second half.
“We were fortunate,” Henderson said. “It was a defensive struggle in the first half. We were lucky. They’re touchdown was called back and we buckled down and made plays when we needed to.”
Less than three minutes into the third quarter, King William linebacker Brandon Fuller stripped the ball loose from Knights’ quarterback Tarian Ayers and ran 45 yards for the score to put the Cavaliers 12-0 after a missed two-point conversion.
Buckingham went four-and-out on its next possession, but recovered a fumble by Cavaliers’ quarterback Freeman McPhearson on their next possession. The Knights capitalized, going 57 yards in six plays, capping off the drive with a Fuller seven-yard touchdown run. After a missed extra point, Buckingham cut King William’s lead to 12-6.
Any momentum the Knights may have had, though, vanished on King William’s next drive.
The Cavaliers, starting their next drive on their own 42 after a 27-yard kickoff return from 5-foot-7-inch, 165-pound speedster D.J. Johnson, drove 58 yards in four plays for their next score.
In just three plays, King William scored again, as McPhearson, a 6-foot-4 inch, 205-pound senior, connected with senior wide receiver Keith Montgomery on a 50-yard touchdown pass with 9:43 left in the game. Phillip Thomas-Banks ran in on the two-point conversion to put the Cavaliers up 26-6.
King William’s defense then put an exclamation point on the game 32 seconds later.
On third-and-10 on its own 31, the Knights’ Ayers dropped back to pass, but had the ball batted in the air by Cavaliers’ freshman defensive lineman C.J. Robinson. Lineman Barton Stone plucked the ball out of the air and rumbled 20 yards for the touchdown, extending King William’s lead to 26 points.
It’s a play the Cavaliers have been practicing since West Point threw for more than 500 yards against them, a game they still won 59-0. The team’s defensive line coach, Howard Hill, rigged up a football with a rope on the end of it and it comes back to him when they batted down passes.
“They’ve practiced that for the past three or four weeks now, getting their hands up and knocking down balls,” Henderson said.
After the two teams exchanged fumbles, Buckingham reeled off a 10-play, 52-yard drive, culminating with a one-yard touchdown pass from Ayers to senior wide receiver L.A. Briley, who also caught Ayers’ pass for the two-point conversion with 3:10 remaining in the game.
Buckingham started the game well, as 5-foot-10-inch, 170-pound sophomore Kenneth “Peanut” Johnson returned the opening kickoff 43 yards. A nine-play drive reached the Cavaliers’ 19 before stalling, and the Knights turned the ball over on downs.
King William opened the scoring on its first possession, finishing off a seven play, 81-yard drive with a Thomas-Banks 12-yard touchdown reception off a McPhearson screen pass.
On the Knights’ second drive, Koonce appeared to have scored a 46-yard touchdown on fourth-and-three, but the play was called back on a false start penalty, and the Knights were forced to punt.
The play was a sign of things to come for Buckingham, which ended its season losing in the quarterfinals for the second straight year. Last season, the Knights fell 42-41 in overtime to Gretna, who defeated King William 35-21 the following week in a Group A, Division 2 state semifinal matchup.
“At halftime, we felt good only being down six-nothing,” Gill said. “We didn’t move the ball like we wanted to. We moved it some, but we were inconsistent.”
He said he hopes the Knights can learn from the experience and “get over this second-round jinx we’re in.” He offered kind words to the Knights’ 12 departing seniors, praising their character on the field, in the classroom, calling them “fine young men.”
King William will face Goochland in the next round.
