There was just under 1,100 yards of offense and 99 points scored. A rematch between Goochland and King William in the Group A Eastern Section semifinal had the same result in a different fashion. This wasn’t the defensive struggle it was last year, nor was there a flair for the dramatic as seen in 2011 with the Bulldogs winning on a goalline stand in the waining seconds of play. Instead it was a one man show led by Cavaliers quarterback Freeman McPherson versus the Goochland ground game. Advantage Bulldogs again this time around as a truly rushing game praved the way for the James River District champs to the final four with a 63-36 win.
“Whoever we gave the ball to was able to move it and I thought that was a testament to the guys up front,” said Bulldogs coach Joe Fowler. “Our running backs also blocked really well for each other too and we have the saying ‘no block, no rock’ and they all did their jobs. We’re proud of what we did, running for almost 500 yards while the other team stacked 11 in the box.”
It’s not often that a quarterback throws for 302 yards, rushes for 203 and catches 3 passes for 42 yards, much less in a loss and those were McPherson’s numbers to the tune of all six Cavaliers touchdowns. But it’s not also very often that Goochland loses a time of possession battle because it was so successful running the ball and the Bulldog’s average of 6.39 yards per carry was an odd testament to that. Thanks to a 21-point unanswered run at 14-12, Goochland was simply able to outpace King William, and weather McPherson’s storm from start to finish.
“Testament to their kids for hanging in there,” Fowler said. “Freeman McPherson might be as good a football player as ever has walked on this field. We’ve had some pretty good ball players, I don’t know that anyone’s every scored six touchdowns on this field, I do know that none of ours have.”
Early on, it looked like it’d be a blow-for-blow game with both team’s scoring on their first two possessions, but Goochland leading at 14-12 thanks to a failed extra point from King William, followed up by a defensive stop on a 2-pt convert on the next Cavaliers TD.
After the Bulldogs took a 21-12 lead on a Jordan Jefferson quarterback keeper, teammate Akai Timberlake provided what wound up being the big swing of momentum as he recovered a botched snap to give his team the ball back. It took little time for the Goochland to capitalize as David Dyer punched in a 16-yard rushing score to make it 28-12.
“We found weaknesses in their defense so we just went at them,” said senior Bulldogs offensive tackle Roger Stone.
The game’s lone punt came on the ensuing King William drive. Backed up at their own 20 for the only time all game, the Bulldogs changed that quickly thanks to a 70-yard run from Brice. After a nine yard run from Dyer, freshman quarterback Reid Chenault took a keeper for a yard into the endzone and made it 35-12.
“We came out a little more prepared this year than last,” said senior center Josh Driver. “We’re a better team now than we were last year, at least in our minds.”
King William was able to make the score competitive thanks to a score with time expired going into the half when McPherson caught a 26-yard pass from Jacob Jones. Then to start the third quarter, the Cavaliers marched down the field and McPherson ran for a 12-yard TD to cut it to 35-24. Failed PATs and 2-point convert stops were issues for King William as they went 0 for 3 on both accounts, some what ironic considering it converted on four of its five first fourth down conversions, two of them for TDs.
But there was just no slowing down the Bulldogs offense. Whether it was Brice, Dyer, Mattox or Mason Engle, in the second half whenever Goochland had the ball, despite the Cavaliers loading up the box, the Bulldogs churned out the yards as they took a 42-14 lead going into the fourth quarter and outscored their visitors 21-12 in the final frame to earn the 27-point win.
“We made them eat up enough clock on offense and they couldn’t stop us,” Fowler said. “We felt like we had more depth. They had a lot of kids going both ways and so I think the numbers just kind of wear on you there.”
On the night, Brice had a 207 yards on 10 carries for four touchdowns. Mattox added two scores on his 107 yards on just seven attempts. Dyer ran for 93 yards and a TD on 12 touches. Engle had 83 yards with only six rushes.
Defensively for Goochland, Nathan Adams led the way with 14 tackles while Scott Pearce had 10. Connor Saunders added nine tackles. Josh Kitt threw in eight more.
Goochland (11-2) will head to Wilson Memorial on Saturday for the right to play in the state championship. These two met last year in the same game but at Goochland with the Bulldogs winning comfortably.
