TRUE BLUES: RICHLANDS WIN STATE TITLE
BY: DAVE COX, December 11, 2006, Richlands News Press
LYNCHBURG – Richlands was finally forced to play a full four quarters of football! The result was the same- another win for the Blues, and this one came in the biggest game of the players’ lives and for the biggest prize- a Virginia state Group AA, Division 3 championship.
It came on a crisp, sunny afternoon at Williams Stadium on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg. Richlands captured just the second state football championship in school history last Saturday with an exciting come-from-behind 29-28 victory over Rockbridge County in a game that went down to the wire. It was so close that many of the fans and players may not have felt comfortable with it, but one that they knew would come for the Tornado sooner or later. The Blues handled it exceptionally well and captured their first state football championship since 1992 as a reward.
“It was too close of a game. Everyone was saying they wanted a close game, but for us to win,” said Richlands quarterback Justin McCracken. “But, it was too close for me.”
Richlands (14-0) went ahead 14-0 early in the game before Rockbridge (9-5) fought back to take a 28-23 lead in the third period. The Blues scored the deciding touchdown on a fourth quarter pass from McCracken to Matt Davis.
RHS blocked a late field goal attempt by Rockbridge kicker Travis Higgins that would have given the Wildcats the lead back. Senior defensive leader Brett Clayburne crashed through the Wildcats’ offensive line and got a hand on the attempt.
“Coach told us to line up and try to go as hard as we can, and I was trying to look for a seam and trying to find somewhere to go and I found a little bit of an opening,” Clayburne said. “When I jumped I got my leg caught a little bit, but I got it high enough and it didn’t matter. My arm was up in the air and he hit it good, but it just ran right into my arms.”
Richlands then failed to pick up a badly needed first down as it tried to run out the clock and had to punt the ball back to Rockbridge. However, the Blues did use enough time on its drive to put the ‘Cats in a pickle. They had no time outs remaining and the clock was winding down rapidly, much faster than Rockbridge would have liked. That, and a swarming Tornado defense, forced Wildcats’ quarterback Marcus Mayo to make an unwise decision. The result was a rally-ending interception by Austin Fuller near the RHS goal line with just 36.4 seconds remaining in the game.
“It’s hard to cover all the receivers for six or seven seconds, but I saw that last one go up and I just grinned because I knew I was going to come down with it,” said Fuller. “I saw him throw it to No. 1 (Ian Ginger) and I just broke on the ball and jumped up and got it.”
Fuller picked off the desperation pass at the 3-yard line and all the Tornado quarterback had to do was take a knee to guarantee his team the win. Even that had its suspense. With the ball being so close to the end zone, McCracken could not afford to step back any before taking the knee. To do so could have resulted in a safety and a Rockbridge win.
“I told Justin, ‘whatever you do, don’t step back. Just fall to the ground as soon as you get the ball’,” said RHS head coach Greg Mance during the final RHS time out.
Richlands scored first on a 62-yard run by Fuller on a fake punt with 6:28 left in the first period. Connor McCall added the extra point kick to give the Blues a 7-0 edge.
“That touchdown was pretty fun, I saw it open up there,” Fuller said. “Before the snap, I called for a fake to the right, and I knew I had a chance when I got out there.”
After Richlands held Rockbridge on four downs and came up empty on an 11-play drive of its own, Roy Christian recovered a Rockbridge fumble at the Wildcats’ 15, but the Blues could not capitalize on the Rockbridge miscue. Christian had to leave the game later with a leg injury and never returned.
Richlands had more early opportunities. The Blues tried a 29-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter, but it was short. McCracken later hit Fuller on what appeared to be a 35-yard touchdown pass, but the play was called back on a holding penalty. Jeremy Blankenship then intercepted Mayo and The Blues finally were able to convert the turnover into points. Caleb Jennings scampered around the left side on a three-yard touchdown run with 8:22 left before halftime. McCall booted the PAT to put Richlands ahead 14-0.
Mayo went to the air again only to suffer an interception by D.J. Simmons. However, Rockbridge returned the favor four plays later when Keith Mohler intercepted McCracken and returned it 52 yards for a Rockbridge score. The extra point kick was blocked and RHS still led 14-6 with 6:06 left until the break.
McCracken tossed a 20-yard pass to C.J. Arms with just over two minutes left in the first half to add to the Blues lead.
Rockbridge blocked the extra point kick, but the Blues were up 20-6. Rockbridge was not quite through though. Mayo hit receiver Jeff Early on a 65-yard touchdown pass with 1:38 left before the half to make it a 20-12 ballgame. A conversion pass was incomplete. Rockbridge wasted precious little time tying the contest 20-20 on its first possession of the third stanza when Mayo hit Ginger on a 17-yard scoring strike. Stephen Strowbridge ran in the two-point conversion with 9:49 left in the frame. Richlands drove to the Wildcats’ 13 before its next drive stalled and McCall nailed a 29 yard field goal to put the Blues back on top 23-20 with 5:21 left in the third quarter.
Rockbridge recovered a muffed punt and on the next play and Mayo went back to work. He found Early again, this time for a 37-yard touchdown pass. Mayo passed to Wes Harlow for the two-point conversion to put the Wildcats ahead 28-23 with 2:50 left in the third chapter. That marked the first time that the Blues have trailed in the second half of a game the entire season.
Richlands put on a 58-yard scoring drive in 12 plays for the game-clinching tally. The Blues converted on crucial fourth down-and-one and third-an-one situations in the drive. The touchdown pass to Davis came with 10:59 to play.
RHS passed for 213 yards in the game in 35 attempts and 22 completions. McCracken suffered two interceptions. He attempted 33 passes and completed 20 for 178 yards. Fuller threw once for a 35-yard completion to Arms. Jennings tried one pass, but it was incomplete.
The Blues rushed for 178 yards with Jennings picking up 80 on 20 carries. Fuller finished with 84 rushing yards on four carries. Mayo threw for 209 yards on 23 attempts and eight completions. He was intercepted three times. Rockbridge was held to just 23 rushing yards.
Defensively, Brett Tatum had two sacks. Clayburne had one sack to go with his game-saving field goal block. Zach Pruett turned in six tackles. Romulo Fajardo had 3 1/2 tackles and Tatum and D. J. Simmons had three each.
“14-0. What can you say?” said Tornado Head Coach Greg Mance. “These kids are perfect and I couldn’t be happier for our town. Our hats are off to all these people who made the trip up here. Our twelfth man was the difference again today in a one-point game. Our kids feed off them and you don’t know the special feeling when you walk out of the locker room and see these fans. I don’t think they know how important they are to this football team.”
The 2006 state championship helped dim two painful memories for Richlands players and fans alike. First, it erased the memory of a 27-13 loss to Turner Ashby last year in the finals at Lynchburg and second, it helped to erase the memories from the aftermath of the 1992 championship when the RHS football program was slapped with one year’s probation by the Virginia High School League for wearing illegal cleats in a semifinal win over Salem.
“I’m happy for the town of Richlands,” Mance said. “We can finally put ’92 away!”
Email: berry1974@adelphia.net
