FISHERSVILLE, Va. – Dozens of anxious Richlands Blue Tornado football fans began arriving at 9:30 a.m. for Saturday’s 2 p.m. 2A semifinal clash against Wilson Memorial. Many of those same fans lingered in the rain and mist at Geiman Field to share their grief Saturday evening. Handicapped by five interceptions, 15 penalties and several missed scoring opportunities inside the WM red zone, the Blues dropped a 13-7 overtime decision to the Green Hornets. The win clinched the first state championship berth for WM, which had lost in the state semifinals in 2011 and 2012. Surrounded by his tearful players, Richlands coach Greg Mance shook his head in frustration moments after the game. “We played great defense, but we shot ourselves in the foot every time we would start a drive,” Mance said. “You can’t make mistakes and penalties when you are playing against one of the best defenses in 2A.” The Green Hornets opened the game with an 11-play scoring drive featuring all runs from their unique double-wing offense. Richlands gradually adjusted to the speed and technique of the deceptive WM offense. After trailing 7-0 through three quarters, the Blues grabbed the momentum at the 7:36 mark of the final quarter when senior quarterback River Michaels scored on a 3-yard run. “I thought we had them there,” Mance said. “We had a chance to score again, and then we ended up get-ting two penalties and throwing an interception.” Wilson Memorial, which allows just 4.4 points per game, recorded a total of five interceptions. The biggest interception came on the opening offensive series of overtime, as 5-foot-10 senior Hunter Carr jumped over several Richlands receivers to record his 10th interception of the season. Thai Wright recorded three interceptions for WM. GREGORY: Richlands Michaels not making excuses Seconds after Saturday’s overtime heartbreaker at Wilson Memorial, Richlands senior quarterback River Michaels trudged to the far side of the muddy field by himself. On their first play of the extra session, the Green Hornets turned to their calling card on offense and speedy senior Savant Swift zoomed into the end zone from 10 yards out. “Power sweep to the right side – that’s our bread and butter play. I can’t even tell you how many times that has worked,” Swift said. Swift, whose brother is a starting defensive back at Toledo, rushed for a total of 114 yards on 21 carries. Senior running back Juh-Kwan McCauley added 67 yards on 17 carries despite aggravating an old ankle injury on his first carry. “I will be hurting [Sunday], but I was pleading with the coach to stay in the game,” McCauley said. McCauley said the pain of the past two semifinal losses pushed the Green Hornets Saturday. “We were determined not to lose again at this point again,” McCauley said. “Our coaches did a great job of preparing us, and I had confidence that Savant would score at the end.” Michaels led Richlands with 189 yards passing, but the Blues were unable to take advantage of two blocked punts from junior lineman Austin Holmes along with a botched fake punt attempt. Richlands blocked a potential game-winning 39-yard field goal at the end of regulation. “If you had told me before the game that we could hold Wilson to seven points in regulation, I would take that as a win,” Mance said. “But we probably had eight penalties on offense. We didn’t get the ball where it was supposed to go and we just weren’t sharp.” The woes of Richlands can be illustrated by the fateful drive in overtime. “We had an illegal procedure penalty and then we had the interception when we were trying to throw the ball away,” Mance said. “Wilson bends a little, but they don’t break. There is a reason that team is 12-1.” Unlike most teams in Southwest Virginia, WM coach Jeremiah Major opted to employ zone coverage in the secondary against the Richlands spread formation. “Everybody was playing man in all the films we had on Richlands. I haven’t figured that one out, but the [man-to-man] is not what we do. We’ve got athletes and we try to use them,” Major said. “I wasn’t worried so much about the spread as the guys who play in that offense. That quarterback is pretty dang good. He keeps his poise and makes plays.” The Green Hornets rushed for 265 yards while holding Richlands to 30 yards on the ground. “Our defense has played well all year and they made plays when they had to again today,” Major said. Major said there was no secret that the Green Hornets would use the power sweep in overtime with Swift running behind 6-4, 225-pound tight end Justin Leary. “That’s the play we practice about 100 times a day,” Major said. “Savant is a beast. You want to put the ball in the hands of the guy who got you here, and our linemen did a great job.” Wilson Memorial was whistled for 11 penalties totaling 112 yards while Richlands had 15 penalties for 139 yards. “Mistakes and penalties killed us,” Mance said.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 07:18:55 +0000
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