The stage was set for a big night at Caroline High School on Friday. Members of the inaugural Caroline County Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame were honored during a pregame ceremony at George Spaulding Stadium, and the Cavaliers football team had …
The stage was set for a big night at Caroline High School on Friday. Members of the inaugural Caroline County Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame were honored during a pregame ceremony at George Spaulding Stadium, and the Cavaliers football team had the opportunity to seize sole possession of first place in the Battlefield District if it could beat Courtland afterward.
But by the time the evening was over, it was the Cougars who were doing all the celebrating.
Courtland rode the tough running of Tyrik Newman and some key plays by its defense to spoil Caroline’s big night with a 28-21 victory.
The win leaves the Cougars (7-1, 5-0 Battlefield) all alone atop the district standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers ’ (7-1, 4-1) quest for the first 8-0 start in program history is no more.
“We stumbled a little bit offensively at times, but we did enough to win the ball game,” Courtland head coach J.C. Hall said. “Hats off to Caroline. … They’ve got a hell of a football team.”
Newman rushed for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. The hard-running junior scored in the second, third and fourth quarters on runs of 1, 5 and 4 yards. And he only seemed to get stronger as the evening wore on, churning out 79 of his yards after halftime and helping the Cougars convert a fourth-and-2 with an 8-yard scamper in the contest’s final minutes.
“All I can say is, we wanted it more,” said Newman, who shrugged off a fumble in the third period to finish strong. “We came out ready to fight. We knew coming in that it was going to be a dogfight. We knew it wasn’t going to be a blowout. We just had to show who wanted it more, and it showed.”
Courtland’s defense did its part to set Newman up for success. With Caroline already leading 7-0 early in the second quarter and on the move at midfield, Josiah Patty stepped in front of a Blake Morris pass and returned an interception 55 yards to tie the score at 7 with 10:26 left in the first half.
“[Patty] definitely sparked us there,” Hall said. “That was a big play, and it really flipped the momentum in our favor.”
Patty credited film study during the week for his pivotal pick.
“[Morris] looks at who he’s going to throw it to the whole time,” the junior linebacker said. “We saw that on film, and my linebackers coach, Joe Lackey, told me I was going to be in position to get a pick.”
The Cougars’ defense also stopped the Cavs on downs three other times, all at midfield. The final time came on Caroline’s last drive, when Morris was tackled a yard shy of a first down on fourth-and-2 at the Courtland 49-yard-line with just over a minute to play.
The Cougars also had a decided advantage in penalty yardage. While the Cavaliers were whistled seven times for 60 yards, Courtland wasn’t called for an infraction, save for a personal foul that was wiped out by an offsetting Caroline foul.
Despite coming up short late and throwing the earlier interception, Morris was a standout for the Cavs. The senior completed 13 of 20 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, which covered 44 yards to Xavier Pryor to pull Caroline within 28-21 with 6:58 left in the game. He also had a team-high 64 yards rushing and scored the contest’s first points on a 10-yard scamper in the first quarter.
Pryor finished the night with 76 yards on five receptions, and Tre Coles ran for 63 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts.
“I feel like if you take away that interception, we win the game,” Cavaliers head coach Terry Alexander said. “Courtland had a lot of momentum after that. But now, it’s on to the next one.”
Caroline will entertain King George next Thursday, while Courtland hosts Culpeper Friday.
Colonial Forge 48, Mountain View 14
Brock Brimhall threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the visiting Eagles got back in the win column after last week’s loss to Riverbend.
Brimhall completed 9 of 15 passes for 164 yards. He connected with Darion Majeed, TaySean Jones and Jeremiah Wise for scores of 7, 4 and 40 yards, and scampered 31 yards for the game’s final points in the fourth quarter.
Torie Martin added an 11-yard touchdown run and a 98-yard kickoff return for a score.
Colonial Forge (8-1, 4-1 Commonwealth District) has a bye next week before entertaining Massaponax in its regular season finale on Nov. 7. Mountain View (2-7, 0-5) wraps up its season at Brooke Point next Friday.
Spotsylvania 49, Chancellor 14
The Knights snapped a two-game losing streak with a Battlefield District blowout at the expense of the host Chargers.
Braden Hodges completed 11 of 16 passes for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Spotsylvania (5-3, 3-2 Battlefield). His scoring strike went to Hudson Callahan, who had eight catches for 157 yards and also returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
Braylon Puller paced the Knights’ ground game with 70 yards and a pair of scores on 14 carries. Hodges and Colton Jones also tacked on one rushing touchdown each.
Spotsylvania will host James Monroe next Friday. Chancellor (0-8, 0-5) will visit Eastern View the same night.
Culpeper 32, James Monroe 0
In a clash of two Battlefield District squads jockeying for top-four seeding in next month’s Region 3B playoffs, the visiting Yellow Jackets fell flat against the Blue Devils.
Kenton Monroe completed 6 of 10 passes for 54 yards, but was intercepted twice. Jakhi Hayden caught two of those passes for 42 yards.
James Monroe (5-3, 3-2 Battlefield) will travel to Spotsylvania next Friday.
Brooke Point 21, Massaponax 14
The Black-Hawks picked up its first Commonwealth District victory of the season to improve to 4-4 overall (1-3 Commonwealth).
Massaponax (4-4, 2-2) was paced by Joe Sanders III with 141 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. Quarterback Kenny Pyatt scored the Panthers’ other touchdown.
Brooke Point returns to action at home next Friday against Mountain View. Massaponax visits unbeaten Riverbend the same night.
Friday’s other scores (no stats reported)
Eastern View 40, King George 6
Riverbend 47, Stafford 0
