Overtime heartbreaker: Appomattox rallies past Richlands

By BRIAN WOODSON

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

APPOMATTOX, Va. — With a 21-7 lead and 8:44 left in the game, Richlands thought they had Appomattox County right where they wanted them.

Turns out the Raiders weren’t ready to surrender just yet. Far from it.

“This group never stops believing, they believe if there is any time left in the game at all that they are going to give it everything they have got,” Appomattox County head coach Doug Smith said. “They knew how to come together and do that so I am proud of them for that.”

Appomattox responded to that deficit by scoring the final 20 points of the game, including six points in overtime to rally past the Blue Tornado 27-21 in a Region 2A state quarterfinal game on a pleasant Saturday afternoon at overflowing Bragg Stadium.

“We had to get in the right mindset to get everything right to be successful in the end,” said Appomattox junior Tre Walker, whose Raiders hadn’t won a game by less than 21 points since a season-opening 14-7 win over Buckingham County. “It was a different situation, but everybody just had a good talking to and got everything right and we were successful.”

It was Walker who capped off the Raiders’ comeback, scoring from six yards around the left end in overtime. Richlands had the ball first in the extra period, but John-Luke Asbury was picked off by Nathan Simpson on a third down from the 4.

“The touchdown was just a good feeling,” Walker said. “Everybody knew that if we just get to the edge and block right we could get to the end zone. The second chance effort was good, I had to get to the end zone.”

While Appomattox (13-0) will host Buffalo Gap in the 2A semifinals next Saturday, the Blue Tornado (11-2) saw its dreams end in overtime for the second year in a row.

“It breaks your heart for your seniors. Anytime you lose it is one of those things where you watch those kids cry and you put your heart and soul into this thing,” said Richlands head coach Greg Mance, whose son, Landon, is one of 20 seniors who saw their prep careers end with the loss.

“It just breaks your heart. I am at a loss for words because you hurt for them and you hurt for our community because what a great turnout we had today. What a great showing our (fans) had today, came down here in full force.

“Man, we had it in our fingertips and just let it get away.”

Appomattox took a lead with 6:10 left in the opening period when the Raiders were able to down a punt at the Richlands’ 1. On Blues’ first play, Nick Blankenship was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, with Delonta Kelso forcing a fumble and his brother, Deron, recovering the ball in the end zone. Carter Jameson added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

That would be it for the Raiders until the fourth quarter thanks to a stingy Richlands defense, led by Bryce Farris, who picked off a pass in the end zone in the first period, and Landon Lowe, who lived in the backfield the entire game and picked off a deflected pass with seconds left in regulation.

Kevin Alley also picked up a fumble for the Blues.

“It feels real good, but Richlands played a heck of a game,” Appomattox quarterback Matt Page said. “They have nothing to feel sorry about, I respect the team , the coaches, everything about them.”

Richlands struggled in the opening half, but Asbury was able to put together an 11-play, 95-yard drive, finishing it off with a 4-yard fade pattern to Austin Atkinson in the back of the end zone. Nick Barrett added the extra point and the score was tied at 7-7 with 19.4 seconds left until the break.

“We played our hearts out on the road, but we made a lot of mistakes in the first half, we were able to overcome them and the defense created a couple of turnovers,” Mance said. “The story of the first half we felt blessed to get out of here tied because we had played so poorly in the first couple of possessions.

“Offensively we really caught fire there at the end of the second quarter and moved the ball down the field.”

Richlands, whose receivers were blanketed by tight coverage the entire game, finally got loose for a big play in the third quarter when Asbury connected with Chace Collins from 69 yards to give the Blues a 14-7 after the Barrett kick with 2:35 left in the third period.

That 14 points equaled the most points Appomattox had allowed in a game all season. Richlands added seven more on its next possession with Blankenship finishing off an eight-play drive with a 3-yard scoring run to put the Blues up 21-7 with 8:44 on the clock.

“I never thought for a second that we would lose to be honest with you,” Smith said. “Even though they are a great team and a great program I felt like if there was any time left at all they would find a way to win.”

“Everything that Richlands did was because they were good. It wasn’t like our kids did terrible, they were just that good.”

Appomattox responded with its first extended drive, going 57 yards on 11 plays, keyed by a sliding catch of a 4th and 6 pass from Page to Buster Henderson to get the ball to the 4. Page was able to score from 1-yard out to pull with 21-13 with the extra point missed with 6:18 on the clock.

Page repeatedly made plays like that down the stretch.

“Our quarterback did some great things,” Smith said. “He rolled out one time and made a play on a play that we didn’t even call, but he found somebody open. These kids stayed alive and just kept going.

“It made him look good, it made our receivers look good, it made us look good, but guess what, I didn’t call that play.”

Richlands needed to use clock, but couldn’t run the ball against a 5-man front, and the receivers were covered like a glove for much of the game.

“We had our opportunities, we didn’t take advantage of them, we are up 14 in the fourth quarter,” Mance said. “We take pride on defense and we gave up two big plays on fourth down, that is 4th and 7 and 4th and 10 and that is the story of the game.”

Appomattox forced a punt, but had a 4th and 10 from the Richlands’ 49 after a pair of deflected passes by Alley and Tyler Cordle. Page then rolled out and found Buster Henderson behind the Blues’ secondary, and he caught the ball and ran into the end zone to make it 21-19.

“Buster seen me rolling out, we made eye contact, he broke to the corner and I just threw it up there and I knew he was going to get it,” Page said.

That was followed by a two-point conversion attempt that had to be tried from the 8 after a penalty, but Page was able to connect with Henderson to tie the score at 21.

“They get it at midfield, we trust our defense on 4th and 10, we can get a stop there at midfield, this thing is over,” Mance said. “We can salt it away and make them use their timeouts and they hit us with a touchdown on 4th and 10 and that kills you.

“That is a backbreaker and then they got the two-point conversion on a 4th and 8. We gave up a 4th and 7, a 4th and 10 and a 4th and 8 in the last three conversions of the game...

“That is the way the ball bounces. It didn’t go our way, give them credit, they played hard, we played hard, they just made one more play than we did.”

Both teams traded interceptions on the final two possessions to set up overtime. Richlands, which lost at Wilson Memorial in the state semifinals last season, was given the ball by the Raiders, and got the ball at the 5 after an offsides penalty, but missed on a pair of plays and then Simpson picked off Asbury in the end zone.

“We just wanted to find out what they do and if we can get our defense to stop them it will be less pressure on us,” Smith said.

Appomattox wasted no time, with Page running for 4 yards, followed by Walker, who scored from 6 yards, creating a wild celebration from the Raiders’ fan base.

“I didn’t want to be overconfident (right there), but I had confidence in us and then it just gave us a lot of momentum just to smash it in there,” Page said. “When we did it just felt good.”

Page finished with 203 yards through the air for Appomattox, with Henderson catching 10 passes for 117 yards. Phillip Fleshman led the Raiders on the ground with 105 yards.

“To win it and that is your goal, you are going to have to see them sometime,” said Mance, of the top-seeded Raiders. “They have got a really good team, that is the best team we have seen this year. It is going to take a really good team that can run the football, they are so quick and they get off blocks, a very good football team.”

Asbury, who had a remarkable first season at quarterback, threw for 246 yards, with Collins catching seven passes for 96 yards. Blankenship ran for 90 yards for the Blues.

“We came up a play or two short, it is as simple as that,” Mance said. “We battled, they battled. Both teams fought their hearts out and we had a chance in the fourth quarter to salt the thing away and couldn’t get off the field on fourth down.”

Smith, who said he was glad he didn’t have to talk to a disheartened team after a loss, could feel for how the Blue Tornado felt when it was over.

“I can’t imagine what it felt like,” Smith said. “If I could take those kids’ pain away in a second I would do it, those are some great kids right there, I wish I could.

“They have done a great job and now they have ended it with a loss so they feel like they have loss, but they have really been a great team all year. They are awesome.”

At Bragg Stadium

Richlands...................0 7 7 7 0 — 21

Appomattox...............7 0 0 14 6 — 27

First Quarter

AP—Deron Kelso fumble recovery in end zone (Carter Jameson kick) 6:10

Second Quarter

RL—Austin Atkinson 4 pass from John-Luke Asbury (Nick Barrett kick) :19.4

Third Quarter

RL—Chace Collins 69 pass from Asbury (Barrett kick) 2:35 9y

Fourth Quarter

RL—Nick Blankenship 3 run (Barrett kick) 8:44

AP-Matt Page 1 run (kick failed) 6:08

AP—Buster Henderson 49 pass from Page (Henderson pass from Page) 3:42

Overtime

AP—Tre Walker 6 run

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TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: RL 18; AP 15. Rush-yards: 19-87; AP 36-195. Pass yards: RL 246; AP 203. Comp-Att-Int: 22-40-2; AP 22-36-2. Fumbles-Lost: RL 3-2; AP 5-1. Penalty-yards: RL 7-44, AP 8-54. Punts-Avg: RL 7-35.1; AP 5-33.4.

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: RL Nick Blankenship 17-90, John-Luke Asbury 2-(-3); AP Phillip Fleshman 9-105, Matt Page 18-44, Tre Walker 6-40, Delonta Kelso 3-4, Deron Kelso 1-3.

Passing: RL Asbury 22-40-2 td-246-1 td; AP Page 22-36-1 td-203-2 int.

Receiving: RL Chace Collins 7-96, Cody Howie 4-53, Scottie Ball 4-40, Austin Atkinson 5-37, Blankenship 2-9; AP Buster Henderson 10-117, Dre Perkins 3-26, Deshaun Thomas 4-24, Fleshman 4-19, Delonta Kelso 2-16, Tre Walker 1-9.

Turnovers: RL Bryce Farris int, Kevin Alley fr, Landon Lowe int; AP Deron Kelso fr, Perkins int, Nathan Simpson int, one team fr.