With Goochland and Albemarle locked in a 7-0 contest at the break, the Bulldogs implemented an offensive recalibration. Although their first-half touchdown came on a 50-yard pass play, they would stick to the ground the rest of the way.
“We basically went in there at halftime and looked at each other and said, ‘let’s go back to doing what we do well,’ and that’s run the football,” said Goochland coach Alex Fruth.“We’re playing December football in terms of policy: you’ve got to play great defense, you’ve got to be able to run the ball, you’ve got to be able to control the ball. I think we did a good job of that in the second half.”
The Bulldogs, who often find themselves playing late November and December football with deep playoff runs, dominated the final 24 minutes of a cold and windy evening to notch a 27-0 victory on the road.
Conner Popielarz made the most of his increased opportunities.The senior fullback carried eight times for 57 yards and scored twice in the second half. On the offense’s first possession of the third quarter, he covered 30 yards on four attempts, including the six-yard capper.
“It just took us a couple quarters to get it going,” said Popielarz, who added a second six-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter and finished the night with a game-high 80 yards on 11 rushes. “We stuck to what we do best, and that’s run the ball. We kept it simple and it worked well for us.”
On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs’ defense made sure there would be no Albemarle rally this week. The Patriots managed just 35 yards of offense and never crossed midfield in the second half. The third quarter was particularly tough, as sophomore kicker Tyler Black’s angled kickoffs were deep but inside the field of play to consistently pin Albemarle’s offense deep in their own end. Sophomore quarterback Jake King was sacked twice, and Goochland junior Eyan Pace intercepted a third-and-long pass and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown to open a 20-0 lead midway through the third.
“Those kids [on defense] were lights-out,” said Fruth. “We got after that kid; number four (King) put a lot of miles on his feet tonight.”
King completed passes to six different targets, but none went for double-digit yardage. Facing constant pressure, he was unable to find Christian Humes (1 reception for 1 yard) or Will Townsend (1 catch for 6 yards) downfield. The Bulldogs sacked King a total of five times.
“It felt like we were out of sync most of the game,” said Albemarle coach Brandon Isaiah. “They had a lot of speed on defense and they brought the pressure and intensity. They disrupted things, got us off of our spot, and it was difficult for us to get going.”
Albemarle’s best opportunity came at the start of the game. After stuffing Goochland on a fourth-and-2 to takeover at midfield, the running back tandem of Eb McCarthy and Noah Grevous carried five times to set up first down at the 14. However, the Bulldogs stiffened in the redzone and then blocked a 32-yard field goal attempt.
“We really got punched in the mouth early, but we settled down and got the job done,” said Goochland junior C.J. Towles, who was part of the lockdown defensive secondary all night in addition to helming the offense at quarterback.
The Patriots’ defense had a strong first half of their own, sacking Towles, who picked up a UVa offer this week, four times. Although Towles connected with Kameron Holman for the big catch-and-run score, the Bulldogs did not put together a sustained drive to reach the redzone.
“I’m extremely proud about what [the defense] did, and we’ll continue to build on it,” Isaiah said. “Hopefully next week [the offense] can come to the party and help our defense out a little bit.”
McCarthy led the Patriots with 77 yards on 16 carries. King finished 10-of-18 through the air for 37 yards.
For the Bulldogs, Holman carried six times for 68 yards, and caught two passes for 59. Towles completed 5-of-11 passes for 125 yards, all in the first half.
“The missed opportunities on offense, we’ll get better at that,” Fruth said. “We feed the fullback and stick with the physical inside run game, that will set up other things down the road.”
Albemarle (1-1) travels to Fluvanna County (1-1) next Friday night, while Goochland (2-0) heads to Liberty-Bealeton (0-1, vs Culpeper County on 3/6) for a Saturday afternoon contest.
