Albemarle football has been doing a lot of waiting lately.
They’re not waiting any more.
Following a bye and a no-contest with Orange County, Friday’s clash in Crozet was the first time since September 16th that the Patriots took the field under the lights. And if the three-week pause wasn’t long enough, those close to the Albemarle program had been waiting five years to taste victory over the rival Warriors.
A slow start in Friday’s game forced the Patriots to wait a little longer than they would have liked to breathe easy. But a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns turned a nail-bitter into a comfortable win as Albemarle, with help from two touchdowns from Polo Hill, scored 27 unanswered points to cruise to a 27-6 triumph over the Warriors.
The win marked Albemarle’s first over Western since November 3, 2017, and its first victory in Crozet since 2010.
“This was the biggest win of my life — this was the biggest game of my life, and I’m just so stoked,” Albemarle defensive lineman Malekye Hicks said. “These past three weeks, we’ve been playing ultimate Frisbee… we’ve been having fun and it really showed tonight. We all really came together as one.”
Hicks and the stingy Albemarle defense limited its opponent to a touchdown or less for the third time in five games this season.
The AHS offense came to life in the fourth quarter, but the awakening might not have been possible without a spark from the defense.
Clinging to a 14-6 lead and with the Warriors marching into Albemarle territory, senior Christian Humes intercepted a pass from Nathan Simon and returned the ball to midfield.
Following a pair of big gainers from Noah Grevious and Zahir Wolfe, quarterback Amaje Parker hit Grevious in the end zone from 15 yards out to give the Patriots that all-important two-possession lead with 7:10 remaining.
The Albemarle defense came up with yet another big stop on the ensuing series, which set the stage for the Patriots’ most explosive play of the night on offense.
Having nearly rushed for 100 yards up until that point, Hill easily eclipsed the century mark with a 68-yard scamper into the end zone.
The Patriots (4-1) had a host of chances to expand their slim advantage in the first three quarters, but costly penalties and some untimely miscues doomed several promising drives.
Despite finding the end zone just twice in the game’s first 41 minutes, Albemarle head coach Brandon Isaiah, Sr. believed that the offense was on the cusp of a breakthrough and told his veteran unit to stay the course.
“I’m proud of how our guys continued to play- We knew our playmakers were going to make plays. We just had to continue to take what they were giving us individually. We had some kids make the plays that we thought they would, and we were able to pull the game out,” Isaiah said.
After allowing the game’s first touchdown midway through the second quarter, the Patriots responded with an emphatic, nine-play drive, capped off by a six-yard run to paydirt from Parker.
Hill scored his first touchdown of the game on the opening series of the second half.
Western Albemarle (3-3) won the turnover battle, 2-1, and made several big plays on defense and special teams to remain in striking distance throughout the contest.
With the Patriots driving late in the third quarter, Parker put the ball on the turf, and senior Freddie Von Lewinski fell on top of it for the Warriors.
Several minutes later, after forcing an Albemarle three-and-out, Ross Bassett partially-blocked a punt, to give the Warriors a short field to work with.
Unfortunately for Western, both potentially-game-changing plays yielded zero points, as both drives ended with a turnover on downs, and the interception by Humes, respectively.
Western was fully content to keep the ball on the ground with a heavy dose of Bubba Shifflett for much of the game, but were forced to abandon the ball-control offense once they went down by two scores.
The shift in strategy from its opponent was exactly what the Albemarle front-seven was waiting for.
Facing a third-and-long late, Hicks, Isaiah Grevious, and Daniel Stajduhar each broke through the Western line to pressure Simon, and force a Western punt.
The game fittingly ended with a WAHS turnover on downs, as the revved up Albemarle defense provided Simon with little time to find his targets down field.
“It’s fun watching these kids grow and to watch them make plays,” Isaiah said. “We have a lot of speed on defense. We knew [Western] was going to pound the game and keep the game where it was, so we just wanted to make sure that we could get them in those passing situations so they could run around and hunt a little bit, and luckily for us, we got up by a few points and they had to throw.”
Western’s passing game was not much of a factor in Friday’s loss, but the Warriors made a pair of big plays through the air.
Simon broke the scoreless tie in the second quarter with a beautiful deep ball to Jaden Steppe, who took it 48 yards for a touchdown.
Then, following the third-quarter fumble recovery, Simon hit Kyle Keyton in stride. Keyton raced 59 yards to the Albemarle five, but a costly penalty after the play made it first-and-goal from the 20-yardline.
The post-snap whistle marked the second back-breaking penalty of the night for the Warriors.
Leading 6-0 in the second quarter, the Western defense appeared to turn the Patriots over on downs, but a pass interference in the end zone kept the AHS drive alive.
Parker polished off the series with a touchdown run, the Warriors could never retake the lead.
The rivalry win was a big sigh of relief for a group of Albemarle seniors that have endured several, tough losses at the hands of the Warriors.
Western trounced the Patriots 35-10 and 36-0 respectively in 2019 and in the spring season in 2021.
Several months following the Covid season, the Warriors escaped with a one-point win on AHS’ home field last October.
After being on the wrong end of three of these games, Albemarle’s players could not help but pause and reflect how big of a win that this was for their program.
“It’s a feeling that you really can’t understand if you’re not feeling it,” Isaiah Grevious said. “To come here, lose, lose at home years in a row, one by one-point, we always got so close, but it always felt like we were so far away, but tonight, we finally got over that hump.”
