Amherst seeks state title three-peat against Broad Run

Click here for a slideshow of photos from Saturday’s Amherst-Pulaski game

AMHERST — Most would expect the hunger factor to be in Broad Run’s favor as it seeks its first Group AA, Division 4, football state title against two-time defending champion Amherst in Saturday’s 4:45 p.m. final at Liberty University.

But this year’s Lancers squad isn’t the least bit nonchalant about the opportunity to become the first team this decade at any classification in the VHSL to three-peat.

“We are hungry to defend,” Amherst first-year coach Cecil Phillips said. “The kids have been very focused this week. We’ve been doubted a little bit all year long and we’ve had to make repeated statements throughout the entire year. This is just one more statement we’re going to have to make in order to quiet some of the doubters down.”

With few starters back from the past two state title teams, the Lancers have reloaded and returned to the state championship game with a renewed sense of purpose, wanting to establish their own identity and leave their own legacy.

“We talked at the beginning of the year about what’s going to be the legacy of the class of 2009, the football team of 2008, especially the seniors?” Phillips said, noting Saturday is their chance for a storybook finish. “They’ve been writing the book all year long and this is the final chapter, so … we hope they write a very good conclusion and obviously finish the book up on a positive note.”

The Lancers (12-1) haven’t lost since their season-opener at Lancer Stadium against Brookville, which faces James Monroe in Saturday’s Group AA, Division 3, final at LU’s Williams Stadium starting at noon. They have won 28 of their past 29 games, dating back to the second game of the 2006 season against GW-Danville.

Similarly, the Spartans (13-0), making their first state championship appearance since the school opened in 1969, have won 23 of their past 24 games under third-year coach Michael Burnett. Their only loss the past two campaigns came against Loudoun County rival Park View-Sterling in last year’s postseason opener.

Burnett believes Broad Run can match the Lancers’ speed playing on LU’s FieldTurf.

“We’re a lot faster than people think we are and the turf will help us,” he said. “We’re not that big on the line, probably a bit undersized, but we will utilize our speed and it should be a good matchup for us. We’ve just got to play our game, execute like we have been all year.”

Amherst’s defenders are confident about their prospects of containing the Spartans’ top two rushing threats of T.J. Peeler and Breon Earl, who have both rushed for more than 1,000 yards, and disrupting quarterback Chris Jessop out of the multiple offenses he runs.

“They got a lot of pretty fast backs (but) I think our defensive line can stop them,” said senior Charles Eubanks, the Lancers’ only returning starter on the defensive line. “I don’t think they can stop the defense that we have, with me, K.B. (Bennett) and Timmy (Johnson).

“To get the job done … the defensive line has to clamp down hard and the linebackers and whole defense has got to get to the ball,” he added. “Everybody puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback.”

Johnson describes the feeling of starting in his first state final as “very intense.”

He and his teammates are taking a business-like approach to preparing for the game and will take a workmanlike attitude into it.

“We’ve just got to practice hard and watch film to analyze what they do to get our plays right,” Johnson said, noting the Spartans may not be as stout up front as semifinal opponent Pulaski County, but they’re faster. “I don’t think they’re as physical (but) they’re quick off the ball (so) we have to step it up another notch.”

Besides the Spartans’ 1-2 punch of Peeler and Earl, who have combined for 28 touchdowns out of the backfield, Jessop also is a threat to run and throw out of the spread offense to receivers Adrian Flemming and Didier Saudi, who also play key roles on special teams.

Amherst, meanwhile, has a much more diversified attack, orchestrated by quarterbacks Anthony Rose and Kirby Anderson. Mario Vaughan is the Lancers’ second-leading rusher behind Rose, with 736 yards and 14 touchdowns, but they have spread the workload to four or five other backs, including Jamal and Jamar Glover and Chris McDaniel, their top kick return threat.

“We’re going to concentrate on doing the things well that got us here,” Phillips said. “We’ll rely on multiple athletes, multiple running backs and quarterbacks to do what we need to do in order to pull out a victory. It all depends on what the defense is giving us and who really has the hot hand.”

After staging come-from-behind victories over Harrisonburg in the Region III final and Pulaski County on Saturday, Phillips believes the Lancers would have the edge in a tight final.

“Our experience really speaks for itself,” he said. “We’ve been really battle tested in the playoffs and our experience has helped us prevail against both Harrisonburg as well as Pulaski County. Both ballgames, we were down and the kids rallied from behind. I think it’s going to help us if we get down again, our kids will be very comfortable that we have the ability to come back.”