Altavista rolls over winless Chatham

The name on the schedule was Chatham, just another in a string of conference games for Altavista. But it might as well have read trap game.

The Colonels were coming off an emotional 19-6 road win over Appomattox and facing a winless Chatham team that nearly knocked off William Campbell last week. Coupled with homecoming, the game had the makings of a letdown. However, Altavista dominated both sides of the ball, forcing five fumbles and scoring seven touchdowns to notch its seventh victory of the season, 47-14.

The Colonels wasted little time after the opening kick, recovering a fumble inside the 10 on the Cavaliers’ opening drive. Chris Clark punched in an 8-yard touchdown to start the scoring.  The Cavaliers would strike back immediately on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Cam McClellan to Cedric White. A two-point conversion try was no good. The Colonels responded by scoring two touchdowns, including a 62-yard touchdown catch by Mike Robinson, and pulled ahead 21-6 less than one minute into the second quarter after Clark rumbled in from the 9-yard line.

Colonels head coach Mike Scharnus said that he and his staff were very aware of the challenge they faced in Chatham.

“We’ve had two big games, Dan River and Appomattox, and playing a team that hadn’t won a ball game and William Campbell next week, so there’s no doubt it was a trap game,” Scharnus said.

Clark followed up his touchdown run with a huge special teams play, delivering a bone-crunching hit on a Chatham return man who was bobbling the ball. The Colonels recovered the fumble on the 11 and Daelyn Myers rammed home the touchdown on first down. Clark was a presence in every facet of the game, running for two touchdowns along with three forced fumbles on defense, two of which he recovered. Clark turned his last fumble recovery into a 52-yard score in the third.

“I was kinda tired today, but I kept working hard and made a few big plays,” Clark said.

Clark also made life uncomfortable for Chatham punter Lucas Bergantin, nearly blocking more than one punt, a feat that has eluded Clark in his senior year.

“I got close to four but it’s hurting. I can’t get one all year. I haven’t got one all year, but I’m still working on it. I’ll get one next week,” Clark said.

Scharnus said Clark’s versatility is a result of his off-season regimen.

“He’s just playing a complete game for us. Special teams he’s coming close to blocking punts and he deserves it. He’s worked awful hard weight room wise and it’s showing its benefits this season,” Scharnus said.

The Cavaliers would answer the Altavista onslaught with a second quarter touchdown run by McClellan to stay within two touchdowns. Chatham head coach Malon Dalton was pleased with his team’s first half performance.

“We tried all week to preach that we need to match their intensity, because they’re quick and they’re physical and we need to match that and be quick off the ball,” Dalton said. “We just tried to carry over from what we had last week and I think we did a good job in the first half. I was proud of us in the first half.”

That intensity got lost somewhere between the locker room and the field, though, and the score was 41-14 at the end of the third.

“It didn’t carry over to the second half, I think once we got down we started hanging our heads a little bit,” Dalton said.

Along with Clark, Myers scored a pair of touchdowns. Rick Adams had a big game through the air, throwing for 203 yards on just 13 completions.