Gretna edges Buckingham in OT in Region B semis

GRETNA — It didn’t seem like much would go right for Gretna on Saturday against Buckingham. An inadvertent whistle by an official, a costly penalty on a big gain and an assortment of events kept the Hawks off balance and out of sync.

One thing that would work was the quick slant pass to Ted Jennings, who turned those into positive gains throughout the second half, which only made it easier to go back to it in overtime.

Nick Miller found Jennings on a slant route and the junior receiver did the rest, bouncing off defenders into the end zone, giving the two-time defending state champion Hawks a 28-22 overtime victory over Buckingham in the semifinals of the Region B, Division 2, tournament Saturday afternoon.

Gretna (9-2) will host Dogwood District rival Appomattox in the Division 2 championship game after the Raiders (9-2) upended previously undefeated Clarke County 42-28 in Berryville. The date and time of the game will be determined on Monday.

“Ted ran a beautiful route and all I had to do was put it in there,” Miller said of his second touchdown pass.

Gretna senior Kevin Dale picked off his second Buckingham pass of the contest on third down on the Knights’ overtime possession, stepping in front of the intended receiver in the end zone.

After a Miller run and the Hawks’ 13th penalty of the game, Miller went back to Jennings. As soon as Jennings reached the ball across the goal line in overtime, the Gretna sideline spilled onto the field in a wild celebration. Even the coaches could not contain their emotions from a hard fought victory.

“We knew they were going to make an adjustment to it (and) they did exactly what we wanted to do,” Gretna offensive coordinator Stacy Ward said. “They had the safety deep, they shifted to the trips side, and Ted made a great catch and lowered his shoulders and went on to the end zone.”

Buckingham (10-1), which was down by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, tied the contest up on a beautifully executed wide receiver pass, as James River District defensive player of the year Taylor Boyers took a screen pass and found William Ross behind the Gretna secondary for a 36-yard strike. Ja’Rodd Wade powered in for the two-point conversion to tie the contest.

The pass came one play after Jackson Bryant blocked a Gretna punt and Denzel Eldridge recovered at the Gretna 36-yard line.

“We ran the screen to me a few times and they just bit on it that time and the receiver was wide open downfield,” Boyers said.

The Hawks rarely had an answer early for the fierce Buckingham (10-1) defensive front, which held the Gretna running attack to 38 yards in the first half. Andre Dickerson, who had totaled 320 rushing yards in the Hawks’ previous two games against Chatham and William Campbell, was held to minus-2 yards rushing in the first half and finished with 58 yards.

Miller totaled 79 of his 83 first-half passing yards on the Hawks’ lone first-half scoring drive late in the second quarter. The drive was set up by a Joe McGee interception that the junior defensive back returned from the Gretna end zone to the Buckingham 44-yard line. Gretna was flagged for 45 yards of penalties on the drive, but Miller was able to hook up with four different receivers to move the ball down the field before scoring on a two-yard run.

“That hurt us a little bit — that gave them the momentum going into halftime,” Buckingham coach Craig Gill said of the touchdown. “And they came back out with it, we stopped them at the beginning of the second half, but we had a turnover and turnovers are the name of the game in football. A couple of turnovers hurt us.”

After the Hawks were held to a three-and-out to open the second half, Buckingham sophomore running back Maurice Taylor bobbled the ensuing punt and Gretna’s Everett Witcher scooped it up. Gretna scored five plays later on a Dickerson 3-yard run to give the Hawks their first lead of the contest.

“That let us know we could drive the ball on them and then we just had to keep doing what we were doing,” Miller said.

The Knights got up early after a Miller pass to Dickerson behind the line of scrimmage was bobbled, allowing Alvin Davis to scoop up the loose ball and race 55 yards for an early score.

Gretna had an answer on their first offensive play following the Buckingham touchdown, as Miller faked a handoff to Dickerson and was on his way up the field. However, the referee thought that Dickerson had the ball and whistled the play dead, infuriating the Gretna sideline.

Miller finished with 225 total yards and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing).

Buckingham sophomore quarterback Tarian Ayers managed the game well early and kept the Knights within striking distance with his legs and arm. Ayers finished with 53 yards passing and 31 yards rushing, but was victimized by a Gretna defense that jumped routes and picked off three of his passes.

Taylor, who finished the regular season with more than 1,300 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns, was held to 70 yards rushing and no touchdowns.

“We never recovered from that,” Gill said of the turnovers and the momentum change. “We played a good football team.”