Gretna ready for rematch with Appomattox in Division 2, Region B final

Region B, Div. 2, final
Appomattox at Gretna
w KICKOFF: 1 p.m.
w RECORDS:  Appomattox 9-2, 5-1 Dogwood; Gretna 9-2, 5-1 Dogwood  
w LAST WEEK: Appomattox beat Clarke County 42-28; Gretna beat Buckingham 28-22 in overtime.
w FACTS: This is a rematch of the 2007 Region B, Division 2, semifinal, won by the Hawks 55-0. The Raiders ended their decade-long losing streak against Gretna on Oct. 30 with a 28-26 victory, intercepting QB Nick Miller four times and denying his game-tying two-point conversion pass late in the fourth quarter. The winner of this game plays at the winner of the Region A final between King William and Essex in next Saturday’s Group A, Division 2, state semifinal.

GRETNA — With each game on the line, Gretna coach Kevin Saunders and Appomattox coach Ben Martin each had one thing on their respective minds — let the quarterbacks make the play.

As Nick Miller was standing confidently in the pocket and finding Ted Jennings for the game-winning touchdown pass in Gretna’s overtime victory against Buckingham, Kenny Scott was slipping through Clarke County defenders for a long touchdown run to secure the Appomattox upset.

While Miller and Scott operate in different offenses and have completely different skills, they are both proven winners and have led their respective teams to the cusp of the Group A state playoffs.

Miller and Scott, considered to be the top two offensive playmakers in the Dogwood District, will lead their respective teams in today’s Region B, Division 2 championship game at 1 p.m. in Gretna. The winner of the game will face the Region A champion in the Group A state semifinals.

The last time Appomattox and Gretna (9-2) met in the playoffs was in 2007, when the Hawks throttled the Raiders 55-0 behind three touchdowns from Miller.

“I don’t know if you can really contain or slow down either one of them,” Appomattox coach Ben Martin said.

Scott, the Dogwood District offensive back of the year, rarely has been slowed down in his senior season, leading the Raiders (9-2) to a share of the district title for the first time in 10 years.

The 6-foot, 170-pound quarterback has rushed for 1,181 yards and 18 touchdowns and added 1,042 yards through the air and eight touchdowns. His two turnovers this season — both interceptions — came in Appomattox’s losses to Buckingham and Altavista.

“During the offseason, I dedicated myself to the weight room,” Scott said. “It might not look like I’ve gotten any bigger, but I’ve gotten a lot stronger than I was last year. The game isn’t all about speed — you have to be stronger than your opponent sometimes, too. It helps a lot when I get in the middle and people start wrapping me up and I can just break free.”

Scott’s power and burst of speed were on display in the semifinal game at Clarke County in Berryville. The senior’s fifth touchdown run — equaling the amount of touchdowns Clarke County had allowed the entire season entering the game — was a broken play where Scott slipped out of several would-be tacklers and raced up the field for the game-sealing score.

“He’s going hard every play,” Gretna junior linebacker Darion Jefferson said. “If you let him slip one time, he’s going to break it.”

That was evident in the Hawks’ loss to Appomattox on Oct. 30 after Scott broke through the Gretna defense for an 80-yard touchdown to put the Raiders up eight points en route to a 28-26 victory. That was his third rushing touchdown of the contest.

“We’ve got to tackle better than what we did,” Gretna coach Kevin Saunders said, “but that had to do with the fact that he’s Kenny Scott and he’s going to make a lot of people look bad.

“Hopefully, we can just contain him somehow, someway because … he’s a top-notch football player.”

While Miller hasn’t returned to his 48-touchdown freshman-season performance after missing his sophomore year with a broken tibia, the second-team Dogwood District quarterback is still equally as dangerous as Scott.

The 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior has passed for 1,142 yards and nine touchdowns, while rushing for 759 yards and 11 scores. Four of his 12 interceptions came against Appomattox in the Hawks’ two-point loss.

“Nick Miller — he’s just such a big threat out of the backfield,” Martin said. “He’s that type of kid you’re not going to stop him. You want to limit the big plays and force him to make mistakes. … He’s definitely someone that we want to — at any time — try to get out of a rhythm.”

While Scott has Neal Thomas and Joe Reed surrounding him, Miller has equally dangerous weapons on the boundary and in the backfield. Jennings and Kevin Dale both caught a team-high 21 passes and combined for 761 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

“He can throw the ball a lot better than I can,” Scott said of Miller. “I throw the ball well, but he’s been throwing the ball since who knows how long. A couple of years back, he threw eight touchdown passes against us. He’s a weapon throwing the ball.”

Miller tossed eight touchdown passes against Appomattox in the 2007 regular season meeting between the two teams. Miller tied former University of Virginia quarterback Peter Lalich for the second most passing touchdowns in one game according to the Virginia High School League record book — one short of the record set by Jim Hogan in 1966. Five of those touchdowns came in the first half and Jennings was the recipient on two of those touchdown scores.

While he didn’t need to execute game-winning drives much in 2007, Miller has come up big in the final moments of games this year. In the Hawks’ first matchup against Dan River, Miller led Gretna down the field for the go-ahead points in a 27-21 victory. Last Saturday — while not having to go the entire field — Miller was still able to connect with Jennings to send the Hawks to their fourth consecutive Region B championship game.

“At the end of the day, the ball is going to be in my hands,” Miller said, “and I’ve got to keep my head straight and make sure no matter what happens, just try to come through on top.”