Lancers survive scare from Demons in state semifinal

AMHERST — By applying relentless pressure on Christiansburg sophomore quarterback Brenden Motley and capitalizing on two turnovers and a failed fourth-down conversion, Amherst’s defense saved the day in Sunday’s Group AA, Division 4, state semifinal postponed by Saturday’s snow.

“We brought the pressure all night and kept getting to them,” said Lancers linebacker Damien Carter, a first-team all-Region III selection who had two sacks. “The dogs coming off the edge and the linebackers and defensive ends coming up the middle forced them to make bad decisions. Big-time players make big-time plays. The team got it done.”

Amherst’s tightest game of the season wasn’t decided until Chris McDaniel smothered Christiansburg’s on-side kick at his own 43 with 31 seconds left, allowing the Lancers (13-0) to prevail 23-21 in cold, but clear conditions at Lancer Stadium.

“It was a real physical football game,” said Demons coach Tim Cromer, whose four losses were by a total of 18 points. “The kids never quit, which typified our year. We’re real proud of them, but we’re real disappointed.”

Offensively, Amherst picked up 106 of its 205 yards of total offense on two plays — a 60-yard misdirection run by Jamal Glover on the game’s first play from scrimmage and a 46-yard second-quarter scoring sneak by backup quarterback Anthony Rose, who was filling in for Kirby Anderson.

In addition to their four turnovers, the Lancers were held to six first downs and forced to punt five times.

“We knew on tape they played darn good defense,” Amherst coach Cecil Phillips said. “We were looking for a four-quarter battle. It was a 48-minute war.”

The Lancers’ victory, which came a year to the day after last year’s state championship loss, sets up a title rematch with Broad Run — a 20-7 winner over Powhatan on Saturday — next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium.

“We’re very excited about having the opportunity to go to Virginia Tech and play for a third state championship in four years,” said Phillips, whose first season at Amherst ended with a 13-0 loss to the Spartans on a snow-covered field at Liberty University last Dec. 6.

Christiansburg (10-4), which avenged a 45-43 triple-overtime loss to Salem, Amherst’s closest postseason rival, by shutting out those Spartans 13-0 in the Region IV final, could very well have been Blacksburg-bound had in not coughed up a costly fumble late in the first half.

Facing third-and-16 from their own 16, three plays after Preston Graves intercepted Anderson’s deep pass meant for Rose, Demons’ 6-foot-2, 211-pound junior Drew Bibb, normally a lineman, lost the handle on a handoff from Motley up the middle.

Amherst cornerback Josh Braxton picked it up and bounced outside on a 20-yard touchdown return just 3.6 seconds before halftime. Tyler Dawson, who had opened the scoring with a 33-yard field goal on the game’s first drive, tacked on the extra-point kick to extend the Lancers’ lead to 16-7.

“That was huge,” Phillips said of Braxton’s play, not unlike his 60-yard fumble return for a TD in last week’s Region III final win over Harrisonburg. “That’s what we practice — scoop and score. We had just given up a long touchdown pass (and) they were going to get the ball back to start the second half so they were going to take momentum into the locker room. That swung the momentum in our favor.”

“Everybody knew we were just trying to run the ball and get to the half,” Cromer added. “That’s one time we needed to protect the football and we weren’t able to do it.”

After losing two fumbles in the third quarter, Anderson atoned for his mistakes on two fourth-down plays late in the fourth.

With Amherst clinging to a 16-14 lead and Christiansburg forced to go for it on fourth-and-13 from their own 22 with 2:42 to go, Anderson and fellow linebacker Anthony Fletcher combined to sack Motley for the sixth and final time back at his 13.

Three plays later, facing fourth-and-2 at the 5, Anderson faked a handoff up the middle and kept around the right side of the line, as he had for a 10-yard gain on third-and-12 from the 15. This time, he picked up the first down before stretching the ball over the goal line. Dawson’s PAT made it a nine-point game, 23-14, all but icing the victory.

But Christiansburg, which had trimmed Amherst’s advantage to 9-7 just 1:30 before halftime on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Motley to Temon Beal, who hauled it in on the right sideline off a deflection by cornerback Mario Vaughan, made things interesting with another fluke TD reception in the final minute. This time, Motley’s deep pass down the left side of the field was tipped by Braxton into the hands of Josh Winkle beyond the secondary for a 50-yard score.

Group AA, Division 4
Semifinal
Amherst 23, Christiansburg 21
Christiansburg 0 7 0 14 — 21
Amherst 3 13 0 7 — 23
A — Tyler Dawson 33 FG
A — Anthony Rose 46 run (kick blocked)
C — Temon Beal 38 pass from Brenden Motley (Patrick Rasnake kick)
A — Josh Braxton 20 fumble recovery (Dawson kick)
C — Motley 2 run (Rasnake kick)
A — Kirby Anderson 5 run (Dawson kick)
C — Josh Winkle 50 pass from Motley (Rasnake kick)
Team statistics
C A
First downs 10 6
Rushes-yards 44-70 36-195
Passing 5-9-0 1-3-1
Passing yards 114 10
Total offense 174 205
Fumbles-lost 3/2 3/3
Individual statistics
Rushing: A — Jamal Glover 13-106, Rose 7-66, Jamar Glover 4-9, Anderson 8-9, Devonte Brown 3-2, Mario Vaughan 3-2. C — Greg Lee 14-45, Zach Snell 7-36, Preston Graves 4-10, Zach Weller 2-9, Drew Bibb 1-4, Ryan Fisher 4-(-2), Motley 12-(-32).
Passing: A — Anderson 1-3-1 10. C — Motley 5-9-0 114.
Receiving: A — Rose 1-10. C — Beal 3-58, Winkle 1-50, Ethan Thompson 1-6.
Records: Amherst 13-0, Christiansburg 10-4.