Luray dominates plays, first downs, yardage and time of possession
By Randy Arrington
STUARTS DRAFT, Sept. 5 — In their first road game of the season, the Luray Bulldogs beat the Cougars of Stuarts Draft in nearly every category, except the one that counts most. Luray ran nearly twice as many plays, gained more yards (almost doubling Draft’s rushing total), and dominated the time of possession for the second straight week. However, the Cougars utilized some big plays and timely turnovers to post their first win of the season in overtime, 26-20.
Both teams fought hard until the last whistle, tying the game up twice in the second half, and the winner wasn’t decided until the final play of the game.
“I told them [after the game] that I couldn’t be prouder of them,” LHS head coach Lynn “Skip” Hamilton told PVN after Friday night’s non-district matchup. “We fought back from a little adversity there in the second half where we fumbled the ball and they scored, and then they scored again and went ahead, and then we came back … I mean it was just a great football game on both parts.”
The Bulldogs ran 70 plays, picked up 17 first downs, racked up 332 yards of offense (with all but 21 on the ground) and controlled the ball for nearly 35 minutes. Once again, junior running back Ryan Jenkins lead the way with 125 yards on 27 carries (4.6 ypc), but senior Cason Bryant also surpassed the century mark, recording 105 yards on 19 touches (5.5 ypc) and a touchdown. Sophomore Caleb Cyphert also added a rushing touchdown, with 59 yards on a dozen carries (4.9 ypc).
“If we don’t get penalties and we don’t turn the ball over, our goal is four yards a carry, and if we get four yards a carry that’s a first down in three plays,” Coach Hamilton said. “Anything above that is gravy on the biscuits, that’s just good.”
After a quick three-and-out by Draft to start the game, Luray drove its opening possession 75 yards on 16 plays and consumed 10:40 off the clock before Cyphert scored from 2 yards out. Senior Chance Beahm added a two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead.
A sack, a fumble and another quick three-and-out by the Cougars left the Bulldogs dominating the first half with 10 first downs, 195 yards of offense and controlling the ball nearly 19 minutes. Luray scored on two of its first three possessions, as Bryant posted a 23-yard touchdown run with 5:45 left in the first half to go up 14-0.
“If we can break a big play, we’ll take it, but if we get four yards we’re happy,” Coach Hamilton noted. “That first quarter we were just getting four yards and that’s our goal, and that helps control the clock. They have some dynamic guys on offense, so that helps keep them off the field.”
Stuarts Draft displayed that offensive talent despite only having the ball for about 13 minutes during the entire game and only gaining five first downs. The Cougars showcased a mixed attacked on the ground (163 yards) and through the air (82 yards) for a total of 245 yards of offense on only 36 plays. Junior running back Baylor Graber lead the way on the ground with 85 yards on 15 carries (5.7 ypc). Senior quarterback Derrick Moore had nine carries for 44 yards (4.9 ypc) and posted all four scores for the Cougars. Draft would use four different passers to go 3-for-8 through the air, including a 62-yard touchdown strike from sophomore Wyatt Carter to Moore in a perfect crossing pattern in the third quarter.
During its only scoring drive of the first half, Moore hit Graber for a 23-yard strike to kickoff a six-play drive that ended with a 3-yard scamper by Moore to bring the score to 14-6 at the half. A 43-yard run by Graber, followed by a 5-yard touchdown by Moore evened the score at 14-14 with 7:58 remaining in the third quarter. The 62-yard bomb by Carter to Moore early in the fourth gave Draft the lead at 20-14.
The second Cougar touchdown was set up by the first of three fumbles by the Bulldogs, while the first half score was aided by a face mask penalty on Luray.
“Basically the only reason they scored [in the first half] was because we had a face mask called on us, so that’s part of the game, but you know we gotta be cleaner than that,” Coach Hamilton commented after the game. “Then the next time they scored we fumbled, so we gave them a short field again. If they had to work their way down the field, they were having a difficult time doing that… Now that one pass they threw, that was a pretty good play.”
Luray answered back on their next possession in their shortest drive of the night (just four plays), when the Bulldogs completed their only pass of the game. Junior quarterback Ayden Haddock avoided pressure in the backfield and rolled out to his left before finding Jenkins near the goal line. The big running back high-pointed the ball and broke a tackle to reach the end zone and tie the game back up at 20-20 with 5:43 remaining.
The next three possessions would end in turnovers, as Draft threw two interceptions and Luray lost its second fumble. Sophomore Emery Secrist and sophomore Mason Cubbage recorded the two picks for the Bulldogs. Both teams would go three-and-out on their final possessions in regulation as time expired.
The overtime period didn’t last long, as Luray fumbled on its first play and Draft scored on its first play. Moore posted his fourth touchdown of the night to cap the scoring at 26-20 in a thriller.
Both teams committed three turnovers during the extended game. Luray was penalized three times for 29 yards, while Draft drew four yellow flags for 19 yards.
Coach Hamilton said it’s clear what the Bulldogs need to work on heading into Week 3.
“We need to take care of the ball and we need to take care of the foolish penalties,” he said. “The offsides, the illegal formations, things like that…face masks and holding is just part of the game, and that’s just moving your feet right and making contact on the tackle in the correct manner. I can live with those because those are effort penalties, but the mental penalties…that’s something we need to clean up.”
Up next, Luray (0-2) will host Class 3A William Monroe (0-2) of Greene County, while Stuarts Draft (1-1) hosts Riverheads (1-1). The Dragons head into Bulldog Field on Friday after coming off a 49-13 loss at home to Central of Lunenburg. The Generals head to Draft after a 29-25 loss at Altavista.
Both home kickoffs at at 7 p.m.
For schedules, rosters and results, check the Bull Run District website.
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