Harrisonburg Holds Off Sherando 27-23
Harrisonburg Holds Off Sherando
The much anticipated game between two undefeated teams with a history of post season play lived up to the billing. 10-0 Harrisonburg traveled to Winchester Friday night to battle it out with the 10-0 Sherando Warriors. With a standing room only crowd on hand the air was filled with emotion and energy.
When play began both Sherando and Harrisonburg tested the field and each other out for a scoreless 1rst quarter. As the second quarter began so did the furious scoring pace. The two teams combined to score 34 second quarter points. Harrisonburg got on the board first with a Sarver to Blough 5 yard TD pass. After a Harrisonburg defensive stand the Blue Streaks marched down the field again for a 7 yard TD romp by the stout fullback Cardae Williams. With the score 13-0 the Sherando offense caught fire. Quarterback Ross Metheny took the ball in his hands and marched the Warriors down the field and finally connected up with Nick Merchant on a 5 yard TD pass. Momentum was starting to build on the Warrior side but Harrisonburg special team's player Kadeem Williams had other plans. Williams took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a TD which deflated the Warrior team and fans. With under 2:00 minutes left in the half Metheny drove the Warriors the length of the field with ease before connecting on a 29 yard out and up pattern to wide out Derek Crosen . After a failed PAT the score at halftime was 21-13, advantage Harrisonburg.
After a very physical 3rd quarter Harrisonburg capped off a long scoring drive with a Cardae Williams 1 yard scoring plunge, his second of the evening to bring the score to 27-13 to start the 4th quarter. Down 14 points Sherando continued to play like warriors and never once gave up on there dreams because these athletes truly believed that they could win this game. Ross Metheny (202 yards passing 3 TD's) continued to rally the troops and found Kasey Kelican wide open for a 20 yard TD pass to bring the score to 27-21. After a huge Sherando defensive stand the Sherando offense would get the ball again. This is where the Harrisonburg defense found new energy and started to put tremendous pressure on QB Ross Metheny. A penalty and a sack backed the Warriors up for a long 4th and 20 plus. Matheny went for the wheel route and the defender slipped allowing cornerback Alex Owah (26/125 rushing) to make an interception at the 5 yard line. With 2 timeouts and 1:32 left on the clock the Sherando defense made a huge stand forcing Harrisonburg to take a safety in hopes of giving the Warriors better field position on a kickoff rather than a punt in the end zone. The Warriors offense got the ball at the 45 yard line and quickly hit a diving Joel Witt at the 25 yard line on a seam pattern. With the clock still running Metheny spiked the ball with 13 seconds left giving the Warriors another chance. Sherando snapped the ball and Metheny was searching the end zone for an open receiver but there were no visible holes and a pass rush was hounding the quarterback. In an attempt to get out of bounds Metheny was tackled by Harrisonburg to end the game.
In the end you had two teams that were both very talented and willing to sacrifice anything to provide their team with a victory. Both teams are to be commended for there effort and sportsmanship. With such a huge game on the line I felt both teams responded like champions with Harrisonburg making the last play they needed to seal the victory.
