Smith Jr., Warriors Cruise To 49-0 Victory
STEPHENS CITY, VA - It was the first home game for the Sherando Warriors, and they rolled out the red carpet for the community. The Warriors gave the home crowd exactly what they were looking for...a win. Sherando (2 - 0) started slowly on their first drive of the game with a 3 and out series; however, the Warriors would go onto to score 7 touchdowns in their other 10 possessions of the ballgame against the visiting Hedgesville, WV Eagles (0 - 3) en route to a dominant win 49 - 0.
The scoring happened early and often for the Warriors Friday night. After a 3 and out series to start the game it took all of 1 minute for the offense to get into gear. Ross Metheny found Derrick Dehaney from 25 yards out to start the scoring for Sherando. The defense forced a 3 and out series against the Eagles following the touchdown and on the second play of their third drive it was Ross Metheny escaping pressure and outrunning the Hedgesville defense for a 60-yard touchdown run that made the score 14 - 0 in favor of the home team. Yet another 3 and out for the Eagles led to another touchdown for Coach Bill Hall's Warriors with just 35 seconds left in the 1st quarter as Roger Smith Jr. took a handoff from Metheny and ran into the end zone from 10-yards out. After the 1st quarter of action the fans could feel the Warriors starting to run away with the ballgame.
Not to be outdone by his backfield mate, Kadeem Blackwood would take a handoff from Metheny with 10:36 to go in the first half and scamper 12-yards for another Sherando touchdown. It was after Sherando had taken the 28 - 0 lead that the Hedgesville squad was able to get their first 1st down of the ballgame, after 2 encroachment penalties against the Warriors. The Eagles were doing their best, but the young squad simply had no answers for the Warriors ground attack. Before the teams got into the locker room for the halftime break, it again was Roger Smith Jr. scoring, this time from 49-yards out. As the teams entered the locker room the Warriors held a 263 yard to (-24) yard advantage over the Eagles in total yardage, and a 35 - 0 score on the board.
The second half sped by as the Warriors made mass substitutions except for the first few plays and allowed their underclassmen a chance to succeed. Kevin Vallejos took the opportunity and made the most of it. Vallejos would end the night with 13 carries for 157 yards and two second half touchdown scores, the first from 10-yards away. The second touchdown would come when Vallejos took the handoff from Corey Rice and cut through the Hedgesville defense before making a final sprint across the field and away from the defense for a 77-yard touchdown sprint and the final touchdown of the game to push the score to 49 - 0 in favor of the Warriors.
Sherando ended the night with 434 yards of total offense, while holding the Eagles to (-1) yard for the game. 349 yards of the Sherando output were on the ground with Vallejos being the leading rusher for the game. Smith Jr. ended the night as the second leading rusher with 11 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Dehaney would add 3 catches for 40 yards and was the recipient of the lone Metheny touchdown pass. Nick Merchant led the Sherando defense in the impressive shutout with 10 total tackles and a sack in the game.
Sherando will play host to the Warren County Wildcats next week at Arrowhead Stadium for their first Northwestern District game of the season. Game time is set for 7:00PM with the pre-game broadcast beginning at 6:30PM on the Gameday Radio Network at www.GamedayMagazine.com.
MOE'S SOUTHWEST GRILL PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Sherando: Junior, Roger Smith Jr.
Smith Jr. again helped lead the way for the Warriors, adding over 100 yards rushing and consistently running away from the Eagles defense when given the opportunity. His two touchdown runs in the first half helped put the game out of reach and allow Sherando to improve to 2 - 0 on the season.
Hedgesville, WV: Senior, Rickey Miller
Miller carried the ball 17 times out of the 40 plays the Eagles ran against the Warriors. Even though he was only able to gain 10 yards against the tough front line of Sherando, Miller never backed down and continually tried his best to help the Eagles when he could. He also added 31 return yards to lead the Eagles in the loss.
