Key Play
Leading 7-0 and facing a fourth-and-8 from his team’s 35-yard line, Heritage Academy coach Barrett Donahoe opted to roll the dice. He saw Oak Hill Academy wasn’t covering one of his players in the punt formation, so he signaled quarterback Tyler Anderson to run a fake punt. Anderson then took the snap and found William Hardy for a 57-yard gain all the way to Raiders’ 8. Two plays later, Michael Ledbetter scored on a 4-yard run to help give the Patriots a 14-0 lead.
“That fake punt really helped us out,” Heritage Academy coach Barrett Donahoe said. “The play Hardy made to get extra yards to help get us down to the goal line helped us out.”
Key Drive
Oak Hill Academy appeared to flip the field when a punt backed up Heritage Academy to its 10 with 2 minutes, 6 seconds to play in the first quarter. But the Patriots didn’t let the thought of a 90-yard march get them down. Instead, Heritage Academy put together a drive that had four plays of 11 yards or more to eat up the yardage in 5:20. Dylan Barker capped the drive with a laser to Ledbetter on the right sideline. Ledbetter turned past a defender and sprinted down the sideline for a score that gave his team a 21-0 lead.
“He has really good vision and sees the field really well,” Heritage Academy senior running back Cayden Upton said of Ledbetter. “Our linemen do a really good job blocking for him and he makes good reads and cuts off the blocks. He just runs the ball hard and plays hard for us.”
Turning Point
Turnovers always are costly. They’re even tougher to overcome when they happen early in games. Such was the dilemma for Oak Hill Academy when Heritage Academy’s Ledbetter intercepted quarterback Riley Pierce to set the Patriots up with a first-and-10 from the Raiders’ 40. Six plays later, Upton scored on a 19-yard run on a draw play to cash in the mistake.
“Anytime you have a turnover early in the ballgame turns into a score it hurts the moral of your ballteam and gets the other team’s up,” Oak Hill Academy coach Tony Stanford said.
Unsung Heroes
Senior running back Drake Riley was a bright spot on an otherwise forgettable evening for Oak Hill Academy. Forced to should a bigger role with his brother, Drew, out with a leg injury, Drake led the Raiders with 63 yards on 11 carries. He also was all over the field on defense. He played hard into the fourth quarter, when he surged through the middle and made a diving stop on Jahill Gray for a 3-yard loss.
“No. 24 (Riley) in the middle is such a good athlete,” Donahoe said. “He did a good job of getting to the football and tackling inside.”
Difference-Makers
Trevor Turner and Dakota O’Bryant had sacks for Oak Hill Academy. The Raiders had three sacks in the game. Logan Sneed recovered one of Heritage Academy’s fumbles. Sneed pounced on the football after Ledbetter lost it following a 10-yard gain with three minutes remaining in the second quarter and the Patriots leading 21-0. His alertness allowed Heritage Academy to keep possession and go on to kick a field goal just before halftime. Thomas Cooper also recovered a fumble for the Patriots. His recovery of a Walker Brown fumble came on the kickoff to start the third quarter. Heritage Academy didn’t score on the drive, but it prevented Oak Hill Academy from gaining any momentum out of halftime.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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