Published: August 25, 2007 01:20 am            

Richlands gets defensive

RICHLANDS, Va. — The heat was almost unbearable at Ernie Hicks Stadium Friday night as the Richlands Blue Tornado opened their regular season against the visiting Gate City Blue Devils.

Despite a sluggish offensive start, the Tornado defense kept the Blues in the game on their way to pitching a 17-0 shutout over the Blue Devils.

“We just didn’t play well offensively,” Richlands head coach Greg Mance said. “Defensively, we did a great job, we swarmed around the ball, but offensively, we have to have one quarterback and have them take over 90 percent of the game.”

The overpowering Tornado defenses accounted for six sacks on the night, led by Chuck Payne who had 8 1⁄2 tackles and three of those sacks for a negative 21 yards against Gate City quarterbacks.

Shane Wicks also came up big on the night with six tackles for the Blues and a sack, followed by Derek Jackson who had four tackles and a sack. Jeremy Blankenship also turned in a sack.

The Blues’ defense held Gate City to 58 yards rushing and 51 passing for a game total of 109 yards. They also forced three fumbles, recovering two of the drops.

“Defensively, Richlands is very, very solid,” said Gate City head coach Nick Colobro. “We just couldn’t do anything with them.”

Richlands first score of the night came in the first quarter with 5:13 left in the frame. Gate City was driving out of their own end when a complete pass turned into a fumble. Richlands’ Payne pounced on the mishap at the Gate City 44-yard line, breathing life in the sputtering offense.

Austin Fuller called his own number on second down and romped 36 yards down the left side to give the Blues a 1st-and-goal at the Blue Devils 8-yard line.

Richlands moved the ball six yards on two plays before Fuller went airborne from the 2-yard line for the first score. Romulo Fajardo added the point-after to give the Blues a slim 7-0 lead, which they held through the remainder of the first half.

Richlands second score of the night came with 1:42 left in the third quarter when the Blues took over a Gate City punt at their own 42-yard line.

The Tornado had flashes of greatness on the drive as Fuller laced several completions to Kheven Schweingruber and Fajardo, as well as made several power runs up the middle moving the chains to the Gate City 10-yard line.

Then the Blue Devils made a critical mistake when they dropped back on their pass coverage and Wicks cut across the middle unguarded. Fuller fired in a strike to Wicks near the 5-yard line and Wicks turned up field for the score. Fajardo converted the extra point to give the Tornado some breathing room.

Fajardo added the final Richlands points of the night in the fourth quarter when a drive stalled inside the red zone, forcing the Blues to line up for a field goal. Fajardo sliced the uprights to round out the scoring and give the Blues their first win of the season and the 30th consecutive regular win.

“We’ll have to go back and break down the tapes and get sharper,” Mance said. “Hopefully we can come out next week sharper.”

Richlands finished the night with 235 all-purpose yards, with Fuller completing 5-of-11 attempts for 40 yards and a touchdown, and led the Blues in rushing with 69 yards on 17 attempts. Joel Elswick, who shared the quarterback duties with Fuller, completed 5-of-12 attempts for 83 yards.

“Defense played great,” Fuller said. “Offensively, I take full blame, I played awful and we have got to do a lot better for next week. Joel Elswick came in and did a great job.”

Richlands will go on the road next week to face non-district rival Honaker in a non-district matchup at Fuller Field.



at Ernie Hicks Stadium

Gate City..............................0 0 0 0 — 0

Richlands............................7 0 7 3 — 17

First Quarter

R – Fuller 2-yard run (Fajardo kick)

Third Quarter

R – Wicks 10 pass from Fuller (Fajardo kick)

Fourth Quarter

R – 23-yard field goal by Fajardo

        

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