varsity.roanoke.com

Not bad for an opening act.

On a Saturday when two football games were played on Merrill Gainer Field, Patrick Henry avoided a last-place finish in the Western Valley District with a 26-23 afternoon victory over Halifax County.

The win closed the curtain on first-year Patrick Henry coach Brad Bradley's debut season. PH (3-7, 1-4) scored September victories over Bassett and Blacksburg and ended a four-game losing streak by topping Halifax on Zach Cochran's 1-yard run with 2:47 to play.

The Patriots enjoyed an extended postgame celebration on their home field.

"Hats off to my kids this week," Bradley said. "It would have been easy for us to tank it. We had three or four bad weeks in a row. They never got down on themselves. They understand what we're trying to do is build. The good thing here today is we only had three seniors that played a role."

One of PH's seniors -- Antonio Morris -- provided one of the game's biggest plays when he recovered a fumble by Halifax's Thomas Logan at the Blue Comets' 26-yard line with 3:39 to play as the visitors were protecting a 23-20 lead.

PH's Aaron Heath and Shaq Stanley pulled the ball loose to set up the crucial turnover.

"Like the coach taught us, just go in there hard every play," Heath said. "I cut it in, just hit the ball and had a teammate, Shaq Stanley. We just got it done."

Patrick Henry's defense and special teams also set up the Patriots' other three touchdowns.

PH sophomore Shaheed Fitzgerald blocked a punt by Dru Henderson on Halifax's first series of the game. Jaquese Whorley scooped up the loose ball and raced 10 yards for a 6-0 lead.

Fitzgerald blocked another punt late in the third quarter, leading to a 1-yard run by Brandon Terry that tied the game at 20 with 10:16 to play.

"When I shot to the second level, nobody blocked me," Fitzgerald said. "We practice it all the time in practice."

Bradley credited assistant coach Jay Phares.

"All week long, Coach Phares said we could block a punt," Bradley said. "That produced two for us."

Halifax County coach Stan Hodgin said the Comets had not had a punt blocked all year.

"We have not had an issue with punt protection this season," Hodgin said. "They had a really good scheme to put pressure on our punter and contributed slightly because we mis-protected on both occasions."

The Patriots also got a 40-yard interception return by junior Devontae Casey that gave PH a 14-0 lead with 2:39 left in the first quarter.

Halifax (1-9, 0-4) shocked the home crowd with two TDs in the final 1:30 of the first half. Senior quarterback Dale Trent, who passed for 247 yards, hit Lemal Adams for a 28-yard TD and Davon Greene for 24 yards as the Comets tied the game before halftime.

Halifax took a 20-14 lead in the third quarter after Iric Webster recovered a fumble by Cochran near midfield. A 30-yard completion from Trent to Brooks set up Trent's 3-yard, go-ahead TD run.

"The kids are so resilient regardless of the circumstances," Hodgin said. "They've played with tremendous heart and tremendous effort all season. Today was no different.

"At that point certainly I felt good, but at the same time I knew we were going against an opponent that was certainly capable of overcoming that gap. Unfortunately for our guys, as well as we played at times we were unable to close the deal."

Hodgin felt better after Jordan Keck booted a 27-yard field goal for a 23-20 lead and Halifax got the ball back in the waning minutes.

However, PH got the big turnover on Logan's fumble, his first of the season

The Patriots faced a fourth-and-5 on the winning drive, but got some help when Halifax jumped offside with Cochran in the shotgun.

"That's something we've done a lot," Bradley said. "We've probably drawn people offsides 15 or 20 times."

Cochran's 13-yard run and a face-mask penalty on the Comets moved the ball to the 1. Cochran punched it across, and PH won a game despite being outgained 300-174.

"We knew we were going on smoke and mirrors all afternoon on offense," Bradley said.

"Overall, the defense played well. Throwing the football as much as they throw it, I thought our defense played well. On offense we did enough to win the football game."

Halifax County 0 14 6 3--23

Patrick Henry 14 0 0 12--26

PH -- Whorley 10 fumble return (kick blocked)

PH -- Casey 40 interception return (Cochran run)

HC -- L.Adams 28 pass from Trent (Keck kick)

HC -- Greene 24 pass from Trent (Keck kick)

HC -- Trent 3 run (kick failed)

PH -- Terry 1 run (kick blocked)

HC -- FG Keck 27

PH -- Cochran 1 run (kick failed)

HC PH

First downs 13 12

Yards rushing 27-53 53-135

Passes C-A-I 12-34-1 4-12-0

Yards passing 247 39

Penalties-yards 7-41 3-14

Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-1

Punts-average 7-24.8 7-42.4

Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Halifax County, Logan 24-38, K.Adams 1-8, Crowell 1-4, Trent 1-3. Patrick Henry, Cochran 28-83, Carter 7-23, Terry 9-21, Wood 1-7, Prince 5-5, Walker 1-0, Casey 1-0, Team 1-(-5).

PASSING -- Halifax County, Trent 12-33-1-247, Crowell 0-1-0-0. Patrick Henry, Prince 4-6-0-39, Cochran 0-6-0-0.

RECEIVING -- Halifax County, L.Adams 7-156, Brooks 2-52, Greene 2-38, Logan 1-1. Patrick Henry, Casey 2-30, Heath 1-5, Walker 1-4.