varsity.roanoke.com

Photos by Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

North Cross School's Chad Migkins sits on the field after losing 17-15 to Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot during their VIS Division III semifinal game.

Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot's Aaron Johnson tackles North Cross' Micajah Lacy during the first quarter Friday. Lacey caught one pass for 35 yards in the loss.

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The ground was soft enough for North Cross to dig a substantial hole in the first half of Friday afternoon's playoff football game against Blessed Sacrament-Hugenot.

Digging out of it was considerably harder. Too hard, in fact.

The visiting Knights (9-2) scored a flurry of second-quarter points and then withstood a Raiders rally to prevail 17-15 and advance to the VIS Division III state championship game next week. Hugenot will play the winner of the Isle of Wight-Fuqua game which was scheduled to be played Friday night.

Hugenot's victory avenged a loss to North Cross (8-3) earlier in the season as well as the Raiders' 21-6 win in last year's state championship game.

Considering that neither team mustered more than 180 yards total offense and the game included six turnovers and 16 penalties, it would be a stretch to label Friday's contest a classic. But spellbinding, it was.

Highlights included a defensive touchdown (Hugenot's first of the season), a Knights' field goal on the final play of the first half, an intentional safety when Hugenot punter Deon Watts strolled out of the end zone rather than risk a block, and then, three North Cross scores in a span of 3:16 late in the game.

In the fourth quarter, both teams attempted a double forward pass play, legal when the first pass is behind the line of scrimmage. Hugenot's fell incomplete, but the North Cross trick play resulted in an interception that Raiders coach Lee Johnson felt deflated his team's comeback chances.

After taking a screen pass from quarterback Fulton Clark, Bryan Miller threw a long second pass for the Raiders. Playing center field, Hugenot defensive back Marquis Smith intercepted the bomb.

"We had a good season," Johnson said, "but a bonehead play on my part cost us the game. We had all the momentum in the world and I tried to hit a home run. It ended up ripping our guts out."

After an opening sequence of punts that resembled pingpong, Hugenot scored all of its points in the second period. Following a very short North Cross punt, the Knights took possession on the Raiders' 28. Five plays later, running back John Moore hauled in a pass in the flat from Austin Wingfield and eluded several would-be tacklers for a 12-yard pass reception and a 7-0 lead.

North Cross responded promptly, and aided by a personal foul penalty, moved the ball into Hugenot territory. But Watts intercepted Clark's floating screen pass and outraced the Raiders 65 yards to the end zone. Clark was intercepted three times Friday.

Hugenot's final score was a surprise to coach Mike Henderson as his team moved the ball the length of the field in less than two minutes for a 30-yard Nathan Temple field goal as the halftime gun sounded.

Once again, Smith was the driving force on that sequence, intercepting Clark in his own end zone, returning the ball to the 26 and then picking up 35 yards on an ensuing pass play.

"I was planning to run out the clock," Henderson said.

Hugenot held North Cross running back Tyler Caveness to just 47 yards, although Caveness' total was reduced by multiple losses when snaps from center went over his head.

The North Cross rally hinged on Miller's 40-yard punt return near the end of the third quarter to the Hugenot 15. Clark scored shortly thereafter on a 2-yard sneak. Hugenot took an intentional safety early in the fourth period, Henderson figuring that even by allowing two points, his team would still be ahead by two scores 17-8.

However, Caveness returned the kickoff to midfield and a face-mask penalty moved the ball to the 35. Two plays later, Clark found Tushey Jones across the middle for a 32-yard touchdown pass.

North Cross got two more chances, but neither panned out. Smith intercepted the double pass and then a methodical Hugenot drive killed enough time so that when the Raiders got the ball back they were on their own 17 with only 37 seconds to play.

Blessed Sacrament 0 17 0 0--17

North Cross 0 0 6 9--15

BSH -- Moore 12 pass from Wingfield (Temple kick)

BSH -- Watts 65 interception return (Temple kick)

BSH -- FG Temple 30

NC -- Clark 2 run (kick failed)

NC -- Safety, punter stepped out of the end zone

NC -- Jones 32 pass from Clark (Lacey kick)

BSH NC

First downs 10 10

Yards rushing 38-95 29-64

Passes C-A-I 7-16-0 6-23-4

Yards passing 86 100

Penalties-yards 9-82 7-48

Fumbles-lost 1-1 5-1

Punts-average 6-40.2 5-37.0

Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Blessed Sacrament, Watts 18-55, Moore 11-40, Howard 4-3, Wingfield 5-(-4). North Cross, Caveness 21-47, Clark 5-13, Migkens 2-3, A. Miller 1-1.

PASSING -- Blessed Sacrament, Wingfield 7-16-0-86. North Cross, Clark 6-22-3-100, B. Miller 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING -- Blessed Sacrament, Howard 3-19, Smith 1-35, Paul 1-14, Moore 1-12, Bendele 1-6. North Cross, B. Miller 3-25, Lacey 1-35, Jones 1-32, A. Miller 1-8.