Saturday, November 14, 2009
Turner Ashby eases by Terriers
Five William Byrd turnovers in the first half hand the Knights a 44-0 halftime lead.
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DAYTON, Va. -- Derrick Palmer got his milestone, but that was about all that went right for William Byrd's football team Friday night in the Region III Division 4 opening round.
Five first-half turnovers cost the Terriers 30 points as Turner Ashby roared out to a 44-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 44-6 decision at Sam Ritchie Stadium.
Alex Collins scored three touchdowns and rushed for 119 yards in 2 12 quarters of work as the Knights (9-2) advanced to a second-round matchup with Massanutten District-rival Harrisonburg next week.
Meanwhile, William Byrd puts up the equipment for 2009 with a 5-6 record and a bright future, according to coach Jeff Highfill.
"We're going to lose some good seniors, but we've got 18 or 19 starters coming back," he said.
Palmer won't be coming back. His 17-yard run with 22.3 seconds left in the first half enabled him to pass 4,000 rushing yards in his career.
Palmer's next run, a 12-yarder midway through the third quarter, turned out to be his last. The senior sprained his right ankle and didn't return, finishing with 64 yards for the night and 4,015 for his career.
"It wasn't the way I wanted it to end," Palmer said. "But the milestone was great. I've been a part of some great teams at William Byrd and I'm just grateful for that."
Palmer actually felt confident that the Terriers could surprise Turner Ashby, but that was before he tossed three first-half interceptions and his teammates mixed in two lost fumbles.
The Knights took advantage of every mistake, striking from near and far. Quarterback Kyle Linn fired scoring strikes of 37 and 31 yards and added a 1-yard sneak before leaving early in the second quarter.
Collins caught Linn's first TD pass, then tacked on scoring runs of 1 and 57 yards, making a nice left-to-right cut to avoid Palmer around the 35-yard line.
"I think we were just outmatched," Palmer said. "I think they were more prepared, more motivated. We just didn't compete in the first half. We didn't come out with that fire we needed to win."
The Terriers did manage to avoid a shutout when David Jennings scored on a 7-yard run with 1:17 remaining in the game.
Highfill said his team can learn from this experience.
"We're hoping that we can look at this and say that's the type of team we want to be," he said, pointing at the Turner Ashby sideline. "Hopefully, these young kids can get in the weight room. We'll see what happens."
Brian Fuquay, who took over at quarterback after Palmer's injury, rushed 13 times for 70 yards to lead William Byrd.
William Byrd 0 0 0 6--6
Turner Ashby 21 23 0 0--44
TA -- Collins 37 pass from Linn (Blackwell kick)
TA -- Collins 1 run (Blackwell kick)
TA -- Linn 1 run (Blackwell kick)
TA -- Collins 57 run (Blackwell kick)
TA -- Price 31 pass from Linn (kick failed)
TA -- Flick 20 interception return (Blackwell kick)
TA -- FG Blackwell 35
WB -- Jennings 7 run (kick failed)
WB TA
First downs 13 15
Yards rushing 202 235
Passes C-A-I 5-9-3 7-9-0
Yards passing 32 132
Penalties-yards 4-30 1-10
Fumbles-lost 4-2 0-0
Punts-average 3-40 2-29
Individual statistics
RUSHING -- William Byrd, Fuquay 13-70, Palmer 15-64, Jennings 4-25, Barton 4-23, Smith 1-20. Turner Ashby, Collins 10-119, Knight 7-56, Hedrick 1-15, Weaver 3-15, Shank 5-11, Miller 2-8, Huffman 1-7, Price 3-7, Scott 2-5, Linn 1-1, Hart 1-(-8), TEAM 1-(-1).
PASSING -- William Byrd, Palmer 4-8-3-19, Fuquay 1-1-0-13. Turner Ashby, Hart 4-6-0-57, Linn 3-3-0-75.
RECEIVING -- William Byrd, Webb 1-13, Fuquay 1-8, Altice 1-8, Janowicz 1-5, Barton 1-(-2). Turner Ashby, Blackwell 3-51, Collins 1-37, Prince 1-31, Miller 1-7, Herring 1-6.
