Slipped away

By Jeff Say

Published: October 3, 2008

For a team used to big plays, there’s nothing worse than missed opportunities. So when Eastern View left the field Friday night, tears in some of the players’ eyes, it was evident those were tears of frustration.

The Cyclones failed to pull in at least two sure-fire touchdown receptions and those came back to haunt them as they fell 15-12 to Caroline County.

“In a tight football game like that, you can’t afford to make those mistakes,” EVHS head coach Greg Hatfield said. “It wasn’t for the lack of effort, it was just mistakes we made at critical times. In football games like that, you lose them more than you win them. We had a couple of opportunites to make plays, and we didn’t. I think that’s why our kids are hurting so much right now.”

Eastern View led 12-7 when their first missed opportunity struck. The Cyclones faced third-and-1 from Caroline’s 22-yard line when quarterback Cody Whitlock looked like he iced the game with a beautiful loft to Deshawn Robinson on the 1-yard line. But Robinson wasn’t able to haul in the pass. The Cylones were able to convert on fourth down thanks to a penalty, but wasn’t able to capitalize on the scoring opportunity.

That set up Caroline County’s 13-play, 6:30 drive capped off by an improbable touchdown run by quarterback Jamar Samuel.

Samuel stepped back on fourth-and-2 and broke toward the right side. Eastern View’s defense gave up the first down, but looked like it would contain the damage as Samuel dropped the ball. But the Cavalier QB calmly picked up the rock, and stepped into the end zone. A 2-point conversion by Jesse Morris gave the Cavaliers a 15-12 lead.

Later in the fourth quarter Caroline’s Jeremy Jefferson tried to retrieve a low snap on a punt, and was called down. That set up the Cyclones in excellent field position, at the Cavalier 14-yard line.

“Yeah, his knee touched,” Caroline head coach and Culpeper resident Bobby Jenkins said of the play. “He was going down trying to prevent a fumble and he probably got a little more chewing than what he deserved.”

Jefferson wouldn’t have to keep his head down for long, as his teammates picked him up with big plays.

The Cavalier defense stopped Stevie Strother, who rushed 18 times for 142 yards, for a 1-yard loss and then forced two straight incompletions. The second incompletion should have been a touchdown to Kevin Young, but the ball slipped through Young’s fingers as the crowd moaned in shock.

“We were in an excellent opportunity, we dropped a touchdown pass there,” Hatfield said. “They did do a nice job of adjusting to our run there. We had opportunities to make plays and we just didn’t make them.”

Eastern View set up for a tying field goal, but was called for delay of game as they struggled to get the right personnel on the field.

So instead of kicking a 32-yarder, the Cyclones went for it on fourth down. Whitlock was picked off by Samuel and the Caroline quarterback set his team up at the Eastern View 33-yard line with a 66-yard return.

But Eastern View’s defense, stout all night long, held — giving the Cyclones one last chance to tie or win.

Whitlock moved his team down the field with completions to Kyle Schubert and Kevin Young while Strother tacked on a 20-yard run. But then Miss Opportunity kissed the Cyclones again.

On a wide receiver option pass, Whitlock tossed wide to Conner Settle who threw just a centimeter short to a wide-open receiver down field.

On the next play, Whitlock threw to the side line, but Samuel, playing ball hawk, stepped in and ended the game with a pick.

“In my mind, God was with us, plain and simple,” Bobby Jenkins said. “In some ways we deserved to win, and other ways we didn’t.”

The Cavaliers, coming off a three-way tie for first place in the Battlefield District last year, seemed to know that there was a bull’s-eye on their jerseys against Eastern View.

“I think we really played tight, I don’t think we played loose,” Bobby Jenkins said. “One part of that is that you’re playing as defending champs now, that’s new for them.”

Bobby’s brother Steve, a Culpeper Town Councilman, was just as happy to walk out of Cyclone Stadium with the “W.”

“It was a good game, and we’re glad to get out of here with a win,” Steve Jenkins said.

For Eastern View, Hatfield was proud of his defense, but pointed out that there were those darn missed opportunities on that side of the ball as well.
“It wasn’t that they hit Stevie more, there were just times when we needed to block and make some plays,” Hatfield said. “We didn’t. We have to get back to that. A lot of that was backside pursuit and we didn’t do a good job of cutting that off.”

“Our defense played well, we held them to two scores,” Hatfield said. “We really need to just continue to get better and those critical times we have to make plays.”

“You look at both their scoring drives, we had them in fourth down conversions and to win you have to make those plays.”

The plays the Cyclones did make were spectacular. After giving up an early 1-yard touchdown to Nick Howard, Eastern View answered with a 57-yard touchdown run by Strother. Though, the tone for the night was set as they received a penalty for excessive celebration, and the point after was made into a 37-yard kick that failed.

But the Cyclones took the lead in the second quarter as Whitlock hooked up with Schubert for a 50-yard touchdown pass. But the point after failed again and the Cylones held precariously onto a 12-7 lead that held up until the fourth quarter.

Jeff Say can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 115 or at