Blue Devils find identity in first win of season

Senior quarterback Cortez Rollins was understandably excited after the Blue Devils snapped their 16-game losing streak with a win against Caroline Friday, and why shouldn’t he be?

After four grueling years in the Group AAA Cedar Run District, the Blue Devils’ veterans finally got the chance to experience a dominant victory in their new home — the Group AA Battlefield District.

“I’m extremely happy for them (seniors),” CCHS coach Mike Williams said. “They work hard, don’t complain and are as strong in the classroom as they are on the field. They deserve to win.”

But Rollins was excited about more than just getting the win Friday night.

As I approached him after the game — trusty voice recorder in hand — Rollins just couldn’t help himself.

“I got some sticks out there!” he blurted out in reference to his time spent at middle linebacker during the 21-7 victory.

One would think that first and foremost on Rollins’ mind would be the touchdown pass to Donald Downs that gave the Blue Devils the lead, but it’s pretty telling that after the game his thoughts were centered on the other side of the ball.

“The defense was huge,” Williams said. “They didn’t give up a first down and didn’t spend much time on the field. It’s a good thing if the defense is on the sideline because that means you’re winning.”

The Blue Devils’ defense has shown flashes of potency — holding Eastern View scoreless in the second half of the season opener — but Friday, it was down right devastating.

Caroline went into the locker room at halftime with negative seven yards of offense to its credit, and the Cavaliers finished the game with just five yards of total offense.

Even when the chips were down after Josh Majors fumbled a punt in the first quarter to give the Cavaliers the ball on the Blue Devils’ 11-yard line, the defense stepped up and saved the day.

Senior Colin Huntt got the party started by sacking Caroline quarterback Trevor Rollins on the Cavaliers’ first play after the fumble. The rest of the defense soon followed suit and sent Caroline back to the sideline without any points.

“That was a big confidence booster,” Williams said. “As a coach you always wonder if they are going to hang their heads or draw a line in the sand. Friday night, they drew a line and dared Caroline to step over it.”

The Blue Devils didn’t stop there, though. On the Cavaliers’ third possession Rollins and senior Matt Franklin converged on Caroline’s Austin Morris to force a three-and-out.

The Cavaliers got used to not being on the field long. They only totaled 24 offensive plays and were limited to just three in the third quarter.

“We just dominated in every way possible,” Williams said. “I can’t express in words how good that felt. It had been a long time coming, and it definitely elevated my mood.”

On the flip side of the ball control spectrum, Culpeper’s Larry Williams carried the ball 21 times himself and the Blue Devils ran 37 offensive plays in the second half alone.

“It’s hard to win when you don’t have the ball,” Mike Williams said. “We had several drives that ate up nine or 10 minutes, but we were still getting positive yardage. We’ve been trying to control the ball all season.”

The Blue Devils struggled to find an identity through the first three games of the season.

They went from an offense struggling to grasp the option against Eastern View, to a decent replica of the “greatest show on turf” with four touchdowns through the air against Fauquier to a team plagued by mistakes in a loss to Orange.

All that changed Friday night in Milford.

Culpeper ate up the clock and quietly averaged just over four yards a carry while totaling 211 rushing yards on 51 carries.

“We left ourselves in good situations,” Mike Williams said. “That’s the key when running the option. You can’t put yourself in a hole.”

So now it appears the Blue Devils finally have an identity, and it harkens back to football’s good old days: Control the clock with a physical running game and play smash-mouth defense.

“We don’t have a roster full of lightning-quick guys and we don’t have 10 guys out here fighting for skill positions,” Mike Williams said. “But what we do have is a lot of tough guys with big hearts and that makes good things happen.”

It’s hard to imagine how the Detroit Lions felt during their 19-game losing streak, but when you stop and realize that a bunch of high school kids went through a similar drought but kept their heads up and handled it with class, Friday’s win takes on that much more meaning.

The Blue Devils are currently undefeated in the Battlefield District, but coach Williams knows his team has to stay focused because it still has a daunting schedule in front of it, and the fun begins with defending state champion James Monroe.

“They (JM) have a lot of skill,” Mike Williams said. “We know we have our work cut out for us, but hopefully this win will keep our confidence high and show us to get mad on the field instead of getting down on ourselves.”