Cyclones’ finesse wins out in the end

When people discuss the rivalry between Eastern View and Culpeper in terms of old school versus new school, they’re talking about more than the state of the buildings housing each school’s student body.

They’re also referring to football ideology.

Once upon a time, the forward pass was nothing more than a radical notion and big, bruising running backs were kings between the hash marks.

But those days are long gone, and today’s gridiron fans are treated to more of a spread attack featuring four or five speedy wide receivers known more for their elusiveness than their power.

This year’s Blue Devils have adopted the former strategy with their smash-mouth option attack, while the Cyclones employ the latter with their high-flying spread offense.

Both game plans were executed to near perfection in what was the best game this reporter has covered in two years here in Culpeper, but in the end the Cyclones’ athleticism won out as Carl Lacy hauled in a fourth-down touchdown pass from Simon Pendleton with a little over four minutes left to secure the 20-19 victory.

“This was big for the spread offense,” EVHS Greg Hatfield said. “Carl Lacy made a great move at the end to show that this offense can win games.”

The Cyclones aerial attack seemed to have taken a back seat to the ground game early in the contest, with Eastern View opening the action with five straight running plays.

“We knew we could run the football,” Hatfield said. “We weren’t afraid to try and matchup and play a physical game.”

The passing game did eventually get going, though, with Pendleton hooking up with Drayton Shanks on a 39-yard pass that set up the sophomore quarterback’s first touchdown pass of the night — an 11-yard connection to fellow V.J. Ivory.

Ivory also scored on a 28-yard scamper in the first half, but for the most part the Blue Devils kept the Cyclones’ explosive offense in check – only giving up three plays of 20 yards or more.

“We knew if we kept some pressure in Simon’s (Pendleton) face he’d make some mistakes,” CCHS coach Mike Williams said. “That’s what we did, and the defense played a great game.”

The Blue Devils came into the game with the same plan they’ve had all season: Run the ball to control the clock, and when on defense make the other team’s ball-handlers feel like they’ve run into an 18-wheeler as soon as they touch the ball.

Culpeper ate up the clock in the first half, stringing together scoring drives of nine and ten plays respectively, but in the third quarter the Blue Devils may as well have been the only team on the field – and in a way they were.

The Blue Devils’ offense was on the field for almost the entire quarter – only allowing Eastern View six offensive plays.

Culpeper also put together a 10-play, 36-yard scoring drive in the third frame which culminated in a five-yard touchdown from Larry Williams to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the game.

“We’ve got a darn good offensive line,” Williams said. “We made a goal at the beginning of the year to punish anyone that comes to this field and that’s what we’ve done.”

The new school may have been victorious Friday night but both teams played their hearts out in a game that became an instant classic from the opening kickoff, and with this rivalry only in its infancy it’s sure to be just the beginning of what is shaping up to be a great football tradition here in Culpeper.

“This is a good rivalry,” Hatfield said. “Like I said before, in a game like this you have to throw out the records because both teams are always going to come out and play their hearts out.”