End of the streak

MILFORD — Excitement evolved into frenzy on the Culpeper County High School football team’s sideline with every second that ticked away during the fourth quarter of Friday’s Battlefield District game against Caroline.

And then it finally happened.

The final second disappeared from the scoreboard and the Blue Devils made their 16-game losing streak a thing of the past with a 21-7 victory over the Cavaliers.

“I’m just happy as a mug right now,” CCHS junior running back Larry Williams said. “This was a huge game. We’re all just so happy right now. We can’t help it.”
Williams wasn’t the only Blue Devil beside himself Friday night, but he had plenty of reason to be proud after scoring the Blue Devils’ final touchdown on a four-yard dive in the fourth quarter and sealing the win with a big interception with 1:24 left in the game.

“Man I thought I was taking that one to the house,” Williams said. “But we all kept motivating each other and how we’re on top of the district.”
Williams led the Blue Devils (1-3 overall, 1-0 in the Battlefield) with 69 yards on 21 carries.

“You just can’t tackle that boy,” CCHS coach Mike Williams said. “He (Williams) is a tough kid and a strong runner and he really is the heart and soul of our running game.”

After struggling to establish an identity for so long, the Blue Devils seem to have finally found a winning combination: Run the ball and play solid defense to keep the other offense off the field.

“The only way this could have been any better was if it was at home,” Williams said.

“Our goal was to have double the time of possession they had, and I think we far exceeded that tonight.”

They certainly did.

The Blue Devils defense held Caroline (0-4, 0-1) to negative seven yards of total offense during the first half and Culpeper ran the ball so efficiently that the Cavaliers were only able to run nine offensive plays during the second half.

“Man this feels so good because I haven’t felt this for the last two years,” CCHS quarterback Cortez Rollins said. “Our defense played a huge factor because like coach says, ‘If the other offense doesn’t have the ball they can’t score.’”

Rollins, who also plays middle linebacker, laid plenty of hits on unsuspecting ball carriers Friday, but his biggest contribution came from under center. He hooked up with Donald Downs on a 16-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the game.

“I missed him the first time because I threw it too hard,” Rollins said. “But the second time, the safety played off so I just lobbed it, and I knew it was over once we got to 14 because I knew the defense wasn’t going to give up any points.”

The Cavaliers got on the board first when junior defensive lineman Joe Stephens intercepted a pass from Downs, who split time with Rollins at QB, and took it 38 yards for a touchdown.

Williams wasn’t worried, though.

“I was a little apprehensive at first,” he said. “But after the first play when the defense came out and smacked them, I knew everything was going to be fine.”
Maybe he wasn’t concerned because he had a premonition that his team would respond the way they did.

Little-known junior DeVontay Tate took the ensuing kick off 72 yards for a touchdown to tie the game in the second quarter and put the momentum back on the Blue Devils’ sideline.

“We physically dominated the game,” Williams said. “The boys are pretty high right now, and they have every reason to be.”

The Blue Devils face defending state champion James Monroe next, but they weren’t thinking about that as they filed off the field. Instead, they were thinking about the ride home.

After so many painfully quiet bus rides home after losses, Rollins figured Friday’s trip back up Interstate 95 would be a little different and he summed it up perfectly with one word, “Loud.”