Filling the void

If the Blue Devils handed out a game ball after Friday’s 41-point loss, it hopefully went to the injury-plagued secondary.

It may not show up in the box score, but if it weren’t for defensive backs Matt Nerkowski, Matt Wince and Nick Zajkowski the Jackets could have easily scored in the sixties for the second straight week.

“Those guys were a big help,” CCHS coach Mike Williams said. “When someone goes down, you always look to see who is going to step in and fill the void.”

With starting defensive backs Robbie Mayes and Duane Wilkins sidelined coming into a game against the defending state champions, the Blue Devils were understandably concerned about containing James Monroe’s explosive offense.

“They (JM) were state champions for a reason,” Williams said. “They are fast and they have some talented players who are going to be playing big-time college ball some day.”

Despite lining up without some of their most athletic players, the Blue Devils’ secondary made some key stops early in the game.

On the first play of the game, the defense looked like it hadn’t missed a beat after last Friday’s domination of Caroline when Zajkowski and Chris Woodward converged on JM’s Dovan Allen for a five-yard loss.

Wince kept the ball rolling by breaking up a pass from James Monroe’s Farkeem French on third down to force the Jackets to end their first possession with a punt.

“That gave us a huge confidence boost,” Williams said. “It’s hard to ask a defense to keep putting its back against the wall.”

Wince — a senior — stepped up again on the Jackets’ next possession when he stepped in front of JM receiver Greg Edwards in the end zone for yet another pass breakup.

And as if that weren’t enough, after Larry Williams dropped JM’s Mike Latney in the backfield to force the Jackets into a fourth down in the Blue Devils’ red zone, Wince separated Edwards from the ball in the end zone again, but this time he did it with a big hit.

“Matt (Wince) played one of the best games I’ve seen in a while,” Williams said. “He was all over the field, and he is a guy who likes contact.”

Nerkowksi, Wince and Zajkowski were probably among Culpeper’s tackling leaders Friday, but the problem is that’s not a good thing.

If a safety is leading a defense in tackles, it usually means one of two things: He is having to step up and help the front seven (or eight in Culpeper’s case) with run support too much or the defense is giving up yards in chunks and the safety is having to make touchdown-saving tackles.

Either way, it’s hard to win.

The Jackets averaged a little over six yards per carry on their way to totaling 164 rushing yards during Friday’s 49-8 victory.

James Monroe also burned the Blue Devils on 12 plays that went for 10 yards or more and five that went for at least 20 yards. Only one of French’s eight completions went for less than 10 yards and it was a three-yard touchdown to Edwards.

“They (JM) just have all kinds of athletes,” Williams said. “Their speed makes it tough because speed is something you can’t teach or practice.”

The Jackets’ explosiveness made it tough for the Blue Devils to employ the type of ball-control offense that led them to their first win in 16 tries, but the game is over and now Culpeper has to focus on King George.

“I’m not going to forget anything about tonight because the boys did their best,” Williams said in the locker room Friday night. “We told the guys to not worry about the score and just do their best, and that’s what they did.”

Culpeper’s best may not have been enough to hang with the Jackets, but the Foxes are a different story.

King George has been outscored 76-7 over the last two weeks, including Friday’s 41-7 loss to Eastern View, and a big part of the reason has been the Foxes’ inability to stop the run.

The Foxes gave up 238 yards and four touchdowns on the ground in a 35-0 loss to Courtland, and 136 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Cyclones.

That’s music to the ears of the Blue Devils who are at their best when they can use their physical running game to wear down the defense and eat up the play clock.

“I’ve watched some film on them and I think we should have a good game against them,” Williams said. “We’ll have some of our skill guys back, so we’re going to run the ball but we’ll be able to mix it up and throw in some more passes too.”

The Blue Devils marched onto the field with a little more swagger Friday night after making their losing streak a thing of the past the week before. Now they just have to figure out how to hang on to it for four quarters.