Slow start stops CCHS again

The CCHS lacrosse team again showed it’s Achilles heel Friday, spotting Stonewall Jackson a lead that dominance in the second half couldn’t overcome.
The Raiders did all their scoring in the first half and held on to defeat Culpeper 6-5 at Comet Field.

The Blue Devils dropped their ninth straight game. In what seems to be a continuing trend, they came to life late in the game but had too much ground to make up.

“We’ve got to play a full game,” junior Heath Brown said. “We have to come out fired up.”

Simon Yi scored three times in the first half for Stonewall (4-3). Brennan Ball, Kyle Smith and Ty Kashur each added a goal to cap the scoring for the Raiders.
Nathan Miller set up a Richard DeJarnette goal with four and a half minutes left in the first quarter, but that was all the scoring the Blue Devils could muster before intermission.

Things didn’t look good for CCHS when DeJarnette, the team’s top scorer, exited the game with a shoulder injury, but the Blue Devils still came out firing in the second half.

The Raiders took advantage of a passive CCHS defense during the first 24 minutes, but ran into a more determined unit after the break.

Heath Brown, Blake Smith, Davis Walther and Sidney Stuart led a hard-hitting unit that limited the Raiders to only a handful of second-half shots.
The unit has struggled to match the physicality of opponents at times this season. In the second 24 minutes, the Blue Devils defense flashed an aggressiveness that their coach has been looking for.

“I liked that the played physical,” CCHS coach Donovan O’Brien said. “It takes a defender to be good on his feet, light on his feet and have an eagerness to step out. These guys started to do that.”

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils offense tried to mount a comeback.

It started when Cody Douglas battled for a loose ball in front of the net and swept it into the goal with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Ninety seconds later, Carlyle Dodson connected with Stevie Strother, who unleashed a shot that found the back of the net.

“We’re usually a second-half team.” Douglas said. “I guess it just kicked in and we played as a team.”

Later in the quarter, Talon Askew launched a perfect pass to Strother right in front of the goal. Strother fired from point-blank range to pull the Blue Devils to within two.

The pace slowed considerable in the fourth quarter and the Blue Devils couldn’t pull off the comeback. After Strother set up Cody Armstrong’s goal with six minutes left, the Blue Devils couldn’t mount another serious scoring attack.

Jason Simcoe can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 166 or