No. 9 Warhill stays unbeaten, survives upset bid after Poquoson misses last-minute extra point
Warhill, ranked ninth in Hampton Roads’ 757Teamz Top 15, remained unbeaten and headed toward a pair of late-season showdowns that will decide the Bay Rivers District title. But the Lions’ 14-13 win over upset-minded Poquoson at Wanner Stadium on Thursday came the hard way.
The Islanders (3-3, 3-3 district) pulled to within a point with 39 seconds remaining on Brayden Hayes’ 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal. But a low snap on the point-after denied Ethan Sneddon — the district’s best place-kicker — a clean hit on the ball, which fell well short of the goalposts.
The Lions (7-0, 5-0) recovered the ensuing onside kick to secure the victory. They can look forward to an easier task against Grafton (1-5) on Oct. 22, when a victory would give them an 8-0 start for the second time in three seasons.
After that, the Lions will face the past two district champions on their home turf at Wanner — York (5-1, 4-1) on Oct. 29 and Lafayette (5-0, 5-0) on Nov. 5 — as they vie for their first Bay Rivers title. For now, Lions coach Jerome Rhodes is happy to have escaped with a win over Poquoson, which had won six of the past seven meetings in the series.
“We knew this was going to be a fight for 48 minutes,” he said. “(Poquoson) is very well-coached and very, very disciplined.
“They have a lot of guys going both ways, so that tells you how tough they are.”
Warhill could not move the ball consistently in the first half against the Poquoson defense, but used big plays on offense and defense to nab an early two-touchdown lead. The big play on offense was Liam Francisque’s 68-yard touchdown pass to Taylen Eady on a halfback option to give the Lions a 7-0 lead with 8:36 to play in the first quarter.
Nathan Coffey set up Warhill’s next score by returning a fumble 25 yards to the Poquoson 14. Deron Preusslar-Gordon increased the Lions’ lead to 14-0 by running 7 yards on a sweep four plays later.
The Islanders rebounded to drive 52 yards to the Warhill 14 before their drive stalled and netted no points. But Josh Markley’s 49-yard touchdown jaunt down the left sideline pulled the Islanders to within 14-7 midway through the second quarter.
Markley (10 carries, 112 yards) was the only player to shine statistically, and yards were difficult to come by for either team in the second half. So, Poquoson stole a page from Warhill as Hayes threw 68 yards to Ron Foskett on a halfback option pass to set up the last-minute touchdown.
The Islanders’ inability to execute the point-after doomed their upset hopes.
“We’ve been conditioning with long practices, working hard for them, because we knew it would be a tough game,” Hayes said. “They’re a good team. That’s why they were 6-0.”
Woodside 21, Bethel 7
The Wolverines led 21-0 at halftime at Darling Stadium on their way to a fifth consecutive victory Thursday night.
Woodside (5-1 overall and in the Peninsula District) hasn’t lost since its opener against Hampton on Sept. 11. Bethel fell to 3-5, 3-4.
