One thing was certain entering Friday night’s football matchup between Patrick Henry and Albemarle.
The Patriots were going to win.
Until the final minute, the question remained if it was going to be the purple and gold Patriots of PH, or the blue and red Patriots from Charlottesville.
In the end, it was a pair of Terry Jones touchdown runs in the fourth quarter that secured the 30-20 win for Patrick Henry on homecoming night at Merrill Gainer Field.
It was a back-and-forth display of scoring opportunities, and missed ones, all night.
PH came up short on its first possession when it missed on a 36-yard field goal attempt. Their second possession ended with a fumble inside the Albemarle 5-yard line.
But, PH got the scorekeeper busy on its third series when senior running back Jawan Ferrell scored from 8-yards out to put the purple and gold up 7-0 with 2:22 left in the first quarter.
Albemarle scored on quarterback D.G. Archer’s touchdown scamper early in the second quarter, but the point-after sailed left, leaving PH up 7-6.
Patrick Henry returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Albemarle 8-yard line, but 3 plays netted only 4 yards before PH settled for a Charles Francillon field goal that made it 10-6 PH.
Albemarle scored to take its first lead of the game at 13-10, then PH quarterback Quishon Calfee found senior wide receiver Marcus Terry for a 43-yard TD pass with just over a minute left in the half that sent the teams to the locker room with PH holding the slim 17-13 advantage.
Albemarle regained the lead after a strange series of events midway through the third quarter. With PH threatening inside the Albemarle ten, Albemarle’s J.T. Shorten made the most of a PH fumble, retuning it 92 yards to put the Charlottesville Patriots on top 20-17.
PH scored on the first of Jones’ fourth quarter touchdowns to go up 24-20, then following an Albemarle fumble into the end zone that thwarted a go-ahead score for the blue and red, PH drove 80 yards for a touchdown with 1:22 left that put things away for the Patriots of Roanoke.
The win moved Patrick Henry to 3-1 on the season, as PH now embarks on a stretch of five straight road games.
– Bill Turner
