During the construction of William Fleming’s new stadium several years ago, the Colonels used Merrill Gainer Field for their home contests.
Friday night, Fleming returned to Gainer and made itself quite at home.
Overcoming a Patrick Henry touchdown late in the first half, Fleming pulled up their boot straps for the final four scores of the game to overtake the Patriots 27-7.
The win brought the Noel C. Taylor trophy, symbolic of the crossed-city rivalry winner, back to Fernway Drive for the first time since 2009.
Fleming, which has done a complete turnaround under second-year head coach Bobby Martin after a number of lean years, finished the regular season 8-2 and travels to 9-1 Eastern View Friday night for the opening round of the Group 4A West playoffs.
Patrick Henry, which finished 6-4 with the loss, gets the daunting task of traveling to Group 6A Colonial Forge on Friday in a rematch of the mid-season contest won by Colonial Forge 35-6.
Friday night’s game turned into a battle of field position throughout most of the first half. Although Patriot quarterback Quishon Calfee connected on a couple key completions early, the PH running game was nonexistent all evening.The swarming Colonel defense held the Patriots to 90 rushing yards.
Fleming missed a couple chances in the early stages. Senior Warren Craft made a circus catch of a 34-yard toss from Colonel quarterback Tyrell Adams that came up empty later in the drive. Fleming also looked ready to light the scoreboard in the first when Brandon Johnson picked off a Calfee pass in stride and looked to be heading to the house before being caught from behind and stripped of the ball, allowing the Patriots to recover and dodge the bullet.
Patrick Henry finally produced the game’s first score with less than two minutes left in the first half when senior Terry Jones scored from 4-yards out for a 7-0 PH lead.
But, the Patriot advantage was short lived, as Adams hit Malik Traynham on a 58-yard bomb two plays into the ensuing drive that sent the teams to the locker room tied at 7.
After no scoring in the third quarter, Fleming took control in the fourth courtesy of three big plays that led to 20 unanswered points.
Craft executed a perfect reverse for a 47-yard pickup that led to a 4-yard touchdown run by Adams. A missed PAT left Fleming ahead 13-7 and the door still ajar for a Patriot comeback.
But, on the next PH drive, defensive back Deontre Brown picked off a Calfee pass, returning it inside the Patrick Henry 10-yard line. Moments later, Markeith Bryson plowed across from 3-yards out to put the Colonels up 20-7 with 9:22 left.
Later in the quarter, Traynham sent the Fleming crowd into a frenzy when he scored on a 53-yard gallop that put the win in the Colonel’s column.
Although the teams were virtually even in the passing game, Fleming’s 277-90 advantage in the rushing game, fueled by the stout Fleming defense, was the difference.
– Bill Turner