Goochland Holds On For Win Over Central in Battle For First

LUNENBURG – The Goochland Bulldogs and Central Chargers played last Friday night in a game of unbeaten James River District teams that likely decided the champion for 2016. Goochland came out of the gate early on with four scores and then held on to take the win by a 28-14 final.

Goochland got the ball to start the game and methodically moved down the field with Calvin Martin scoring from three yards away to put the Bulldogs up 7-0.

Central answered back on their first offensive series of the night with a 14 play drive that was capped off by a Malik Foster 1 yard touchdown run. Ben Atkins added the extra point and the game was tied at 7-7 as the first quarter came to a close.

Goochland got on the board quickly during their second possession when Cordell Mattox raced in from 60 yards to give Goochland a 13-7 lead after the extra point was blocked. Both teams would be held to three and out possessions over the next few series as Raymond Alexander, Kester Long, Jackson Parsons and Dion Graham dominated play along the defensive front. However, Goochland would get another long TD run by Marcus Burton and a two point conversion to jump ahead 21-7.

The Bulldogs got one more possession with just 36 seconds left in the first half and that would be all the time they would need as Mattox got free again and scored from 45 yards away to give the Bulldogs a 28-7 halftime lead.

With Goochland rolling offensively in the first half, Central would need a big defensive effort in the second half to just stay in the game. They would get that from the defense as Central held Goochland scoreless over the final two quarters of play.

Central got strong defense and timely plays that including a great play as Tylik Thomas forced a fumble that went through the end zone and gave the Chargers the ball back in the third quarter. The CHS defense also appeared to have forced another turnover when John McGrath ripped the ball away from a Goochland runner, but a defensive hands to the face penalty against Central negated the turnover.

The Central offense couldn’t get going after their opening drive in the first half, so they switched up formations and went to a spread look in the second half. The Chargers moved the ball early on and appeared to be heading in for a score, but a Goochland interception at the goal line thwarted the scoring opportunity.

The Chargers scored late in the game as Foster raced in from 20 yards away on a QB keeper that made the score 28-14. That would be the final score as Goochland took the victory and barring an upset before the end of the season, the JRD title.

The Goochland defense is only averaging giving up just over one touchdown per game and has numerous shutouts this season so CHS Head Coach Will Thomas said he expected it would be a tough game. He stated, “I am proud of how our kids battled and our defense shut them out in the second half, but they are a good football team.”

The Chargers will take on Amelia at home this Friday night at 7:00 pm.

Unofficial stats:

Rushing

Foster- 23 carries for 117 yards, 2 TDs

Moore-16 carries for 49 yards

Passing

Foster 3-9 for 31 yards

Receiving

Thomas 2 catches 21 yards

Anunay 1 catch for 10 yards

Tackles

Alexander 11, Parsons 11, Fowler 10, Graham 9

Thomas— 1 forced fumble