Gretna’s defense ferocious in Region B championship victory

GRETNA — Appomattox running back Joe Reed was looking for any type of opening into the end zone early in the fourth quarter, but the Gretna defense was as ferocious as ever, bringing Reed to a standstill one yard shy of the goal line on a fourth-down attempt.

Appomattox was never able to move the ball into Gretna territory again until the final moments of the game where the Raiders turned it over on downs.

The Hawks defense held strong time-after-time against a vaunted Appomattox (9-3) offense, stifling the Raiders much of the final quarter en route to a 28-13 victory in the Region B Division 2 championship game Saturday afternoon.

After claiming the school’s third consecutive region championship, Gretna (10-2) will travel to Tappahannock to play Essex (12-0) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. after the Trojans defeated King William 42-12 to claim the Region A Division 2 championship. It will be a rematch of last year’s 45-40 Hawks’ victory in the Group A Division 2 semifinals in which Essex gained 559 yards against the Gretna defense — the fifth most in Virginia High School League history.

“You’re there on a fourth-and-1 — you score and go up and I think that’s the ball game,” Appomattox coach Ben Martin said. “I think we gain the momentum there and defensively, we go out there and get a stop and the game’s over with. We didn’t get it and that’s sometimes how these games go.”

The Gretna defensive stand came after all-Dogwood District first-team defensive back Joe McGee broke his right femur while he was punting the ball with 4½ minutes left in the third quarter. McGee bobbled the snap, but was able to get the punt off as Appomattox’s Rico Rose came in, tipped the punt and plowed into McGee. The junior was in severe pain as the medical staff tended to him for approximately 20 minutes before being strapped to a board and loaded into an ambulance.

McGee’s father confirmed the injury and said the doctors told him the surgery was successful. A metal rod was inserted into the femur bone during the procedure at Danville Regional Medical Center.

“We had to fight. We had to fight for Joe McGee because he’s family,” Gretna running back Andre Dickerson said. “Joe is an important part to this team, so we had to play hard. Instead of playing selfish, we played with our hearts.”

Dickerson rushed for 95 of his game-high 189 yards in the fourth quarter, which included ripping off a 41-yard touchdown with 2:38 left in the game for the contest’s final score. Dickerson rushed for 92 yards in the first half and had two 30-plus yard runs on his nine fourth-quarter carries to help put the game out of reach.

Gretna junior quarterback Nick Miller, who completed 1 of 13 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown, gave the Hawks all the breathing room they needed with a 26-yard touchdown run with about 3½ minutes left. Miller’s touchdown run, his second of the game, came on fourth down and gave the Hawks a two-score cushion.

“The play was big in itself because it was fourth down,” Miller said. “My coach told me, ‘I’m going to put the ball in your hands and let you run with it.’ I was like, ‘Get it to me, I’m going to get it for you.’ And then, we ran the play and I saw Urkel (Dickerson’s nickname) right in front of me and I saw (J.J. Rose). I just wanted to make sure Urk got on him, he didn’t have to block him, but I wanted to make sure he got on him. As soon as he pushed him down, I started running.”

Appomattox was able to cut the Gretna lead to 15-13 after Joe Reed rumbled into the end zone from 5 yards out with more than 5 minutes left in the third quarter. However, the Raiders failed to convert on the two-point conversion.

“We thought if we could get it to a two-possession game … I felt like we were in pretty good shape as well as our defense was playing,” Gretna coach Kevin Saunders said. “I don’t think they could throw the ball on us, so I felt pretty good about it.”

Appomattox senior quarterback Kenny Scott finished with 122 yards passing and 96 yards rushing. Scott scored the Raiders’ first touchdown of the game early in the third quarter after Appomattox was able to catch the Hawks off guard with an onside kick.

“We knew that they were going to be hard to stop and we were going to be hard for them to stop us,” Scott said. “Defense was the key today and they just outplayed us today.”

Gretna 28, Appomattox 13
Appomattox 0 0 13 0 -  13
Gretna 0 7 8 13 -  28
Second quarter
G – Nick Miller 4 run (Jelmer Pijpers kick), 8:17
Third quarter
A – Kenny Scott 12 run (Devanti Perkins kick), 10:55
G – Everett Witcher 54 pass from Miller (Miller run), 7:54
A – Joe Reed 5 run (pass failed), 5:43
Fourth quarter
G – Miller 26 run (Pijpers kick), 3:38
G – Andre Dickerson 41 run (pass failed), 2:38
Team statistics
Appomattox Gretna
First downs 14 8
Rushes-yards 47-160 36-273
Yards passing 122 54
Passing 8-18-0 1-13-1
Total offense 282 327
Fumbles-lost 5/2 1/0
Penalties-yards 8-36 8-59
Punts-average 5-25.4 3-24
Individual statistics
Rushing: A – Scott 24-96, Reed 15-54, M.J. Pennix 4-24, Team 4-(-14). G – Dickerson 20-189, Miller 12-91, Kevin Dale 1-(-1), Team 2-(-6).
Passing: A – Scott 8-17-0 122, Rico Rose 0-1-0 0. G – Miller 1-13-1 54.
Receiving: A – Neal Thomas 1-77, D.J. Christian 1-26, R. Rose 4-13, J.J. Rose 2-6. G – Everett Witcher 1-54.
Records: Appomattox 9-3; Gretna 10-2.