GROUNDED: GW held scoreless by Amherst

AMHERST — Anticipating a four-quarter offensive battle against George Washington, Amherst County’s Wing-T attack took flight Friday night at Lancers Stadium, impaling the visiting Eagles with multiple big plays in a 41-0 blowout.

“GW-Danville has a tremendous football program, they’ve got a lot of speed and athleticism and we thought they really matched up with us well, so we felt like we were going to be in for a war,” Amherst coach Cecil Phillips said. “Give all the credit to the kids. They really rose to the occasion and executed the game plan.”

The Lancers (4-0) scored three touchdowns on their first 10 plays from scrimmage and opened a 20-0 halftime advantage before adding two more scores on their first four rushing attempts of the second half. They amassed 353 yards rushing on only 28 attempts (12.6-yard average) while holding GW (3-1) to 189 yards of total offense.

“I think (we) just thought it would come easy and if we come out here and hit them for a couple plays, they’d give up,” said GW running back DeVaughn Benion, who led the Eagles with 59 yards on 13 rushes. “But (the Lancers) are a state championship team and they’re not going to give up. They’re a hard-working team, (and) they brought the fight, and they came hard.”

Mario Vaughan (six carries, 118 yards) rambled for a 45-yard touchdown on his second carry of the first half and ruptured through a gaping hole for a 56-yard score on his first touch of the second half.

“It was the same play,” Phillips said. “We got a huge crease, Mario’s got good speed, he got his shoulders squared, he got downhill and he did a tremendous job of taking it into the end zone.”

Amherst dominated the battle of the trenches on its home turf, showcasing textbook execution on offense and stingy defense.

The Lancers manufactured four plays of 45 yards or more, including an 84-yard scoring sprint straight up the middle of the field by Jamal Glover in the first half and an 87-yard scamper by twin brother Jamar Glover early in the second half, setting up Devante Brown’s 2-yard TD plunge. Kirby Anderson’s two-point conversion run extended the lead to 35-0 and activated the running clock for the final 20 minutes, 42 seconds of the second half.

The Eagles drove inside the Lancers’ 25-yard line three times, but came away with zero points.

“We buckled down,” Phillips said. “The kids rose to the occasion and challenged them. We wanted to make them earn everything they got and our kids did a tremendous job when their backs were against the wall of digging in and responding and keeping them out of the end zone.”

Benion credited Amherst for manhandling GW on both sides of the ball.

“They executed well and did what they had to do and came out with the win,” he said. “They just played good defense.

“We were amped up mentally, but physically and being prepared for the game, we weren’t ready,” Benion added. “Instead of hustling to the ball, most people thought it was going to come easy and they just slacked.”

Allen is a staff writer for The News & Advance in Lynchburg.