Tempers flare in GW's regular season finale against Fleming

ROANOKE—With a little more than 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter of George Washington’s rescheduled game against William Fleming, tempers got the best of some players as a Fleming kickoff return turned ugly as players from both teams began going at one another.

After the scuffle, Fleming responded with a bruising rally, scoring 21 unanswered points to take a 24-14 Western Valley District victory over the Eagles Saturday in the district finale for both teams at Patrick Henry High School.

GW (5-5, 2-2 WVD) will be the No. 6 seed in the Northwest Region tournament and will face Osbourn (7-3) in the first round in Manassas. Fleming (7-2, 3-1 WVD) moved up to the No. 5 seed and will play Brooke Point (6-4) in Stafford.

“Honestly, I hate to say it, but I was the key one,” William Fleming senior Devin Dean said of the altercation. “It was me and (GW senior RaShaun White) — we actually got into it in the middle of a block on the kickoff return and like I told the coaches and everybody else, I take full recognition for that, because I was a part of it.”

Both teams were assessed offsetting personal foul penalties, with the officials spending most of the time near the GW sideline. Both teams appeared to spill onto the field as the teams’ respective offenses and defenses were getting ready for the next series.

“We don’t have any idea what happened,” GW coach Dan Newell said. “It just got a little chippy out there and when you got that many kids out there — their offense coming on the field, our defense coming on the field, our kickoff coming off — when it’s that many kids transitioning on and off the field any time the special teams play and something like that goes on, you don’t have any idea how to sort it out. You don’t know who was on there to begin with.”

The momentum quickly shifted to the Fleming side of the field as Dean and running back Jonathan Hagins took control. Hagins finished with 76 yards rushing and scored the first Fleming touchdown in the rally with 1:23 left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 14-9.

Dean, who managed to stay in the game after the altercation, ran for 97 of his 148 yards in the second half and scored the final two touchdowns to finish off the scoring. Dean took advantage of the Colonels’ strong offensive line and gained most of his yardage on runs to the left side.

GW junior running back DeVaughn Benion finished with 89 yards on 19 carries and scored the Eagles’ two touchdowns on back-to-back drives to open the third quarter and put GW up 14-3.

“(The referees) didn’t say nothing but talk with your pads, but it was obvious that the other team was doing more talking with their mouths than with their pads,” Benion said. “But they came out with the win, so I guess they were doing some talking with their pads. … It’s a game of football and they say you can’t talk. I just don’t know what’s going on.”

Prior to the altercation, the game was running smoothly. The first half seemed more like a game where the teams were feeling each other out as Fleming led 3-0 at intermission.

“GW-Danville and Fleming, it’s always been a — I hate to use the word ‘chippy’ — but it’s kind of been a chippy game in years,” Fleming coach Rob Senseney said. “It’s more out of just (a) toughness-respect type of deal.”

Fleming was put on their heels early in the second half. After the Eagles forced a three-and-out, GW used an 11-play drive that saw Benion score from 3 yards out. On the ensuing kickoff, GW kicker Joseph Campbell caught the Fleming frontline sleeping, as he recovered his onside kick attempt at the Fleming 45-yard line.

The Eagles needed seven plays to get Benion in the end zone, this time from 10 yards out.

“I don’t know if that changed our end of it, but it certainly changed it for them,” Newell said. “There was a moment there … anytime something like that happens and momentum changes dramatically to one side or the other and you even it out by letting everybody get the emotions — it probably should have never happened, but I think that definitely it at least evened it out and gave them a shot of adrenaline when they were flat.”

William Fleming 24, George Washington 14
GW 0 0 14 0 - 14
WF 0 3 6 15 - 24
Second quarter
WF – Ane 25 FG, 3:44
Third quarter
GW – Benion 3 run (Campbell kick), 6:35
GW – Benion 10 run (Campbell kick), 3:22
WF – Hagins 1 run (kick blocked), 1:23
Fourth quarter
WF – Dean 6 run (Beane pass from Dean), 8:10
WF – Dean 47 run (Ane kick), 5:57
Team statistics
GW WF
First downs 13 11
Rushes-yards 41-216 46-218
Yards passing 67 58
Passing 6-15-1 4-8-0
Fumbles-lost 1/1 1/1
Penalties-yards 5-55 9-53
Punts-averages 5-29.8 3-36.7
Individual statistics
Rushing: GW – Benion 19-89, Mease 3-63, Jackson 13-52, Moore 2-17, Smith 2-3, Shuler 2-(-8). WF – Dean 19-148, Hagins 18-76, Waid 4-4, Cofer 1-2, Hardy 2-(-1), Team 2-(-11).
Passing: GW – Shuler 6-15-1 67. WF – Dean 2-5-0 45, Waid 2-3-0 13.
Receiving: GW – Smith 3-41, Benion 2-23, Petty 1-3. WF – Richardson 3-51, Redd 1-7.
Records: George Washington 5-5, 2-2 WVD; William Fleming 7-2, 3-1 WVD.