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"I’m most proud of how we handled adversity," said V/C coach Bob McNamara. "The game could have gotten away from us in the second and third quarters, but it didn’t. It got scary, but the halftime was good for us. It gave us a chance to make some adjustments. That we got the ball to open the second half helped."
Here’s what happened. V/C took a 24-6 lead and looked like it was going to blast RHAM all the way back to Hebron. But the Sachems got off the deck and cut the lead to 24-22 at the half and all the momentum was RHAM’s.
But then came the break and in the second half, V/C took it to RHAM three touchdowns to none and good night.
"Our kids picked it up in the second half," said McNamara. "To get a touchdown and go up by eight in the third quarter meant they had to score twice to go ahead. I thought the key in the second half was our pass rush. RHAM is an explosive team. But I don’t think they completed a pass in the second half."
McNamara was right. After RHAM quarterback Tyler Ware shredded the V/C secondary for 183 yards on a 9-for-16 performance in the first half, the kid came up empty in the second half, going 0-for-4 with an interception.
In fact, RHAM didn’t do anything on the ground in the second half either, going minus 17 for the half.
Our objective is to keep the ball from the other team," said McNamara. "I think that’s what we did. And Antonio (Inglis) is a big part of that. He never hurts us and the offensive line finds ways to block for him."
The stats tell the truth. In the second half, V/C ran 31 plays to RHAM’s 12.
Inglis had another off-the charts night. He picked up 236 yards in 31 carries and while that’s a great night for almost anyone, for him it’s just another day at the office. He had 106 yards in the first half, then, when V/C took control in the second, he led the way with 130 yards.
V/C took an 8-0 lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Todd Manjuck to Eric Francis at 3:51 of the first quarter. That was the ninth play of a drive that began with a fumble by RHAM’s Troy Silva at the Hawks’ 43.
Manjuck ran for the conversion.
V/C made it 16-0 at 10:16 of the second on a 33-yard pass from Manjuck to Inglis, who yanked the ball away from the defender at the five yard line and scampered into the end zone. Manjuck tossed to Corey Bober for the conversion.
Although Ware scored on a 25-yard run to cut the lead to 16-6 at 8:08, V/C seemed to be cruising when Inglis scored on a 1-yard plunge with 4:34 showing on the clock. When Inglis ran for the conversion, this was a laugher at 24-6.
The laughter didn’t last.
RHAM scored 16 points in 13 seconds on an eight-yard TD pass from Ware to Jeff Keurian at 2:14 and a 39-yard bomb following a successful onside kick from Ware to Hunter Finnance at 2:01. Two point conversions after both touchdowns cut the lead to 24-22.
RHAM made things even scarier for V/C when it got to the 12 yard line with seconds remaining, but the drive fizzled.
V/C took command in the second half. The lead became eight points when Inglis scored on a 14-yard run with 8:25 to go in the third. Two fourth quarter touchdowns -- one yard runs by Inglis and Manjuck -- put this baby to bed.
V/C winds up its regular season Thanksgiving Eve at Palmer Field with Rocky Hill.
at 6:30.
