By Greg Taylor
Contributing Writer

The state semi-final against Broad Run had the potential to be a game for the ages, one that fathers tell sons and so on. 

For many in Indian Nation, the game reminded them of the “Mud Bowl” against Giles in 1996 when Powhatan slogged their way to a state title at Midlothian High School. 

  On Saturday, a hard wind blew out of the north with Mother Nature dropping rain in the first half, freezing rain at halftime and finally snow by the game’s end as the temperature continued to drop closer towards the freezing mark.  As the precipitation changed, so did the Indians whose offense which went from one that could move the ball in the first half to one that seemed frozen in place as Broad Run’s second half adjustments helped them to a 20-7 victory.

By kickoff, the center of the field had small ponds of water dotting the playing surface but that did not deter the Indians from imposing their will on Broad Run.  Throughout most of the first half, the Indians defense did a solid job of bottling up University of Pittsburgh commit T.J. Peeler holding him to only 35 yards while forcing three Spartan fumbles which Powhatan recovered two of them.  But the second half saw the Spartans run counter play after counter play as Peeler rushed for 144 yards while Broad Run dominated the time of possession.

The Indians were able to strike first after Pat Purington recovered a Peeler fumble at the Indians 41 yard line.  Powhatan methodically moved down the field in the wet conditions moving the chains with two third down conversions.  Then the Indians got a break as Shawn Minor fumbled the ball at the Spartans 23 yard line but it took a favorable hop back to him.  The Spartans defense had over pursued on the play and the fumble gave Minor a running lane to the right which he took all the way to the 3 yard line.  Two plays later, starting tailback Dion Berry punched the ball in from two yards out behind his big offensive line.  Ellis Moore converted the extra point and Powhatan enjoyed a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Then Powhatan’s miscues and mistakes started to cost them.  A Minor interception led to 54 yard return by David Weaver to the Indians 14 yard line but the defense was resolute and held them in check.

Then a high snap on a punt late in the second quarter led to Broad Run blocking Kurt Taylor’s kick and recovering the ball at the Indians 15 yard line.  That turnover led to a T. J. Peeler one yard run with only 42.1 seconds until halftime.  The two point conversion was no good and Powhatan entered the locker room in front 7-6 with the Indians getting the ball to start the second half.

Despite the one point lead, the Indians had moved the ball well against Broad Run with 127 yards of offense but turned the ball over twice.  The offensive line did a solid job against the front eight of Broad Run using their size to push them back and make big enough holes to run through.  Unfortunately, the offense was unable to duplicate the same effort in the second half amassing only 56 yards after the break.

In the second half, Broad Run’s defense was able to slow down Powhatan’s offense especially on the outside runs.  More importantly, the Broad Run offense was the best defense as they scored on two long drives of 76 and 74 yards and kept the ball for over 15 minutes in the second half as they wore down the Indians’ defense.

Broad Run’s first drive appeared to be stalled at midfield as the Spartans were facing a third and nine situation.  Powhatan’s coaching staff had just been given a sideline warning for encroaching on the field during a live play. 

Coach Woodson argued his case with the sideline official and apparently something was said that caused the official to throw a second flag this time for unsportsmanlike conduct resulting in a first down for Broad Run.

“That was the first time I ever got a flag, never cussed, never did anything,” Coach Woodson said. “I was just defending our coaches.  They were trying to coach.  I just told him (the official) we are here for the kids, we are trying to coach.  I walked away and when I walked away he threw the flag.  It certainly affected the game as they were going to punt.”

The first down enabled the Spartans to keep the drive alive which was finished off by a 20 yard run by Peeler on a weak side counter play with 1:58 left in the third quarter.  The two point conversion failed and the Spartans had their first lead at 12-7.

“We couldn’t really run our toss play much in this game today, so we did start running the counter play back to the weak side,” Coach Mike Burnett said. “T.J was finding room to run with the counter, and our guys did a great job up front of blocking it.”

Powhatan was still in the game down only five.  Their next drive saw a big 17 yard run on first down by Landen Bradley but the drive stalled near midfield and was forced to punt.

The Spartans got the ball back and put together a 17 play, 74 yard scoring drive that chewed up 7:57 of the fourth quarter and was eerily reminiscent of Sherando’s fourth quarter scoring drive in the 2007 state semifinal that ran over eight minutes of the clock.  After 14 runs by Peeler, quarterback Connor Jessup scored on a 17 yard naked bootleg for the final score with only 1:14 left in the game.

As the clock wound down to the final gun, the visitors sideline erupted in jubilation while the cold, harsh reality of the Indians’ first defeat and the abrupt end of their season fell like the snow upon Powhatan’s side of the field.  No team could stop Powhatan’s offense all season long and it took a combination of a strong team like Broad Run and Mother Nature herself to slow the Indians juggernaut down.

“The weather took stuff away that normally does on offense, the hitches, the play action pass.  It really hurt us especially with Landen being injured,” said Woodson. 

“The defense played a heck of a game, but they were on the field too much. Broad Run just had too many opportunities.”