by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
A cornerback. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Interceptions.
The second thing? Probably solid coverage, maybe flamboyance.
Well, Jordan Love is a cornerback. And the first thing people will think about him after Friday night is tackling.
It was Love’s hit that secured Deep Run‘s 21-14 victory over Hanover in an entertaining nondistrict matchup of top five teams in the DigitalSports Top 10.
Down by seven points with 1:16 remaining, Hanover earned a first-and-goal from Deep Run’s 10-yard line on a Josh Wells 45-yard bomb to Jeremy Yorke on fourth-and-11.
Three downs afterward, the Hawks had traveled four yards and faced a fourth down needing six yards to set up a potential overtime. They got 5 1/2.
Wells whipped a pass to Deane Cheatham in the right flat. The sophomore running back turned his head up field, and Love took him down with a perfect cut tackle. (VIDEO OF THIS PLAY BELOW!)
Cheatham’s shoulder pads quickly hit the turf before he could stretch out the ball over the goalline as the No. 2 Wildcats moved to 3-0.
“They came out in trips. We called gold,” Love said. “He told me to stay back. I read the quarterback. I saw the receiver coming out so I just ran up on it. He caught the ball and I just made the tackle.”
It was a great tackle that ended a great game between two potentially great teams.
The Wildcats struck first as running back Love and QB Antone Exum took turns carrying the pigskin six straight plays to start the game. The last was a 38-yard jaunt from Exum, set up by a beautiful play fake.
Hanover’s ferocious defense took a few too many steps towards Love, who was being faked to, giving Exum a lane. Jacob Smith‘s kick made it 7-0 Deep Run.
No. 5 Hanover couldn’t get much going offensively, so the defense jumpstarted them. The Hawks pressured the elusive Exum, who tried to throw a pass away.
But all-DigitalSports pick Kenny Fryman picked it off, setting up Hanover at Deep Run’s 45-yard line.
Wells went right to work, hitting Danny Trisc on a dandy of a slant route for a 27-yard gain.
Two Deep Run penalties (facemask, pass interference) set Hanover up at the 6-yard line.
Chris Lee did the rest scoring up the gut. Rachel Moore‘s PAT tied the game at 7 and that’s where it stood at halftime as both defenses asserted themselves.
It continued into the third period. Deep Run forced Hanover back 10 yards before the Hawks punted.
Then what seemed to be a promising Deep Run drive was thwarted when backup QB Chris Copeland was intercepted by sophomore Marzae Brooks, a beauty of a play considering Brooks was playing with one hand in a heavy wrap or cast.
He returned it to Deep Run’s 41-yard line and Wells went to work again. He hit Yorke for a 22-yarder. Then Cheatham spurted up the gut for 18 yards and a 14-7 lead as Hanover’s crowd rocked the packed house with 4:11 remaining in the third.
The Wildcats offense got out of Hanover’s shackles once it opened up the passing game with Exum. He found Michael Dosh for 10 yards, and then hit U.Va. commit Jake Snyder for nine on a third-down play.
Two plays later Love blazed through a crease, shook a Hanover defender in the secondary and dove in for a 27-yard TD that tied the contest with 7:41 to go.
“The O-line, they really stepped it up,” said Love (16 carries, 41 yards), who had sort of a Barry Sanders night, full of big runs and big losses. “It wasn’t much of me. The O-line opened up a big hole and all I had to do was just hit it.”
Not so for Exum after a Hanover three-and-out. Deep Run had Hanover blocked up, but there wasn’t really much space.
All of a sudden a patient Exum (23 carries, 148 yards, 2 TDs) bolted through a hole and pointed to the end zone, racing 65 yards for the eventual game winner.
“I’m so glad we had the opportunity to play against these guys,” Deep Run coach Greg Kendall said. “They really showed us what it’s going to take to be a championship team. I’m glad we had a chance to win, but it was worth being here just to play against them.”
Deep Run 7 0 0 14 – 21
Hanover 0 7 7 0 – 14
DR – Exum 38 run (Smith kick)
H – Lee 6 run (Moore kick)
H – Cheatham 18 run (Moore kick)
DR – Love 27 run (Smith kick)
DR – Exum 65 run (Smith kick)
Deep Run – Exum 23 carries, 148 yards, Love 16-41, Dallas Simmons 2-16; Hanover – Wells 7-15-0-119
Deep Run – Exum 3 completions, 6 attempts, 1 interception, 56 yards; Copeland 0-1-1-0; Hanover – Cheatham 8-73, Lee 11-21, Wells 17-10, Xavier Crocker 3-6
Deep Run – Dosh 2-47, Snyder 1-9; Hanover – Yorke 2-67, Trsic 2-36, Karlton Davis 1-9, Cheatham 1-5
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