Following their historic season on the football field this year, the Dinwiddie Generals football team has been recognized for their efforts. A flurry of Dinwiddie standouts have been rewarded with postseason awards since the Generals concluded their season. Read the full story
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Football fans know a good game when they see one, and the fans in attendance for last Friday’s Dinwiddie-Patrick Henry Division 5 playoff game didn’t just see a good game - they saw a GREAT one.
#4 seed Patrick Henry eeked out a victory over a very talented Dinwiddie team in a seesaw battle that had fans on the edge of their seats all night long.
Patrick Henry took an early 3-0 lead when they kicked a FG after there first drive stalled inside the Dinwiddie 20 yard line. Dinwiddie answered back by taking the ball down the field, only to have a crazy turnover killl their drive in the red zone.
A mishandled snap somehow floated about 10 feet up in the air and fell right into the hands of Patrick Henry defensive end Will Whitworth. Whitworth raced 80 yards downfield before being caught by Dinwiddie WR Dequan Coles at the 10 yard line. Patriots RB Byron Henry would punch the ball in a few plays later from 6 yards out to give Patrick Henry an early 10-0 lead on the road.
Dinwiddie would cut the score to 10-7 on a 7-play 80 yard drive midway through the 2nd quarter. The Generals leaned heavily on the talents of senior WR Dequan Coles on the drive. Adam Morgan found Coles 3 times for 50 yards on the drive. Morgan capped the drive with a 6 yard TD run.
Patrick Henry added a touchdown right before the half when they went 75 yards on 8 plays to make it 17-7. The highlight of the drive came when Patrick Henry WR Ryan Smith connected with WR Vince Derricott on a trick pass play for a 22 yard TD.
As they’ve done all season, the Generals answered back in the 2nd half. Morgan hooked up wth Coles on a beautifully thrown deep ball for a 32-yard TD to cut the Patrick Henry lead to 17-13.
The Dinwiddie defense did their thing on the first play of the 4th quarter forcing and recovering a fumble at midfield to set up the offense. The Generals offense made several big plays on their way in for the go-ahead score, including a big 4th down pass-and-catch from Morgan to Coles for 9 yards. Morgan would power the ball in from 5 yards out on the next play to give Dinwiddie a 19-17 4th quarter lead.
But in this back-and-forth battle, Patrick Henry had an answer. Looking as if their drive was going to stall at midfield, Patrick Henry QB Brandon Cash took things into his own hands on a big 3rd and 5 play. Cash faked the handoff to his left and bootlegged out to the right only to see a wide open field in front of him. Cash tucked the ball and ran 42 yards down to the Dinwiddie 2 yard line. Fullback Adri Cavanaugh bulled his way into the endzone 2 plays later to put the Patriots ahead 25-19.
With just over 5 minutes left and only needing a touchdown to win the game, the Generals offense took the field a confident bunch and quickly started to move the ball downfield. QB Adam Morgan used his feet and arm to march the Generals down toward the endzone. Morgan either ran or threw the ball on every play as the Generals marched down the field looking for the go-ahead score.
The big play of the drive came on a crucial 3rd and 9, where Morgan waited in the pocket and found Coles over the middle of the field for 14 yards and a first down. Coles made a tough catch in traffic between two Patrick Henry defenders to give the Generals another first down.
A 9-yard run by Morgan, followed by a 12 yard pass from Morgan to Jerrell White put the Generals down inside the Patriots 20 yard line. Two more Morgan runs of 8 and 4 yards gave the Generals a first-and-goal at the 7-yard line.
After 2 unsuccessful plays on first and second down, the Generals went to their go-to connection of Morgan-to-Coles. Morgan took the snap, rolled slightly to his right and fired the ball to Coles in the endzone on an “out” route - it was then that Patrick Henry CB Ryan Smith made what is likely the biggest play of his football career. The senior CB squatted on the out route and broke on the ball as soon as Morgan began to throw, then, at the last possible second, he dove in front of Coles and made the interception at the 2 yard line.
On the first play following the INT, Patrick Henry QB Patrick Cash again hurt the Dinwiddie defense with his feet, keeping the ball on an option run and breaking downfield for a 69-yard gain. The Patriots would get one more first down to seal the deal and walk out of Dinwiddie High School with a 25-19 upset win.
In his final game for the Generals, WR Dequan Coles left everything on the field and gave the Generals a monster effort making 12 catches for 156 yards and a TD. Coles finished his spectacular senior season with 60 catches for 970 yards and 14 TDs.
Senior RB/S Wilkie Cox also had a tremendous night for the Generals in his final game, Cox made 5 tackles on defense and also had an INT. The interception was Cox’s 8th INT of the season. Senior DE Stephon Luccess was also a force in his final game as a General. Luccess finished with 4 tackles and a sack, the sack coming on a crucial 3rd down in the 2nd quarter.
Offensively, the Generals leaned heavily on QB Adam Morgan all evening. Morgan completed 22 of 29 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the football 22 times for 126 yards and 2 rushing TDs. The Central District Offensive Player of the Year finished the season with 2305 passing yards and 33 passing TDs, while also running for 441 yards and 8 TDs.
Patrick Henry now moves on to face Hanover next week in the Regional Final.
The Generals will now look to put together another successful offseason and build upon the success of this year’s 9-2 finish. The Generals 9 wins this season were 6 more than they had last season when they finished 3-7. The Generals are still a very young football team, they will have many starters from this year’s team returning next season, plus they have a stable of young players just waiting to contribute on the field next season.
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