And then there were 4…

The Dinwiddie Generals used a combination of sturdy defense and timely offense to defeat the Hanover Hawks 34-17 this past Saturday in the Division 5 Central Region final. The victory moves the Generals into the VHSL State Semi-Finals, one of only four Division 5 teams left playing in the state.

Things started haphazardly for the Generals when they fumbled the ball to Hanover on their first play from scrimmage. Put in a tough position right off the bat, the Dinwiddie defense answered the bell, stopping Hanover’s strong running game between the tackles and forcing the Hawks to settle for a Rachel Moore 22-yard FG to give them the early 3-0 lead.

The rest of the first quarter was a defensive struggle as both offenses struggled to get into a rhythm on the cold, windy afternoon at Dinwiddie High School.

That all changed on the Generals first play of the 2nd quarter when WR Tarron Adams broke loose for a 29-yard gain on a screen pass from QB Adam Morgan. An incompletion on first down, followed by a holding penalty on 2nd down looked like it might stall the Generals drive, leaving them with a 3rd-and-20 at midfield. Faced with the long yardage situation, Morgan looked to his favorite target, WR Jerrell White, to help him out. Morgan hit White on 3rd down for 11 yards and then again on 4th down for 18 more yards to give the Generals a 1st down at the Hanover 18 yard line.

On the next play, Morgan rolled to his right to escape the blitz and found RB Chris Hall out of the backfield for 9 yards. Morgan then hit WR Quintaze Jackson over the middle, but a big hit by Hanover jarred the ball loose just inches before Jackson could cross the goal line. As the ball rolled into the endzone, Adams made a heads-up play and fell on the football just before two Hanover defenders could get to it giving the Generals a 6-3 lead. A controversial missed extra point would leave the score at 6-3.

Battle-tested from playing a tough schedule this season, the Hawks weren’t about to give up. They used their talented defense to again set up their offense when Trey Hutcherson jumped in front of an Adam Morgan pass at the 40 yard line and returned it 15 yards to the Dinwiddie 25. Three plays later, the Hawks would find paydirt when Deane Cheatham snagged a Josh Wells pass and reached across the goal line for the score to give Hanover a 10-6 lead.

As they’ve done all season long, the Generals offense answered quickly when Morgan rumbled off tackle for 27 yards on Dinwiddie’s first play of the ensuing drive. Morgan then dropped back and found White for 12 yards for another first down and rumbled again a play later down to the Hanover 14 yard line. Chris Hall took the handoff from Morgan on the next play and galloped 14 yards for the score to make it 13-10 with just 1:39 left to go before the half.

On the ensuing kickoff the Generals would get another break as a swarming effort by their kickoff team forced a Hanover fumble that the Generals recovered at the Hanover 26. Unfortunately for the Generals, they were unable to turn the Hanover mistake into points when a 42-yard Chad Jones FG attempt came up short. Despite the missed opportunity the Generals still took a 13-10 lead into the locker room at the half.

Hanover came out looking to run the football in the 2nd half and did so effectively fueled by a 33-yard run by Chris Lee down to the Generals 25 yard line. The Dinwiddie defense tightened up following the big play. Facing a 3rd and 5, the Generals defense brought the heat on Hanover QB Josh Wells and forced him to have to throw the ball away on 3rd down. Out of their kicker’s range, the Hawks went for it on 4th down. Once again, the Generals flushed the 6-foot-5 Wells out of the pocket and forced him to throw the ball out of bounds to give the Generals the football.

Following the stop, the Generals offense took the field knowing they were now in control of the momentum. Three straight 3rd down conversions, two on Morgan runs and one on a juggling, tip-toe catch by White along the Hanover sideline, moved the Generals out to midfield, but a holding call left them with a 3rd and 15, Following a Dinwiddie timeout, the Generals made the big play they are known for when Morgan dropped back, looked off the Hanover safety and then fired to Adams on a post route deep down the middle of the field for a 42-yard gain that moved the Generals to the Hanover 12 yard line.

Two plays later, after an 8-yard Chris Hall run, Morgan rolled to his left and fired a dart to Quintaze Jackson who had worked his way open in the endzone. The 10-play scoring drive gave the Generals a 20-10 lead with just over 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

The score would stay that way as both teams exchanged turnovers at the end of the thrid quarter. After converting on a crucial 3rd and 3, Hanover looked as though they might put something together, that is until Dinwiddie senior CB Brandon Parson made an acrobatic interception of a Josh Wells pass over the middle. The INT set the Generals up at midfield and swung the “momentum meter” all the way to Dinwiddie’s side.

A shovel pass to Chris Hall went for 14 yards up the gut, and then Morgan again broke loose through the Hanover defense ducking and weaving in and out of tackles and behind blocks for 31 yards all the way down to the Hanover 2 yard line. Known for his arm and passing stats, Morgan hurt the Hawks on this day with his feet, tallying 111 yards on 14 carries.

Faced with 1st and goal from 2 yards out, the Generals inserted their “Goal Line Offense” and Bradley Johnson plunged in for the score behind the blocks of tackles Nick Watts and David Abbey, and defensive players Jason Ampy (MLB) and Corey Marshall (DT) to give the Generals a commanding 26-10 lead. The Chad Jones extra point sailed down the middle to make it 27-10, pushing the lead to 3 scores and leaving Hanover little chance for a comeback victory.

The Generals defense would quickly force Hanover to turn the ball over on downs. CB Pierre Hawkes and Ampy broke up one pass, while Marshall applied heavy pressure on Hanover QB Josh Wells, forcing him to hurry one throw and tipping two more of his passes. Marshall disrupted the Hanover running game all day and gave the Hawks little time to throw the football with his pass rush.

With the short field, Dinwiddie ate up some clock with their running game, eventually pounding the ball into the endzone on a 1-yard run by Morgan that made it 34-10. Hanover added a touchdown late to make the final 34-17.

Against a Hanover defense known for being stingy, the Generals racked up 381 yards of total offense - 159 rushing and 222 passing. The Dinwiddie defense continued to play well, forcing 4 turnovers - 2 INTs and 2 fumbles - against a Hanover offense known for it’s precision and efficiency.

Morgan led the way for the Generals completing 19 of 32 passes for 222 yards and 2 TDs to go along with his 111 yards on the ground. Sophomore Chris Hall stepped up in an expanded role this week and produced, rushing for 31 yards on 7 carries and a TD, while also catching 4 passes for 39 yards.

Senior wideouts Jerrell White and Tarron Adams continued to shine for Dinwiddie as Morgan’s main targets. Adams made 3 catches for 77 yards, while White made 7 catches for 70 yards. Both players made countless clutch catches on third down for the Generals to keep drives alive.

Hanover finishes the season 8-4, while the decisive win improves Dinwiddie to 11-1. The Generals now have reeled off 11 straight victories follwing their season-opening loss at Clover Hill.

The win advances Dinwiddie to the VHSL Division 5 State Semi-Finals where they will face Northwest Region Champs Liberty-Bealeton (10-2). Liberty-Bealeton advanced by defeating George Washington-Danville 41-14 on Friday. The Eagles are led by 5-11 200-pound senior S/RB Corey Lillard and 6-6 252-pound senior OT Kory Gough. Liberty’s head coach is Tommy Buzzo.

The game will be played this Saturday at Dinwiddie High School. Kickoff is set for 1:30 pm

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