Flying high again. Spurred on by a 22-point 3rd quarter explosion, the Dinwiddie Generals football team ended their 2-game losing skid last Friday night with a 29-18 victory of rival Petersburg.
In a first half dominated by defense, it was the Crimson Wave who got on the scoreboard first on a 1-yard QB sneak by Kevin Green. The Petersburg offense was set up with a short field after the Crimson Wave special teams thwarted a Dinwiddie punt attempt.
Trailing 6-0 in the 2nd quarter, the Dinwiddie offense caught fire and marched down the field on a 9-play 75-yard touchdown drive to take the lead. The Generals found the endzone when QB Chris Hall rolled to his left and fired a strike to Quintaze Jackson over the middle. Jackson reached back across his body and batted the ball back to himself before making an acrobatic catch and diving for the front pylon of the endzone. Eder Lopez’s extra point gave the Generals a 7-6 lead.
Things changed in the 2nd half as the Dinwiddie defense quickly forced a 3-and-out on Petersburg’s first possession. Then it was the Generals special teams turn to make a big play. They did as Trey Gardner raced around the edge and swatted the Petersburg punt out the back of the endzone for a safety, giving the Gens a 9-6 lead. 3 minutes later in the third the Generals special teams made another big play, this time pressuring Petersburg punter Keon Brown and tackling him before he could get the punt off.
Two 17-yard Chris Hall passes, first to Drakar Harvell and then to Trey Gardner, followed by a 10-yarder to Gardner put the Gens at the 1 yard line. Hall plunged in on a QB sneak to give the Generals a 15-6 lead.
The big plays kept coming for the Generals. On the 3rd play of the next Petersburg drive freshman LB Darius Johnson ripped he ball loose from Petersburg tailback Eric Magruder and took off down the field rumbling 20 yards to the Petersburg 22-yard line. Generals tailback Deandre Allen kept things rolling on the very first play breaking 3 tackles on his way to the endzone to make the score 22-6.
The Generals defense stood tall again stuffing Petersburg on 4th-and-4 on the Crimson Wave’s next drive. Two plays later, Allen darted in from 6 yards out for his 2nd TD of the night to make it 29-6 Dinwiddie.
Two late scores by Petersburg in the 4th quarter closed the gap to 29-18, but the outcome was never in doubt as the Generals controlled the ball with their running attack. Led by two new tailbacks and the strong running of Hall the Generals were able to take the air out of the ball and prevent any chance of a Petersburg comeback.
In his first start at tailback this season, Allen was impressive rushing 15 times for 71 yards and 2 TD’s against a stingy Petersburg defense. Allen also had an INT on defense that prevented a Petersburg TD.
Hall was also effective on the ground, rushing for 50 yards on 19 carries and a TD. Senior Chris Hardy also gave the Generals a spark in his first action of the season at RB, rushing for 23 yards on 5 carries.
Hall was effective in the air finishing 15-for-33 for 193 yards and a TD. His favorite target was Jackson who made 5 catches for 69 yards. Gardner added 4 catches for 46 yards and Harvell made 3 catches for 56 yards.
Defensively, the Generals took Petersburg out of their game and forced 4 turnovers in the process. Tavares Johnson and Allen had interceptions, while LB’s Darius Johnson and Brandon Taylor both recovered fumbles. Junior LB Andre Thweatt returned from injury and made 12 tackles. DE Corey Marshall recorded 8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and a sack.
The win over their cross town rival puts the Generals record at 4-3 and leaves them right in the thick of the Division 5 Playoff race.
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