Congrats to Altavista/Thornhill and to Essex for a great one!
Congrats to Altavista on being back to back champs. Well done. Juan Thornhill is just plain phenomenal and a class act (nice interview the night before people were talking about). Thornhill had three TDs (two rushing and one pass) and the huge 2 point conversion in the 4th that ended up sealing it. Superb, gutsy call on that 2 pointer (even though AltaVista has a great kicker in Allen). Thornhill just beat Hammond to the corner. Best wishes at UVA and hope to see you in the NFL one day. Rare talent indeed. Great D stopping for the most part the Essex run game. A-Town pretty much filled there side up for the fairly short trip. Essex had a very good crowd for the trip and they made some great noise.
Thornhill definitely MVP (played great D too) but would have to give D MVP to Hammond. Great Battles there. Essex D played great overall (especially with some often poor field position). Contained Thornhill pretty good until that 50 yarder when he hit that seem in the 4th. Essex had all the momentum beginning the 4th until a few plays before that (14-14 but lost ball on a lost punt to Essex with Essex within 40 from the go ahead score. It happens.
Essex QB Broaddus played a great one with 3 TDs (to Monroe, Martin, and the awesome Hammond TD catch and run, with the assist to Martin who gave Hammond the destruction block so he could score.) Essex fans were going wild but could not punch in the extra 2 for the tie. Almost got the ball back.
Both teams had three turnovers. Thornhill with his 1st interception of season by Broaddus. I think that someone else threw the 2nd one to Hammond. Essex had major momentum in the 4th but had devastating fumble as mentioned. No complaints but some major blunders (3) by Essex special teams was the big difference in this one resulting in poor field position, points, and loss of the vital momentum. But that's football.
Congrats again to Altavista on a well fought contest & on their title. Also, congrats to Essex on a great game (so close, it was nerve whacking indeed) and season. Tough to lose 3 state games in a row but very few teams ever make it even once. Be proud as you should be for that great accomplishment.
Thanks to the person (s) who feed the entire Essex entourage in Waynesboro at the Outback!!! So nice and to the great folks in Salem for taking good care of us. Also, some Essex folks were passing out Haysi stickers and I gladly wore one on my purple.
To all the great Essex seniors, it's been fun, boys. Thanks for the memories.