Virgin Island Football
Posted on 17. Oct, 2008 by Brad in Sports | Twitter: @bradhart |
Post 59 of 100 of Brad’s Tiny World Scribefire Challenge.
ST. THOMAS – The Charlotte Amalie Chickenhawks continued their impressive start to the 2008 season on Friday with a 36-14 win over the St. Thomas Private Schools.
CAHS, led by a strong running game for the second week in a row, were able to hold off a late Arawak Warriors comeback try in the second half.
“Well, we knew it was going to be like this,” CAHS head coach Francisco Jarvis said. “We knew we would be in a dogfight with them and we definitely were.”
The Chickenhawks (3-0) were able to jump out to a 22-0 lead thanks to great performances by quarterback Ryan Mills and running back Devin Pruitt, who combined for all 243 rushing yards for CAHS.
Pruitt got Charlotte Amalie on the board first with a 1-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed, but with 6:18 left in the first quarter, CAHS had taken a 6-0 lead.
The Warriors (1-1-1) looked as if they were going to answer right back on their first drive, but 13 plays and 52 yards later the drive stalled. After a touchdown was called back for illegal procedure, St. Thomas Private Schools failed to convert on fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line.
“It was minor things that turned into big plays against us,” Warriors head coach Michael Burke said. “Just when you think you’ve got a little momentum you run out of feet to shoot off.”
CAHS took advantage of the momentum swing, and on their first play of the ensuing possession Mills broke off a 93-yard touchdown run. On the keeper he ran right, cut left, threw in a couple of juke moves and stiff arms and found pay dirt for his second longest run of the year.
Pruitt ran in the two-point conversion and CAHS had a 14-0 lead with 9:13 left in the half.
“We knew they had the big play capability,” Burke said. “The first thing I had on my defensive key sheet was that we have to tackle, and when we didn’t that’s what happened.”
After another stalled drive by the Arawak Warriors, the Chickenhawks took advantage again with a four-play scoring drive. Mills completed 3-of-4 passes on the drive, the last of which was a screen pass to Pruitt for a 24-yard score.
Mills ran in the two-point conversion and with 2:24 left in the half CAHS had a 22-0 lead.
The momentum continued to be on the side of CAHS to start the second half as they scored again to extend their lead. This time it was Pruitt again, with a 5-yard run to make it a 28-0 game.
Pruitt finished with 122 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
But just when the game looked like it was getting out of reach for the St. Thomas Private Schools, they decided to put up 14 unanswered points.
With just 1:28 left in the third, quarterback Cruiser Wilkinson capped off a 8-play, 73-yard drive with a 1-yard dive into the end zone. The two-point try failed, but the Warriors had cut the lead to 28-6.
On the first play of the Chickenhawks following possession, Kyle Richardson forced a Pruitt fumble which was scooped up and returned 34 yards by Spencer Consolvo for a touchdown.
Daniel Rosey ran in the two-point conversion and with just 1:00 left in the third quarter the lead was cut in half, 28-14.
But the comeback was short lived as Mills dashed the hopes of the Warriors with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jawanza Hillaire. On the play Mills was nearly sacked – twice – but eluded defenders and found an open Hillaire in the middle of the end zone.
Mills ran in the two-point conversion for the final two points of the game as CAHS held on to win 36-14. He finished with 121 yards on three carries and 7-of-12 through the air for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
“We won, I’m happy, that’s all there is to it,” Coach Jarvis said.
As for his former defensive coordinator and current head coach of the Warriors, “We’re just going to build on the heart and willingness of these kids,” Burke said.
For CAHS, Rique Ashby came back from a week off with a game-high seven tackles and the game’s only sack. Ricky Gumbs had a team-high three catches for 60 yards. The Chickenhawks had 368 yards offense, seven first downs, and 18 penalties for 125 yards.
For the Warriors, Jelani Foy had a team high five tackles. Manny Santana had 79 yards rushing on 14 carries. The team combined for 160 yards offense, 117 came on the ground, nine first downs, and seven penalties for 41 yards.
- Contact Chris Walsh at 774-8772 ext. 310 or e-mail cwalsh@dailynews.vi.
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