Barons, Eagles set for shootout

By Ryan Yemen
Published: September 24, 2008

Last Saturday, the Blue Ridge football team got a heavy dose of a hard-nosed running attack, and nothing looks to change this afternoon when they host Covenant.

After putting up a good fight against defending state champion Liberty Christian, the Eagles make the trip to St. George looking to bounce back behind senior tailback Luke Heinsohn.

“Obviously, Luke is going to be a big part of the game plan every week, but we have to move the ball around so they can’t gang up on him.” said Covenant coach Mark Sanford.

The Eagles struggled with turnovers last week and will no doubt look to limit them today by keeping the ball in Heinsohn’s hands and look for opportunities to go make big plays when the opportunity comes.

For Sanford, it comes down to his offensive line creating holes for Heinsohn and giving time to young quarterback Lee Coppock.

“If our offensive line continues to get better, they’ll make Luke Heinsohn’s job easier, and give Lee time to get ball to Andy Colberg and our receivers,” Sanford said. “We really need them. They’re a pretty veteran line and they need mean an awful lot to this team.”

Conversely, Barons coach Del Smith is hoping that his defense will do a better job of wrapping up the ball carrier. Last week, Randolph-Macon running back Victor McKoy tallied 195 yards, most of which came in the first half. On two different occasions McKoy was able take two big runs through the Barons defense for the score. Heinsohn has gone over 100 yards in both of Covenant’s victories.

“Covenant is very similar to Randolph-Macon,” Smith said. “They run the rock and they’ve got a great back in [Heinsohn]. They’re a well-coached team and very fundamentally sound. We’re going to have to tackle better for sure, we’ve got to stop the run and react to the pass when they go to it.”

The Barons offense can give Covenant (2-2) a run for its money. Blue Ridge (1-1) appears to have settled on Speedy McCauley at the quarterback position, and the former Albemarle player fared well in his first game under center.

Last week, McCauley demonstrated that he could throw the deep ball, hitting A.J. Williams, Scott Williams and Ryan Smith for big strikes. McCauley finished the game with 305 yards and four touchdowns. Both Williamses, each of whom measures 6-foot-4, showed that their size and speed is too much for just one defensive back to handle.

“It’s a matter of not allowing yourself to get lulled to sleep,” Sanford said. “Those big plays happen when you get lazy.  We obviously have our work cut out in the secondary. They’re big, tall and athletic. They have everything you want in your receivers so we need to make sure the secondary understands the coverage.”

David Coe and Denzel Wilson bring a lightning quick rushing attack, and Coe demonstrated he could go the way alone by piling up more than 150 yards last week when Wilson was sidelined with an ankle injury. Coe’s running ability helped the Barons get the man coverage they were looking in the secondary.

One thing is for sure — with these two offenses on the field, there should be no shortage of points on the scoreboard.