Stops When It Counted: Buckingham holds off Central to advance to the Region 2B semis

By Logan Riddick / Scrimmageplaycva.com Contributor

With Buckingham holding a two-touchdown halftime lead and dominating the stat sheet in Friday night’s Region 2B quarterfinal, it wasn’t a surprise that visiting Central-Woodstock would adjust and counter after the break.

“I told them [in practice] during the week, when it came time and they need yards, they’re going to line up in a power-I and run it,” said Buckingham coach Seth Wilkerson. “We were just able to make a couple adjustments here and there, and stop them when it counted.”

Relying almost exclusively on the inside ground attack and shortening the game with long, methodical drives, the Falcons spent nearly the entire third quarter marching 80 yards to pull within 12-7. After forcing a punt from the Knights, they got the ball back with six and a half minutes remaining and came perilously close to doing it again. Marching from their own 35 into the red zone as the clock ticked inside the final minute, it was junior defensive lineman Emerson Edwards who finally paused the momentum with a tackle-for-loss.

“Gotta give it all to coach Wilkerson, he told us to push through adversity,” Edwards said.

Two plays later, Central faced fourth-and-four at the Knights’14. The call was yet another run up the middle by senior running back Jacob Williams-Warner.

“I had contain, and me and Emerson squeezed together and met him there [in the middle],” said senior linebacker Will Motley, as the Knights piled up Williams two yards shy of the line to gain. With 42 seconds on the clock, Buckingham took over and kneeled out the 12-7 victory.

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“It’s been a while since we made it to the second round, so we’re excited we were able to get this monkey off our back,” said Wilkerson.

The Knights’ offense came out of the gates hot, racking up 155 yards and two scores in the first quarter. After receiving to start the game, senior Jayden Maxey broke loose on the second play from scrimmage for a 79-yard touchdown.

“I saw all my o-line get the perfect blocks, and then I saw the cutback was wide open and I took it,” said Maxey, who finished with a game-high 148 yards on 13 carries.

Buckingham’s defense delivered a quick three-and-out and a low long snap forced Central’s punter to gather the ball with his knee on the ground at the Falcons’ 13 yardline. The Knights had to settle for a 30-yard field goal attempt, which missed wide right. But another three-and-out and successful punt setup the offense near midfield. Six runs covered the distance, even overcoming a holding penalty thanks to a 22-yard scamper by Maxey. Motley took a sweep left the final 10 yards to make it 12-0 for the Knights with 1:40 left in the opening quarter.

“I saw Jayden turn them inside so I cut out and it was there,” said Motley, who added 92 yards on 12 carries in the game.

“Our offensive line is coming together,” said Wilkerson. “We’ve got Jayden Maxey and Will Motley running the ball, and they just make some special things happen.”

After a third three-and-out by Central, Buckingham soon faced another redzone opportunity after Motley broke a 39-yard run. Advancing as far as the Falcons’ 7 yardline, a fumbled snap on second-and-goal set them back, and ultimately the drive ended with no points as a fourth-down pass fell incomplete. 12 points on four redzone possessions certainly offers an opportunity for improvement as the Knights look for a deep playoff run.

While Buckingham amassed 234 yards of offense in the first half, Central finally moved the chains for the first time with two minutes remaining. That turned into a 13-play drive covering 74 yards, a vast improvement as the Falcons had net-zero total offense to that point. Unfortunately for the visitors, time expired as senior quarterback Noah Moss flipped to receiver Josiah Bailey under heavy pressure and Bailey weaved down to the 5 yardline.

In the third quarter, Central turned to Williams as the focal point of the offense, despite having one carry for negative-four yards in the first half. He carried 22 times after the break for 75 yards. The Falcons’ 19-play drive to start the third quarter took 10:21. A Moss-to-Bailey connection for 17 yards on fourth-and-four capped it.

The Knights’ only (non-kneeldown) possession of the second half followed. Although it stretched nine plays and drained seven minutes off the clock, it covered only 16 yards. That set the stage for Central’s final march.

Thanks to Madison County’s upset of top-seed Clarke County, Buckingham (11-0) will host the Mountaineers (5-6) in a Region 2B semifinal next Friday.