There was a lot of turnover on Friday night at Ed Bassett Stadium.
First, Magna Vista and Bassett combined to commit nine turnovers in the Warriors 22-14 win. That victory gave MVHS the district title, leading to an additional turnover, this time in the district standings.
Magna Vista, a team that entered the season with 21 straight losses, is the Piedmont District champion. Bassett, a program that had won or shared in five consecutive PD titles, was relegated to third place after missing out on the chance to create a three-way tie for first along with Magna Vista and Patrick County.
“I think our kids battled and battled and battled, and I just feel so glad for my seniors, who worked so hard and put in the time and put in the effort that it takes,” said MVHS coach Joe Favero, who served as Bassett’s defensive coordinator just two seasons ago. “You know, to go from 0-21 to district champs in a year, that’s a testament to what they’ve done.”
The win means the Warriors will travel to play at CarrollCounty in the first round of the Region IV, Division 4 playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Despite the loss, Bassett also made the playoffs. The Bengals will travel to face Christiansburg at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Magna Vista (6-4 overall, 4-0 PD) got the victory over Bassett thanks in part to the dual-threat ability of quarterback Harvey Taylor. All of Taylor’s 136 passing yards came in the first half, while 96 of his 122 rushing yards were earned in the second half, as the Bengals’ defense adjusted and the Warriors offense tried to protect the lead after intermission.
“They out-executed us the whole night. The credit goes to them, not to us,” said BHS coach Jay Gilbert.
“I’m happy for Joe and his staff,” Gilbert continued. “They’ve worked hard in the offseason, and they’ve worked hard to get them in a position to play well. He’s a heck of a coach.”
The Warriors started the game with three passes in the first four plays, and Taylor completed each one as Magna Vista targeted the sideline area of the field with quick throws.
On the team’s second drive, Taylor complete 3 of 5 passes, the final one a 28-yard jump ball to 6-foot-5 receiver Tyler Davis, who leapt high for the third-and-long pass, landed on the 1-yard line and set up T.C. Carter’s touchdown on the next play to make it 7-0.
“Coach Favero just saw a weakness, because their outside linebackers weren’t going out with our wide receivers,” said Magna Vista’s Byron Becker. “So he tried to exploit it early, and it worked out.”
Taylor had the hot hand to begin the night, and he was 9-for-11 for 98 yards when Bassett linebacker Desmond Woods stepped in front of a pass and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown. Woods was flagged for excessive celebration after the score, however, a penalty that moved back the ensuing kickoff 15 yards.
Before the kickoff, Bassett’s extra point attempt was blocked, but the Bengals got another chance due to a penalty on Magna Vista during the PAT. Shaq Finney then ran for the 2-point conversion.
“We give up a touchdown right before the half, and instead of laying down saying let’s just take it to half, the kids are like, ‘Let’s go,’” said Favero.
So they did. The Bengals kicked off from their own 25 due to the celebration penalty, and Nick Iacobucci fielded the ball at the 25-yard-line and returned it to midfield.
On the series’ fifth play, Taylor scrambled for 9 yards on 4th and 2 to keep the drive alive, and two snaps later, he lofted another jump ball to the corner of the end zone.
Davis leapt to get his hands on it, had it knocked away by a Bassett defender but secured it again with one foot inbounds on his way to the turf for the 14-8 lead.
“Harvey gave him some time, put some air under it and let him adjust to it, and what two great catches,” said Favero of Davis’ efforts. “The second one, the (Bassett) kid knocks it out of his hands on his way down, he turns around and makes an over-the-shoulder catch. That’s just a big-time play.”
Added Gilbert, “We got some turnovers, got that little pick six right there before the half, and we thought we were gonna have an 8-7 lead at the half. And then they just throw it up, and the guy makes a play. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due, you know. He just went up and took the ball.”
Bassett took the opening kickoff of the second half and began a methodical drive beginning at its own 50. On fourth-and-1 from the Magna Vista 21 yard-line, Maples ran up the middle and appeared to be close to the marker, but officials did not initially measure the spot, and instead awarded Magna Vista posession and reset the chains.
Following on-field protests from Gilbert, the officials did bring the chains out to measure, and ruled Maples to be short of the first down.
“They should have stuck with the original call and not gave me the measurement after they’d moved the chains, because then it was obvious the chains weren’t where they were to start with,” said Gilbert. “But that’s not what lost the game for us.”
The Warriors capitalized on the momentum swing, as Byron Becker picked up a total of 9 yards on his first two carries, followed by a 22-yard run from T.C. Carter.
On first-and-10 from the BHS 49, Becker rumbled down the sidelines in front of Magna Vista’s bench, breaking several arm tackles and refusing to get pushed out of bounds before scoring his team’s final touchdown to make it 22-8 with 7 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Becker finished the contest with 84 yards and a score on just five carries, while Carter toted the rock 22 times for 82 yards and a TD.
“It was a pretty crazy rivalry game, a district game, and we had to come out and win, so I had to go out and play hard,” said Becker.
Over the remaining 19 minutes of the game, the teams combined for six more turnovers. Magna Vista fumbled twice, botched a punt attempt and threw two interceptions. Bassett also threw two picks and missed a 38-yard field goal attempt wide left.
Maples finished the contest 0-for-6 with three interceptions, two of which were caught by Magna Vista freshman Keon Mabin.
Dashaun Valentine led the Bengals in passing, going 1-for-3 for 11 yards.
The Bengals got their final score with 10:03 remaining in the fourth quarter, capitalizing on a T.C. Carter fumble that gave BHS possession at the 20-yard line. Shaq Finney gained 15 yards to the 5 on the first play of the series, then punched it in from 1 yard out three snaps later. He finished with 85 yards and a TD on 24 carries.
Magna Vista’s Anthony Redd blocked Bassett’s extra point attempt to make it 22-14.
“I was happy for our defense. They stepped up again,” said Gilbert. “They’ve been doing it all year for us. They stepped up and made some plays that kept us in the game.
“I’ve said all along that whoever executes best wins,” he added, “and they defintitely executed when they needed to.”
Scoring Summary
MVHS 7 8 7 0 — 22
BHS 0 8 0 6 — 14
Score by Quarters
First Quarter
MV — T.C. Carter 1 run. (K. Reid kick). 2:59
Second Quarter
BHS — D. Woods 40 interception return. (S. Finney run). 1:21
MV — T. Davis 19 reception from H. Taylor. (T. Kellam catch). 1.7
Third Quarter
MV — B. Becker 49 run. (K. Reid kick). 7:00
Fourth Quarter
BHS — S. Finney 1 run. (Kick blocked). 10:03
Team Stats MVHS BHS
Total Yards 412 183
Passing Yards 136 11
Rushing A-Y 51-276 48-172
Passing C-A-I 12-19-3 1-9-3
First Downs 16 11
Penalties #-Y 6-60 7-60
Turnovers 5 4
Punts #-Avg. 1-36 0-0
Time of Poss. 26:49 21:11
Individual Stats
Rushing: MVHS — H. Taylor 23-122; B. Becker 5-84; T.C. Carter 22-82, TD; L. Martin 1-(-12). BHS — S. Finney 24-85, TD; D. Valentine 14-61; M. Maples 9-23; E. Bowman 1-3.
Passing: MVHS — H. Taylor 12-for-19, 136 yards, TD, 3 INTs. BHS — D. Valentine 1-for-3, 11 yards. M. Maples 0-for-6, 0 yards, 3 INTs.
Receiving: MVHS — T. Davis 6-78, TD; T. Kellam 4-30; J. Hayden 1-14; X. Myers 1-14.
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