By Tom Bragg
For Lootpress.com
With apologies to John Elway (and to Cleveland Browns fans who may know where this is going), what happened last Friday will forever be remembered in Putnam County as “The Drive.”
Trailing No. 11 George Washington 13-7 with 2:24 to go in the opening round of the Class AAAA state playoffs, No. 6 Hurricane took over possession at its own 2-yard line and proceeded to march 98 yards for the game-winning touchdown and extra point. Senior quarterback Noah Vellaithambi, hobbled with an ankle injury and clearly not at 100 percent, found Sha’lik Hampton in the corner of the endzone on 4th-and-15 from the 18-yard line – the third fourth-down conversion of the drive.
Seth Casto’s extra point put the Redskins ahead 14-13 and propelled Hurricane into this week’s big-school state quarterfinals, where it will travel to play No. 3 Jefferson on Saturday after the Cougars’ advanced with a win against Cabell Midland last week. .
“It might have to be [remembered] as one of the best drives in Hurricane history,” Redskins head coach Donnie Mays said. “One of the best drives, period. You could see it in their eyes – they were calm, cool and collected when I was talking to them before we went out there. Nothing bothered them. We practice stuff like that all the time – going up and down the field as fast as we can – no timeouts, having timeouts, different scenarios. Sometimes I’ll put a 14-play drive on them, sometimes I’ll do three. It just depends on how we’re moving the ball, effort, energy and all that stuff.
“So it was almost like practice. At the end of the day [at practice], we backed it up to I think the 8-yard line, and we went down the field in about 12 plays and punched one in and actually ended with a fade to Sha’lik. I didn’t expect three fourth downs on that drive and the conversions – I think we had 4th-and-20, 4th-and-3 and then 4th-and-15. It was a remarkable effort by all the kids.”
Vellaithambi, who was initially hurt during Hurricane’s regular-season meeting with GW on Nov. 1, was not at his best for most of Friday’s win, but came up big down the stretch. He finished the game 14 of 30 for 154 yards and ran the ball five times for 24 yards, but perhaps no play was bigger than his 17-yard scramble on that final drive to put the Redskins deep into Patriots’ territory and within striking distance.
“[His injury] has been an ongoing thing,” Mays said. “We’re just trying to get him where he needs to be – he’s getting closer each week even though he is playing on it on Fridays. Some of that stuff is good for him – getting out there and working it around.
“Friday night he came up to me and said, ‘If I have to run, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes to win.’ On that last drive, he had some long runs to save us.”
Hurricane’s quarterfinal opponent, Jefferson, has been perhaps a bit off the radar for some this season as the “other” team in the Eastern Panhandle along with No. 1 Martinsburg and No. 2 Spring Mills.
The Cougars (8-3) began the season 1-3 with losses to Spring Mills, Shernando (a Virginia powerhouse) and Martinsburg, but have not lost since Sept. 27.
In fact, Jefferson has scored at least 40 points in every game since then, going 7-0 during that stretch including last week’s 48-28 victory against visiting Cabell Midland.
“The thing that really sticks out to me this year [about Jefferson] is how much speed they have,” Mays said. “They have as much team speed as anybody we’ve seen, including Martinsburg, at the skill positions. And their running back [Tay’Shaun Roper] is a big-time player. [Tony Allen] is really good at the receiver spot.”
Jefferson is no slouch on defense as well, with a crew of defensive backs that can stack up with just about anyone.
“In their secondary [Mar Wallace, Jackson Rockwell, Jamari Jenkins and Allen] – those guys are really special,” Mays said. “When the ball is in the air, those kids are ballhawks. When you’re looking through all the different plays on film, you don’t see a lot of passes being thrown on them over the top. They defend the ball really well when it’s up there. They’re athletes.”
Saturday’s winner advances to the state semifinals where they will face the winner of Friday’s game between No. 2 Spring Mills and No. 7 Morgantown. For Hurricane, it would be just the second semifinal appearance in program history after getting to the Class AAA final four in 2022, where the Redskins lost at Parkersburg South. Jefferson has never been to the state semifinals in football.
