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Panthers overcome early deficit to beat C-feds 21-13

  Lee-Davis wanted to unveil the Jason Meade era by showing that they were no longer a team to be pushed around; a task that could have proved somewhat difficult by taking on Hermitage, No. 1 in the Times-Dispatch Top 10 Poll, in their season opener.

  But the host Confederates jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter and made Hermitage play for their lives to pull out a 21-13 win.

  Despite the loss, Meade was happy with what he saw in his first game as head coach, “The kids played their tails off and that was important in the first game,” he said. 

  For the Meade the pre-game preparation was not to get his Confederates ready to play the No. 1 team but rather to play Lee-Davis football. “We really didn’t talk as much about Hermitage as playing the hard game we knew we could play,” Meade said. “Our concentration was on us and making sure we’re doing the little things right, that we were playing hard, we’re playing smart, we’re playing together. If we do those things, it’s kind of [unimportant] who the opponent is and that’s what we try to stress. When play good football we can compete with anybody in the state.”

  The Confederates got things rolling early on a pair of touchdown runs by Tucker Walton who finished the night with 25 carries for 127 yards. “The running game worked well,” Meade said. “Tucker Walton is going to be a heck of a back, back there for us. We got some good things working offensively.”

  But Hermitage showed why they are the top team in the region by bouncing back for 14 straight points. Michael Johnson got Hermitage on the board with a one yard touchdown run and Justin Gist scored on a 15-yard interception return in the second quarter to give the visitors a lead it would not relinquish.

  Even though Hermitage retook the lead, Meade said he was proud of what he saw from his team’s reaction. “We went from 13-0 to being down 14-13 at the first half and there was no panicky feeling on the sideline,” he said.

  Meade also liked what he saw from his passing game and from T.J. Harvey, who had 115 yards on five carries. “T.J. Harvey had a great game,” he said. We threw some interceptions that we would have liked to have had back. One went for a touchdown, but all in all the passing game went well. T.J. Harvey is going to be a great receiver for us.”

  Even though Hermitage padded their lead in the final quarter on a second Johnson touchdown, Meade had confidence that his team would fight back. “With three or four minutes left in the fourth quarter I thought very much that we were still in the game,” he said. “Even up until the last interception, there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to put some points on the board with the way the offense had moved the ball early on. I’m really how the kids handled their composure. I’m really happy with how they handled the adversity that we got from Hermitage. I’m really happy with how hard they played.”

  This Friday, Lee-Davis travels to James River in a 7:30 game.

Hermitage 0 14 0 7—21
Lee-Davis 13 0 0 0—13
LD:-Walton 6 run (Stevens kick)
LD—Walton 7 run (kick failed)
H—Johnson 1 run (Reynolds kick)
H—Gist 15 interception return (Reynolds kick)
H—Johnson 1 run (Reynolds kick)