It’s the Tomato Bowl.  There is not a more storied football tradition in the Richmond area.  Pride is at stake.  Bragging rights and early momentum can be found.  Last year, Lee-Davis did in their Ashland neighbors the Patriots winning their first Tomato Bowl since 2004.  The Confederate victory dropped Patrick Henry to its first 0-3 start in 20 years. 

  This year Patrick Henry came in to the game teetering with the possibility of falling to 0-3 again but both teams came into the rivalry with new coaches. Zac Hayden was calling the signals for Lee-Davis while Sam Hart manned the sideline for the Patriots. And in a Tomato Bowl thriller dominated by penalty flags flying both ways, the Patriots came back from a 24-0 deficit to defeat Lee Davis 25-24.

  “We had a bad first half,” said Patrick Henry senior quarterback Jayrin Waller.  “Our coach gave us a speech at half time. We got motivated.  We had to come out here and play hard the second half.  We weren’t doing what we supposed to do the first half.  But we never gave up.”

  Lee-Davis dominated the game for most of the first half.  However, their first series foreshadowed the penalties and mistakes that would plague them for most of the game.  The C-Feds had to call time out to avoid a substitution penalty on their first offensive play.  Despite their setbacks, senior running back DeVonte’ Scott (104 rushing and 2 touchdowns in the first half) eventually scored on a 6-yard run. 

  Running a two quarterback system, Lee-Davis went on to apparently put the game away, scoring 24 point straight points and seemed to be in compete control.
  Scott scored his second touchdown on an 8-yard run then senior wide receiver Chance Stone scored on an 81-yard screen pass from quarterback William Coalson.
  Stone converted his third 2-point conversion out of the wildcat formation to make the score 24-0 with 6:19 minutes to go in the second quarter. 

  But early problems began to mount for Lee-Davis, Coalson suffered an ankle injury on the Stone touchdown and sat out most of the rest of the game. 
Coalson’s absence was further amplified because Lee-Davis was already without fellow starting quarterback Israel Vaughan who was injured early in the first quarter.

  “That hurt us,” Hayden said. “We run both of our quarterbacks.  That is a big part of our offense.”

  Though the Lee-Davis defense continued to shut down Patrick Henry, the C-Feds missed those contributions to their offense almost instantly. 

  Lee-Davis inserted senior tight end Travis Stallings at quarterback just before the half. On his first pass Patrick Henry sophomore defensive back Travis Phillips pulled in the interception and raced 87 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown, sending the Patriots into the locker room with momentum.

  “T.J. made the big play in the first half,” said PH senior defensive back Kenny Mock of Phillips game changing interception.  “Our seniors are leaders.  We said everyone had to step up and do their part.”

  The beginning of the second half yielded the same bad results for Lee-Davis.  First half star DeVonte’ Scott coughed up the ball on a hard hit and Mock scooped up the fumble, returning the ball 40 yards for a touchdown to trim the margin to 24-13 after a failed 2-point conversion.

  Lee-Davis then inserted junior wide out Caleb Wyatt at quarterback to run the wildcat formation.  Wyatt finished the game with 107 yards and the C-feds were able to move the ball but not into the end zone. 

  As the third quarter continued, the Patriots cut into the lead on field goals of 22-and 33-yards from Louis Carrillo.  The latter coming after a squib kick from the previous field goal allowed Patrick Henry’s Ross Jones to recover the ball just before it went out of bounds.
  Holding a 24-19 lead late in the fourth quarter, Lee-Davis appeared to kill the Patriots dream of winning the game when Tyrell Eaton out jumped the Patriots’ Raymon Minor on a fade pattern in the end zone for an interception. The C-feds only needed to get a couple of first downs and run out the clock.  They got one first down then had to punt the ball back to the Patriots. 

  With 3:00 to go Patrick Henry embarked on a dramatic drive to win the game. 

  In one of the game’s most controversial plays, Lee-Davis’ Eaton and Stone sandwiched Mock going for a Waller pass from the 25. The three came down in a pile and Eaton came up with the ball. But in the end, the officials determined Mock caught the ball at the Lee-Davis 48, and Lee-Davis was guilty of pass interference.  The penalty brought Patrick Henry to the 33 yard line. 

  A second controversial play soon followed when Waller threw the ball to Minor deep along the left sideline. It appeared Minor shoved off Lee-Davis defender Tyler Moody to create space and catch the pass.  However, no flag was thrown and it was first and goal for the Patriots on the 9-yard line. 

  Waller then found senior Brian Houchens on a swing route and the game winning score with :47.6 seconds to play. 

  “I called it,” said Houchens on the score. “I told my quarterback.  Watch the swing out of the backfield.  My man listened to me and we got the score baby.”

  Lee Davis reinserted Coalson but they were unable to score.

  “We fought extremely hard to get back into this game,” said Patrick Henry head coach Sam Hart. “We had an ugly first half.  But they never gave up.  I am extremely proud of that.”

Patrick Henry…........... 0 7 12 6—25
Lee-Davis…................. 16 8 0 0—24
L — DeVonte Scott 8 run (Stone run)
L—Scott 8 run (Stone run)
L—Stone 81 pass Coalson (Stone run)
PH — Phillips 87 interception return (Carillo kick)
PH —Mock 40 fumble return (pass failed)
PH — FG Carillo 22
PH — FG Carillo 33
PH — Houchens 6 pass from Waller (pass failed)