How important are special teams?

  “On nights like this,” said Goochland coach Joe Fowler, “you cannot underestimate the value of a good kicker and a good long snapper.

  “We’re blessed to have several good long snappers and two good kickers. It paid off for us tonight.”

  On a cold Friday evening with a nasty wind whipping across the field, the Bulldogs defeated Amelia 8-6 in a classic matchup of unbeatens to claim the James River District title and the top seed in the Group A, Division 2, Eastern sectional playoffs.

  Goochland’s points came on field goals of 37 and 26 yards by Colby Cooke and a second-quarter safety, the result of a high snap that sailed over the head of Raiders punter Justin Evans and skidded out of the end zone.

  “Before the game, I practiced from both sides of the field to make sure I knew how to play the wind,” said Cooke, who’s committed to Vanderbilt. “It was a harsh crosswind. There was a lot of pressure.

  “Knowing that I put six points on the board to help our team means everything to me.”

  Purdue-bound Thomas Meadows, who holds for Cooke’s field goal attempts, averaged 42 yards on six punts.

  As significant as his distance was the fact that Meadows’ strong right leg kept the high-octane Amelia offense pinned deep in its own territory for much of the night.

  “With two great teams, we knew it would come down to special teams,” Meadows said.

  Playing before a packed house, Goochland (10-0, 7-0 James River, and ranked No. 2 in Group A by the Associated Press) faced a daunting prospect of stopping Amelia’s A.J. Royal, a supremely fast 5-foot-9, 160-pound junior quarterback.

  Royal, who scored on a 6-yard run at 5:51 of the fourth period to end a 15-play, 57-yard drive, completed 10 of 17 passes for 107 yards.

  Using their base 3-5 defense, the Bulldogs limited him to 68 yards on 26 carries and the Raiders to 88 rushing yards on 38 attempts.

  The home team also forced three turnovers: a fumble which set up Cooke’s first field goal, an interception (by Mason Engel) that set up the second field goal, and another fumble (recovered by Jess McLaughlin) on the Bulldogs’ 6 in the waning seconds of the game.

  “We made some mistakes early that came back to haunt us,” said Amelia coach Brad Bradley.

  “Take nothing away from Goochland. Both defenses showed up tonight. There wasn’t a whole lot of wiggle room for either offense.”

  The Raiders (9-1, 6-1 and ranked third by the AP) held the Bulldogs to 80 total yards (71 rushing, 9 passing) and three first downs.

  “They did an amazing job playing everything we wanted to do,” said Fowler. “They were physical up front and really pushed us around.

  “The ball bounced our way a couple of times. Thank goodness it did.”

  As the top seed in the Eastern 2 bracket Goochland will host #16 seed Nottoway this Friday night at 7 p.m. in their playoff opener. A victory by the Bulldogs would bring them up against the winner of the game between #9 Central Woodstock and #8 Windsor the following week. The Bulldogs face a possible rematch with Buckingham if they reach the third round of the playoffs.

Amelia…........................ 0 0 0 6 — 6
Goochland…................  3 2 3 0— 8
G – FG Cooke 37
G – Safety (ball snapped out of end zone)
G – FG Cooke 26
A – Royal 6 run (pass failed)

RUSHING
A – Royal 26-68, Bourne 9-24, Hite 2minus 1, Garland 1-minus 3. G – Clore 9-24, Brice 8-23, Martin 6-17, Z. Johnson 5-3, Dyer 3-2, C. Johnson 3-2.

PASSING
A – Royal 10-17-1 107. G – C. Johnson 1-5-0-9.

RECEIVING
A – Ward 5-56, Hite 3-39, Garland 1-7,  J. Johnson 1-4. G – Martin 1-9.