In the inaugural game of Goochland’s 2008 season, even the coin toss sided with the Cadets of Benedictine in a 28-20 upset win over the rival Bulldogs.

  The loss by Goochland broke a 33-game regular season winning streak that spanned three years. “I knew how long it was, and I guess, everybody else knew how long it was,” said Goochland head coach Joe Fowler. “It’s kind of disappointing that we lost it, but you know…the kids that started that streak are seniors in college now.  I hate more than anything in the world to see it go.”

  On a field still soggy from a full day’s rain the day before, Benedictine asserted their defensive presence when they stopped the Bulldogs’ first drive in three downs.  Then with the ball well within Goochland territory, the Cadets closed the 35-yard gap to the end zone. Starting quarterback Darien Brothers ran a couple of keepers, setting up a failed run that resulted in a surprising fumble recovery by Clayton Navarre for a touchdown.  However, the Bulldogs’ defense squelched the 2-point conversion attempt to hold the Cadets to six points. 

  But Goochland’s offense replied with back to back 65-yard drives.  The first included paired plays for ground gains by Eli Drinkard and Desmond Athey, setting up an M.J. Cox 28 yard rip up the right side from a misdirect on fourth and three for the Bulldogs’ first touchdown of the season.  Cody Simmon’s extra point put Goochland up by one, beginning a rally that showed promise of a Bulldogs domination as QB Tyler Carter scored on a one-yard keeper for a 14-6 lead.

  With moments left in the half, Benedictine closed the gap to within two points 14-12 on a scoring run by Daryn Wilkins, but once again the Bulldogs’ defense stood tall and the Cadets were denied a two-point conversion attempt.

  Despite setbacks from penalties, Benedictine broke open the second half with a drive that began with a Brothers keeper for 25 yards and concluded in a Will Swoope 5-yard touchdown run, followed by his two-point conversion that this time the Dogs’ defense could not shut down. 

  The clincher for Benedictine came in the middle of the third quarter. When Cadets’ starting quarterback Brothers left the game after tweaking his knee, the Bulldogs got no relief when backup QB Greg Petrovich found his twin brother Drew alone in the endzone on a 17-yard fade pass.  Swoope completed the Cadets’ scoring for the evening with his second two-point conversion run.

  The production by Petrovich did not surprise Cadets’ head coach Dan Rolfe. “I’ll be honest with you, we have two starting quarterbacks,” he said.  “The starter (Brothers) went down, tweaked his knee a little bit…could have come back in the game; and we had the confidence in the other young man (Petrovich) to bring him in; and he jumped right in, continued, and we plugged along.”
  Goochland rallied with a 10-yard carry by sophomore, Dustin Plummer to bring the score to 28-20, but failed on the extra point attempt. 

  Moving into the fourth quarter, the Goochland High School band’s “Rocky Theme” encouragement was not enough to elicit further scoring on Goochland’s part.  The Cadet’s held onto their lead and ran out the clock to deprive the Dogs of a final chance of a comeback.

  For Rolfe, the win could set the tone for his season. “Tell you what, this one’s been a huge one for us,” he said.  “We were so excited to start this rivalry being so close to one another.  This is great for both schools.  And this is a good litmus test for us; and to come over here and to beat them on home field and play on Friday night under the lights.  You couldn’t ask for anything better.”

  On the other side of the field, despite the loss Fowler was pleased with his Bulldogs’ performance.  “I was very, very proud of our offensive line,” he said.  “We had those 65 yard drives.  Five plays at a time.  I think we ran quarterback sneak four times on it and were picking up yards.  They just played really well.  It just wasn’t our night tonight.  And a lot of the credit for that goes to Benedictine.  They’re a great football team.  Coach Rolfe’s done a great job.  Darian Brothers is a fantastic athlete; and they’ve got some other very good football players out there.”

  On par with this was Fowler’s praise of quarterback, Tyler Carter.  “Tyler is a real leader on the field,” he said, “a real force; and I thought he did real well.  He managed the game with a slick ball and a sloppy track; and I thought he did a good job of getting in and out of plays we needed, to telling me what was going to work.  I’m proud of the way he handled the team.”

  A factor that cannot be ignored is that the Bulldogs do not have the experienced players that carried them in the past.  “We don’t have the seasoning we had last year,” Fowler said.  “We have a few veterans [now] but they are [still] getting there.  Their time will come, and we still think that come November, we’re going to be a very good football team.  We knew there were going to be bumps in the road.  We weren’t naïve enough to think that there weren’t; but we hate that it started out like that right out of the gate.  So, we’re just going to have to see how it all shakes out.”

  The bright side: “The good news,” said Fowler “is that, from playoff implications, this game doesn’t count against us.  Private school games don’t count in the VHSL points ratings.  Somebody said somewhere this week, it’s kind of a glorified scrimmage.  I don’t know if I’d trivialize it that much but, I guess we can find solace in that.”

  Another positive note on the night came from the production of sophomore running back Dustin Plummer. Showing surprising speed around the ends, the newcomer to the varsity team picked up 39 yards on six carries. “He’s going to be a great football player,” Fowler said. “Once he gets the size to go with his vision he’s going to be something special.”
 
Benedictine 6 6 16 0—28
Goochland 7 7 6 0—20
B—Navarre fumble recovery in end zone (run failed)
G—Cox 28 run (Simmons kick)
G—Carter 1 run (Simmons kick)
B—Wilkins 6 run (run failed)
B—Swoope 5 run (Swoope run)
B—D. Petrohovich 19 pass from G. Petrohovich (Swoope run)
G—Plummer 10 run (kick failed)
RUSHING: Benedictine—Brothers 9 carries, 85 yards, Swoope 11-73,Wilkins 5-44, Walls 5-31, Navarre 4-7, Price 1-4, Johnson 2-1, G. Petrohovich3-minus 3; Goochland—Athey 9-58, Cox 7-51, Plummer 6-39, Drinkard6-24, Ezell 4-17,Carter 10-2, Henley 2-minus 2.
PASSING: Benedictine—G. Petrohovich 2 completions, 3 attempts, 0interceptions, 39 yards. Brothers 2-6-0-27; Goochland—Carter 1-2-0-15. Henley0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Benedictine—Tiller 1 reception, 20 yards, D. Petrohovich 1-19, Williams1-17, Walls 1-10; Goochland—Henley 1-15.