SALEM—The final five offensive plays called by Goochland coach Joe Fowler were all passes. The fifth pass, on fourth and 4 with just more than a minute left in the game, skidded to the ground and ended the Bulldogs’ dramatic season and their chance at a state championship.

Tony Miller scored three touchdowns as Gretna beat Goochland 21-16 to claim its third Group A Division 2 state championship in five years.

The Bulldogs, dealt their first loss of the season, finished 14-1. Gretna is 13-2.

“It’s a little quiet and we’re a little frustrated right now,” Goochland linebacker Jess McLaughlin said of his team. “But we’ll bounce back from it.”
Throughout their first 14 games, the Bulldogs’ offense prospered by running the ball. On Saturday, their running backs never found a rhythm. Patrick Clore finished with 40 yards on 14 carries. Mitchell Brice had 43 yards on eight carries.

“We couldn’t move the ball going 5 yards at a time against that defense,” Fowler said. “They were so much stronger than we were up front.”

With their main weapon neutralized, Fowler turned to quarterback Cody Johnson, who passed the ball 13 times, completing seven for 147 yards. When the Bulldogs needed to complete passes to score one last touchdown, they were unable to.
“It’s not who we are,” Fowler said.

But Goochland found success in spurts. Johnson completed five passes of 10 yards or more, including a 70-yarder to Brice, which made the score 21-16 and got Goochland back in the game in the fourth quarter.

But the Bulldogs fumbled twice. The second one was when the ball squirmed out of Brice’s hands in the third quarter. Gretna’s Cam Jefferson scooped it up and returned it to the 1-yard line. Then Miller hammered it in from a yard out to put Gretna up 13-10. Miller scored his third touchdown on the next drive for a 21-10 lead.

“There wasn’t any particular play (that the game hinged on),” Fowler said. “Every game comes down to multiple plays.”

Colby Cooke kicked a 51-yard field goal in the second quarter. It was his 17th and longest kick of the season. That tied the mark for second most in VHSL history with NFL kicker Shayne Graham’s 17 field goals in 1995. Trey Mitchell of Radford owns the record with 20.

Gretna’s two main offensive weapons, quarterback Dyon Rosser and Miller, kept Goochland’s defense moving backward all night.

Rosser ran 27 times for 141 yards and completed 6 of 10 passes for 87 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Miller had 32 yards rushing and 60 receiving.
“They’re just great football players,” Fowler said. “They weren’t doing anything special except playing great football.”

With 5:58 left in the game, Goochland got the ball on its 31-yard line down 21-16. The Bulldogs marched to the Gretna 31 before the drive stalled. Had they scored and won by two points, it would have been their third two-point victory of the season.

Goochland beat Buckingham 26-24 and Amelia 8-6 to close out the regular season.
“There are going to be worse days than this in your life,” Fowler told his team after the clock hit all zeros. “Hopefully, this will help you when those days come around.”

Gretna 0 6 7 8 — 21
Goochland 0 3 7 6 — 16

Go — FG Cooke 51
Gr — Miller 20 pass from Rosser(kick failed)
Go — C. Johnson 1 run (Cooke kick)
Gr — Miller 1 run (Canare kick)
Gr — Miller 3 run (Rosser run)
Go — Brice 70 pass from C. Johnson (pass failed)

RUSHING
Gr — Rosser 27-141, Moorman 7-36, Pannell 1-(minus-1), Miller 10-32, Jefferson 1-28. Go — Clover 14-40, Martin 4- 14, Brice 8-43, Z. Johnson 7-1, C. Johnson 2-3.

PASSING
Gr — Rosser 6-10-1 87, Miller 0-1-0 0. Go — C. Johnson 7-13-1 147.

RECEIVING
Gr — Miller 4-60, Glass 1-3, Bennett 1-24. Go — Martin 1-27, Nixon 1-22, Adams 1-11, Brice 1-70, Alvis 1-11, Z. Johnson 1-8, Engel 1-(minus-2).

Eric Kolenich is a staff writer for the Richmond Times Dispatch.