Sports

Benedictine onslaught tames Wolves

Cadets, Goochland to begin respective playoffs this week

By Dave Lawrence Richmond Suburban News

GOOCHLAND — Neither Benedictine’s offense nor its defense showed signs of slowing down as its regular season came to an end Friday.

The Cadets, who amassed 397 yards total offense, put visiting Saint John Paul the Great in a stranglehold as they walloped the Wolves 62-0.

Benedictine (7-3) finished fourth in the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association Division I standings. The Cadets advance to the VISAA semifinals, where they will visit St. Christopher’s Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

While the Benedictine offense piled up the stats, the defense set the tone — early and often. It started with two interceptions by Kamari Veney in the first quarter, both of which led to Cadet touchdowns.

“It was a big boost, my first pick of the year — my first two picks of the year,” Veney said. “It helped set the tone early.”

Veney’s interceptions were two of the three interceptions the Cadet defense had on the day. Nic Land had the other. The Cadets also recovered two Saint John Paul the Great fumbles.

Benedictine did not give up any yardage to the Wolves. On the day, Saint John Paul the Great’s offense moved backwards by 3 yards.

Benedictine’s defense was led by linebacker Henry Berling with six tackles total, including two sacks, and four assists. He finished with five tackles for loss. Defensive lineman T.J.

Photo by Dave Lawrence

Benedictine quarterback Tate Plageman (8) finds a hole in the Cadets’ 62-0 win over visiting Saint John Paul the Great Friday.

Baldwin finished with two tackles, including a sack, and seven assists. Defensive back Gary Lee Seigler finished with two tackles — both for loss — and two assists. Defensive lineman Dylan Faniel finished with a tackle and seven assists.

While the Cadet defense seemed a black hole sucking in any semblance of the Wolves’ forward progress, the Benedictine offense was like a supernova. The Cadets scored nine touchdowns, often aided by Saint John Paul the Great turnovers. Another key spark was quarterback Tate Plageman. Plageman completed 7-of-8 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran 48-yards for another touchdown.

All three Plageman scores came in the first quarter.

“The offense was clicking well,” Plageman said. “Good plays were being called. The guys we needed to execute were executing. The line was blocking well. I had protection back there. The running backs played well, wide receivers played well — just an all-around great win for us.”

One of the Cadets quarterbacks’ main targets was wide receiver Leon Haughton. Haughton caught six passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns, the first an 8-yard pass from Plageman and the second a 40-yard pass from Wes Buleza.

“He’s our biggest receiver — maybe, like, 6-4,” Plageman said. “He’s a senior. He’s been with us for four years. I would say that we target him the most. We trust him a lot. We try to get the ball in his hands as much as we can.”

After Plageman spotted the Cadets to a 21-0 first quarter lead with his two touchdown passes — the first a 9-yard toss to Grayson Cannaday — and a touchdown run, Benedictine head coach Greg Lilly began subbing liberally.

Buleza began taking over under center in the second quarter and connected with Haughton for his 40-yard TD pass. Leo Boehling added another touchdown on a 24-yard run to close out the first-half onslaught with a 34-0 lead.

Plageman and Boehling each scored in the third quarter, Plageman on a 3-yard run and Boehling on a 34-yard scamper. Benedictine’s final two touchdowns came on a 17-yard run by A.J. Jackson and a 5-yard run by Easton Ogle.

Through it all, Seigler proved a solid placekicker, converting on 8-of-9 pointer-after attempts.

The Cadets and their Saturday opponent, St. Christopher’s, are joined in the VISAA Division I playoffs by

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third-seed Trinity Episcopal and second-seed St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School. The Titans will travel to Alexandria for the other semifinal Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Goochland mangled by Lions

The Bulldogs ended their regular season on a disappointing note, falling to rival Louisa County 31-10 Friday night.

While the Lions earned a share of the Jefferson District title, they still finished fifth seed in Region 4D and will have to travel to E.C. Glass in the first round of regional playoffs. While Goochland lost, the Bulldogs still finished fourth seed and will host fifth-seeded Culpeper in the first round. Game time for both games was unavailable as of the time this edition went to press.

The night began on an inauspicious note for the Bulldogs when Louisa’s Elijah Brooks and Jacob Bundrick tackled Goochland’s punter in the end zone for a safety. Louisa quarterback Landon Wilson increased the Lions’ lead to 9-0 on a 2-yard touchdown run.

Goochland’s C.J. Towles scored on a 9-yard run to close the gap, but the Lions began to pull away steadily afterward.

Wilson completed 10-of-18 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns and had 13 carries for 99 yards and another touchdown.

Dave Lawrence can be reached at dlawrence@mechlocal.com.

Benedictine 21 13 14 14 — 62 John Paul 0 0 0 0 — 0

BEN — Cannaday 9 pass from Plageman (Seigler kick) BEN — Haughton 8 pass from Plageman (Seigler kick) BEN — Plageman 48 run (Seigler kick) BEN — Haughton 40 pass from Buleza (kick failed) BEN — Boehling 24 run (Seigler kick) BEN — Plageman 3 run (Seigler kick) BEN — Boehling 34 run (Seigler kick) BEN — Jackson 17 run (Seigler kick) BEN — Ogle 5 run (Seigler kick)

RUSHING

JP: Moran 1-1, Saunders 16-(minus 15), Bass 5-(minus 25), TEAM 7-40. BEN: Boehling 7-104, Plageman 5-35, Mears 6-29, Howe 3-20, Jackson 1-17, Gosline 2-10, Ogle 1-5, Barber 1-3, Buleza 1-(minus 8).

PASSING

JP: Bass 2-8-(minus 4)-1. BEN: Plageman 7-8-130-0, Buleza 2-3-520.

RECEIVING

JP: Saunders 1-(minus 1), TEAM 1-(minus 3). BEN: Haughton 6-118, Roarty 2-55, Cannaday 1-9.

Photos by Dave Lawrence

Above, Benedictine wide receiver Riley Roarty breaks free of a Saint John Paul the Great defender in the Cadets’ 62-0 win over the visiting Wolves Friday. Bottom left, Benedictine wide receiver Grayson Cannaday’s knee may be on the ground, but the football he’s holding broke the plane of the goal line first for the Cadets’ first touchdown.

RSN Wants You!

Do you love sports? Do you love telling stories? Do you have the chops to write compelling tales – and to do so on a deadline? If so, Richmond Suburban News wants you! RSN is seeking sports correspondents (stringers in newsroom lingo) to help our staff cover the blizzard of events in the Hanover, Powhatan, and Goochland communities we serve. We feed on a steady diet of high school sports, with some college competition (in Hanover) and the occasional professional event.

The work is mostly nights and weekends. But we pay our correspondents in coin of the realm rather than the oft-promised “exposure.” We prefer people with some journalism training – published clips (even as a student reporter) are best – and need people who can consistently turn around compelling content on time and to the assigned length. For more information, contact sports editor Dave Lawrence at dlawrence@mechlocal.com.