Waynesboro opened its 2009 season with a 49-0 loss at Western Albemarle that set the tone for a 1-9 season.
The Little Giants came up short again on Friday night in their 2010 season opener with the Warriors, but it was nothing like the game we saw a year ago.
WHS was threatening upset until an interception by Western linebacker Tommy Mullins on a fourth-down pass attempt by quarterback Skylar Phillips with 1:40 to go closed things out in a hard-fought 15-10 Western Albemarle win.
Western (1-0) scored on its first play from scrimmage on a 65-yard run by quarterback Abbott Wallenborn that made it 7-0 WAHS 4:45 into the game.
That’s where the similarities to the ’09 season opener between the two, which Western led 35-0 in the first quarter, came to an end. Waynesboro (0-1) got on the board with 7:20 left in the second quarter on a 26-yard field goal by Tanner Walter that pulled the Little Giants within 7-3.
Western extended the lead to 15-3 at the 3:36 mark when Wallenborn connected with Adam Diehl on a 16-yard scoring pass and Pete Barber tracked down an errant snap on the extra-point attempt and hit Mitchell Parks in stride down the right sideline for the two-point conversion.
Waynesboro dodged a bullet after Phillips fumbled the ensuing kickoff and saw WAHS recover the ball at the Little Giant 20. Tre Turner intercepted a Wallenborn pass in the end zone to end that threat and send the teams into the locker room at the half with the score still at 15-3.
The game got interesting after another mistake, this one by Western Albemarle, a bad snap on a punt attempt that set up Waynesboro with a first down at the Warrior 15. Bryant Carter scored on a three-yard run into the right flat to bring the Little Giants to within 15-10 with 1:01 left in the third.
Waynesboro had two cracks at taking the lead in the fourth. The first ended on a controversial fumble call on a third-and-short run by Carter that stopped Waynesboro at the Western 40. The second ended on the interception by Mullins.
Wallenborn was the offensive star for Western Albemarle, running 24 times for 169 yards and a touchdown and going 7-for-14 passing for 62 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions.
Desean Dillard was the workhorse for the WHS offense, running 24 times for 147 yards.
Waynesboro had 219 yards of total offense. Western Albemarle had 258 yards of total offense.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].
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