Charles City fumbles away opportunity for upset win on homecoming night against King William

Charles City's Tyler Allen (24) drags down hefty running back Lafayette Pendleton as teammates Brian Hicks (9) and Andre' Mason (50) close in to assist.

Andre' Jones photo

Fighting off the injury bug and fatigue from a contest at Colonial Beach four days earlier, Charles City’s Panthers clashed with visiting King William in an Oct. 9 homecoming battle. And with the hosts trailing by a mere nine points heading into the final quarter, it appeared that victory was a possibility for the Panthers.

But two fumbles in the final quarter by Charles City culminated in 29 unanswered points by the Cavaliers, quickly evaporating any chance for the hosts to find the win column and leading King William to a 52-14 victory in the Tidewater District opener for both teams.

With only two blemishes on their record, King William found themselves in an unfamiliar position thanks to some quick-paced Panther offense. Scoreless at the beginning of the second quarter, the hosts overloaded the right side of the field with receivers. As King William adjusted, quarterback Mason Jefferson threw a quick screen pass to Brian Hicks, who was isolated one-on-one with a King William defensive back. As Hicks cut in, offensive tackle Michael Callahan delivered a key block springing the senior wide receiver to race 56 yards for a score and a 6-0 lead.

King William had a response on the own in 6’1”, 220-pound running back Lafayette Pendleton. The senior back would touch the ball five times on the next possession for the Cavaliers, totaling 67 yards including the final eight into the end zone. Alexander Dandridge’s placement would give the guests a 7-6 lead. Pendleton repeated the ground and pound attack on the next series, scoring a touchdown from 11 yards out to add to the Cavaliers’ lead. Dandridge’s placement along with a 32-yard field goal as time expired at halftime preserved a 17-6 halftime lead for the guests.

Luck favored the hosts at the 9:20 mark in the third quarter thanks to a King William miscue. Cavalier quarterback Jeffrey Huffman through a screen pass to wideout Will Stewart. Unable to haul it in, Stewart left the ball laying on the ground. However, alert Panther linebacker Khalil Bassett scooped the ball up and raced 28 yards for a score as the referees deemed the ball a backwards pass. Cecil Tyler’s conversion cut the lead to three points (17-14). But only for 15 seconds.

On the ensuing kickoff, Cavalier return man Michael Johnson fielded the ball at the 10-yard line and outran Panther defenders to add six more points on the board. The visitors took a 23-14 lead into the fourth quarter.

Exhaustion and fatigue were evident at the beginning of the fourth quarter. With Jefferson out of the game due to injury, Charles City looked to quarterback Troy Crawley to lead the Panthers down the field.

But Crawley’s march turned into madness as a lateral on an option play sailed over the head of Tyler. Pendleton capitalized, scooping up the free pigskin and punched in another touchdown for the visitors. After a Panthers three-and-out on the next series, Pendleton would score on the first play from scrimmage as a recipient of a 46-yard pass from Huffman to widen the gap to 23 points (37-14). The onslaught continued, with Cavalier halfbacks Taige Brown and Tresean Mickens adding ground scores thanks to another three-and-out and fumble by the hosts to put the game out of reach.

Charles City only dressed 17 out of 25 players for the game due to injuries, something that Panthers head coach Steward Greene pointed to that may have factored into the outcome.

“Tonight the numbers game got us,” he said, pointing to King William’s roster of 44 players. “I think if we would have started out the gate earlier and a little bit faster, we would have done a lot more damage.

“The thing is that we were in the game into the fourth quarter,” Greene continued. “But with four more players unable to finish the game tonight, we were physically depleted. We played a postponed game on Monday so the players were fatigued. However, I am proud of our effort and the fight we put out there tonight.”

King William improved to 5-2, with Pendleton leading the way with 250 rushing yards and four total touchdowns.

Charles City remains winless on the year, posting an 0-6 record. They will play their next three contests on the road before hosting West Point in their home finale on Nov. 6.

2nd Quarter
CC (10:48)- Hicks 56 yard pass from Jefferson (run fail) 6-0
KW (9:01)- Pendleton 8 yard run (Dandridge kick) 7-6
KW (5:34)- Pendleton 11 yard run (Dandridge kick) 14-6
KW (0:00)- Dandridge 32 yard field goal 17-6
3rd Quarter
CC (9:20)- Bassett 28 yard fumble return (Tyler run) 17-14
KW (9:06)- Johnson 90 yard kickoff return (run fail) 23-14
4th Quarter
KW (10:12)- Pendleton 30 yard fumble return (run fail) 29-14
KW (9:16)- Pendleton 46 yard pass from Huffman (Brown run) 37-14
KW (5:56)- Brown 6 yard run (Brown run) 45-14
KW (5:10)- Mickens 18 yard run (Strache kick) 52-14

Passing (completions/attempts/yards)
KW- Huffman 2/6/44, 1 TD; Thomas 5/5/30.
CC- Jefferson 8/11/76, 1 TD; Crawley 0/3/0, C. Jones 0/2/0.

Receiving (receptions/yards)
KW- Pendleton 2/44, 1 TD; Williams 2/14, Huffman 2/10, Johnson 1/6.
CC- Hicks 3/67, 1 TD, C. Jones 1/8, Allen 1/8, Garner 1/0, Tyler 2/-7.

Rushing (attempts/yards)
KW- Pendleton 22/250, 2 TD; Brown 9/45, 1 TD; Gray 3/34, Huffman 4/22, Mickens 1/18, 1 TD; Johnson 6/15, Thomas 2/13, Stewart 1/0.
CC- Jefferson 12/33, Tyler 8/21, C. Jones 6/-1, Crawley 8/-3, Callahan 2/-8.