Waynesboro falls to TA

The Waynesboro Little Giants suffered their second-straight defeat of the season Friday night, falling at the hands of the Turner Ashby Knights 43-7. That lop-sided score, however, does not tell the whole story of a game that saw a young Waynesboro football team take a collective step forward.

After falling to Western Albemarle to begin the season, coach Steve Isaacs and the rest of his staff went back to the drawing board and changed the game plan. Anyone who saw the Waynesboro sideline Friday night could tell that the players had bought in.

“After the Western game, I came in on Monday and told the kids, I screwed up. Lets go back to what we can do,” a pleased Coach Issacs said. “Immediately I could see a light go on in their eyes.”

It may have been hard for some to see that light early on Friday night as Turner Ashby jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when quarterback Kyle Linn found the end zone on a 14-yard touchdown run.

Waynesboro came out in it’s modified single wing and promptly fumbled after two plays allowing the Knights to take over on the Little Giant twenty-five. Turner Ashby capitalized four plays later when tailback Justin Shank rumbled in from five yards out.

Quickly down fourteen points, the Little Giants could have questioned the new philosophy and packed it in for the night. Especially after the new offense could not take advantage of a muffed Turner Ashby punt that left the team with new life on the Knight twenty. Four plays later that Little Giants had turned the ball over on downs.

Things got worse as a punt backed Waynesboro up to their own end zone, where Tyler Briggs was sacked for a safety with four minutes to go in the second quarter. Less than a minute later Linn had found the end zone again from eight yards out and after trading interceptions Linn got loose again and went fifty yards down the sideline sending Waynesboro to locker room behind 30-0.

The Little Giants emerged for the second half with the enthusiasm of a team on the other side of that despairing score, a testament to the Waynesboro coaching staff and even more so to the character of the players.

Turner Ashby would tack on two Robert Blackwell field goals and a five-yard touchdown pass from Trent Hart to Chandler Knight making the score 43-0 with less than four minutes to play.

Those that left before Waynesboro began its final drive missed out on seeing the true purple and gold shine through. Sophomore Tanner Walter lead the Little Giants down the field on an eight-play drive to the Turner Ashby four where he took it in himself for the team’s first touchdown of the season with seven seconds to play.

The team’s never-say-die attitude was inspiring for all who were there and it left Coach Isaacs proud of his young ball club.

“We made big strides tonight,” Isaacs said. “Our goal is to get better every week, from play to play. Our kids understand that and when it comes time we are going to be tough to handle.”

With this determination and focus, that time may come sooner than some may think.