They turned out big time for one of the most highly anticipated regular season games in the 804 in recent history. Rivals, Varina & Highland Springs ranked 1st & 2nd all season long, both undefeated at 9-0 and thought to be contenders for state titles clashing at the end of the season.

With an hour before kick-off Messer Road was lined with cars, many of the lots were filling... not more than 20 minutes they were parking at John Rolfe Middle. Those arriving late to the game referencing the backup on Laburnum Avenue from Interstate 895.

They packed the stands, they stood in some places 4 and 5 deep... they lined the end zone, the track.

The bands music filled the air, the roar of the crow filled the air and the aroma of concession food was ever so enticing...

The intensity built but as we know all too well, many times big games don't live up to the hype and this was one of those instances.

The Springers might have begun the season behind Varina but they refused to play from behind again. The Springers took advantage of a Varina miscue early when the Blue Devils fumbled the opening kick-off. It took the Springers three plays to tag the end zone, that is when Khristian Martin threw his first of three touchdowns. Caron Ferguson caught the rapid fire pass and raced between two closing defenders for the score.

The defense for both teams took center stage after the first score of the game as the two combined for three 3 & outs.

The Springer defense was unable to force a three and out for a third time but they did force a turnover on downs. With the Blue Devils facing a 3rd & 3, Myles Derricott came up a yard short on a quarterback keeper. With the ball at the Springer 45 the Blue Devils went to the pass and came up empty.

While the Varina offense struggled, the Springer offense began to get rolling. Their third possession of the night saw the Springers move the ball 49 yards on the Blue Devil defense. On their next possession the Springers got everyone involved from Jakyre Henely to Aziz Foster-Powell to Elijah Williams.

Closing in on halftime, Martin threw his second TD of the night when he hit Aziz Foster-Powell along the Springer sideline working that sideline avoiding stepping out and Varina defenders for a 26-yard score.

The night got loner for Varina when the snap was mishandled on a 3rd & 7 and making matters worse was the Springers were not falling for the fake punt. The Springers sniffed it out and set themselves up with a short field.

5 plays later the Springers scored yet again covering 28 yards with Aziz Foster-Powell carrying the load minus a yard that Khristian Martin covered on a keeper.

Up 22-0 the Springers added insult to injury with an onside kick that they were in fact able to cover.

The defense finally got some pressure on QB Khristian Martin who was called for intentional grounding. That was one of few highlights for the Blue Devils in their worst half of football this season.

The Springers opened the second half on a 78-yard drive that saw Aziz Foster-Powell for as good as he had been all game fumble. The Springers were able to recover and just kept moving the ball with Foster-Powell a focal point of the Springer offense. A holding call against the Springers on second down appeared as if it would slow them down but not this group, not this night. Khristian Martin found Jakyre Henley along the Springer sideline, hit him with the pass and watched as he raced along the sideline with a burst of speed outracing closing in Blue Devil defenders.

The Varina offensive struggles continued in the second half.

A 3 & out on their first possession of the second half was not the spark they were looking for. Their next possession began at their own 8 and the run game had some modest success with Taemon Brown rushing for a rare first down in this one but the consistency on offense was not to be found. Ian Wynn broke up a Myles Derrciott pass and Taemon Brown fumbled. The Blue Devils punted for yet another time.

The Varina offense took a literal blow when Nelson Lance, Jr. hit Brown in what appeared to be the facemask with his helmet so hard you could hear it over the crowd. Brown, down for a moment came up okay but the Blue Devils wouldn't be so quick to forgive and forget.

On the punt return the Blue Devils got a hit on Lance, Jr. in retaliation sparking a chippy few minutes of the game with frustration setting in.

Luckily for the Blue Devils the Springers were unable to add to their lead. The Springers had to punt when a drive was stalled by two penalties, one a personal foul chop block. When the Springers had the ball again, Elijah Williams fumbled and Varina was there to recover.

That set the stage for what appeared to be perhaps the moment Varina would avoid a shutout.

1st & 10 at the 20, in two plays the Blue Devils were at the 11. A moment later Myles Derricott picked up the first down on a 7-yard run. That would be as close as the Blue Devils would get.

1st & goal at the 4, Malachi Cosby was hit for a loss of 3 when Brennan Johnson got to him. Myles would recover 2 of those lost yards but on the next play Varina would catch yellow in the form of a penalty. On the next Cosby run he would be hit for a bigger loss as the Springer defense was feeling it... dancing... thriving off the night, the impending win and wanting that shutout.

Myles Derricott went with the keeper but Timothy James was there to wrap him up. Game over!

The Springers might not have put up huge numbers on the scoreboard as we have seen in previous games but what they did do was dominate on defense. That was never more on display than Varina's final possession with 7 plays in the red zone and nothing to show for. The Springer domination saw the black and gold hold the Blue Devils to 51 yards of offense!

Varina is a good team, the Springers in 2022 are a great team.

Highland Springs

Khristian Martin was 11 of 18 passing for 162 yards and 3 TD's.

Aziz Foster-Powell put up 112 yards of offense with 78 of those coming on the ground on 18 carries. Aziz scored 2 TD's, 1 by air and the other on the ground.

Brennan Johnson with 4+ tackles and a sack.

Alonzo James & Darius Taylor combined for 10+ tackles against the Blue Devils.

29 points was the most for the Springers against Varina since scoring 33 against them in 2018.

Varina has now lost their last four at home in series with their last win at home in 2012.

This was the Springers first shutout of the Blue Devils since 1992.

This was the first Springer shutout at Varina since 1967!

This was Varina's largest margin of defeat since 2016 when they lost to LC Bird by 40.

This was the worst shutout of Varina since Petersburg shut them out 30-0 in 1992.