Before the season began Glen Allen was thought to be a playoff contender but the season up until Friday night had not stuck to that narrative. A loss to Matoaca in the season opener was followed up by a dominating shutout loss to Varina. In hindsight both losses came to teams who are a combined 7-0.

Then the Jags had to enter Covid protocol and on Friday night they were playing their first game in two weeks. Anything but the start they had hoped for and on Friday night the Jags were facing their rival who was coming off their first loss of the season.

For four quarters these two teams slugged it out behind strong defensive efforts, offensive struggles and more yellow than pollen season. The flags flew often in this one and neither team could sustain any momentum on offense, instead relying on big plays or trickery.

Four quarters however were not enough for these rivals as they would go to overtime for the first time in the history of the series. The Jags got in with a Patrick Carey run and it was going to come down to the Jags defense making the play or the Hermitage offense finally executing. Glen Allen made the plays on defense to preserve the win and hand he Panthers their second straight loss.

Hermitage accounted for just 110 yards of offense in the first half with 98 of those yards coming on their last two possessions of the half. Those last two possessions were turnover on downs whereas the first two possessions ended in punts. The Panthers had just 6 first downs in the first half, 4 of which came on their final possession. It was not he ideal start for the Panthers. They continuously shot themselves in the foot with 7 total penalties in the first half alone.

Speaking of feet... an odd set of events took place in the first half when the Panthers went for it on fourth down. First vantage point showed the Panthers short and the Jags even signaled as much. The refs brought out the chains but there appeared to be a kink in the chain so they did it again and by my vantage point it was short as you could see a shadow between the marker and the ball. Then the refs went to move the ball and the chains for another measurement and a refs foot hit the ball and the Panthers had the first down after all. Odd moment of the game for sure.

Early on the the Panthers rotated KaRon and Jaylen Burton in at QB but before long it was all Jaylen Burton.

As the Panthers struggled on offense their defense played hard and that defensive effort was highlighted by a Justin Savage sack.

The biggest play of the Panthers in the first half came when Jhakari Bolden returned a Glen Allen punt to the house for a touchdown with tremendous speed and determination... not to mention moves. The touchdown, however, was called back due to a penalty.

Glen Allen's first half highlights were confined to their first possession of the game. The Jags marched down the field behind two Will Noel runs of 53 & 10 yards each! Those runs coupled with a 16-yard pass to Dom Staples made it possible for the Jaguars to get their first touchdown of the night when Jordan Brown punched it in from four yards out.

The Jaguars offense struggled against the Panther defense the rest of the first half. Two punts followed and the Jags had the ball driving as timed expired in the first half. As time did expire, the Panther defense came through with Sincere Baylor breaking up a Jaguar pass in the red zone.

The second half played out much in the same manner that the first half did aside from a Panther touchdown.

The Jaguars had the ball first in the second half but they would continue to be denied a second trip to the end zone. In fact on two of the Jags possessions Glen Allen had negative yards each possession ended with a punt.

On offense another big play was brought back due to holding. On defense, however, the Jaguars continued to excel as Christian Hancock came away with the only turnover of the game when he recovered a Panther fumble.

Hermitage on the other hand was having a better half despite another flurry of penalties, 7 as I counted. After fumbling away their first possession of the second half the Panthers fooled the Jaguars faked the punt and instead made up 68 yards down to the Jags 6-yard line. Moments later Jeremiah Coney was punching it in and without the PAT we had a tie game.

While the offense was better, the defense continued to be the story of the game with two sacks, one of which Andrew Lee can take credit for. Sincere Baylor continued to menace the passing game with another pass breakup.

With defense and penalties at the forefront of this rivalry game it became clear neither team would settle this in regulation.

Glen Allen got a crack at the end zone first and it did not take long. On third down the Jags Patrick Carey kept his feet moving as did his teammates helping push him to the end zone! Unlike their touchdown at the beginning of the game, the PAT would be good and Glen Allen had a 13-6 lead.

Now the pressure was on Hermitage, just as much as it was on the Glen Allen defense.

The Glen Allen defense however rose to the occasion keeping the Panthers out of the end zone not once, twice or even three times. The Panthers just could not find an open lane to run, not to the left, right or even middle. On fourth down the Panthers Burton went to the right but the defense rushed to that side just as quickly as the offense and the Panthers were denied.

Glen Allen took their first win of the season while handing rival Hermitage their second straight loss.

On defense the trio of Zachary Chambers, Caleb Hughes and Sean McElwain were regularly making plays on defense with multiple tackles on the Panthers. McElwain also came up big on offense with the offense struggling he caught a handful of passes to keep drives alive.

Perhaps no one was bigger on offense than Will Noel who unofficially I have with 7 carries and over 70 yards rushing including a big run of 53 yards that put the Jags in position for the first score of the night.

Glen Allen improves to 1-2 while Hermitage falls to 1-2.

Despite the loss, Hermitage still leads the series but the margin is shrinking, now 5-3 in favor of the Panthers.

This was just the second time in the series that the game was decided by a touchdown or less.

This was the first overtime game in the series.

Glen Allen improves to 3-2 at home in the series and has won the last three meetings at home.