This weeks 'Game of the Week' certainly lived up to the billing.

Two teams with a fairly long history of playing one another... a series that stretches back to both being in the Colonial District in the 80's to even further back when both were just rural schools in the 70's.

Now the two are not just Capital District foes but the two came into the meeting with both fighting for seeding in the Region 4B playoff picture.

The Blue Devils undefeated, the Patriots with two close losses to Hermitage and Highland Springs.

Rain in the air... raining moments before the game and a sprinkle or two during the game.

Senior Night for the Blue Devils, Wall of Fame of night for the Blue Devils.

So much happening around this game but the Patriots never lost focus.

According to Coach Ken Wakefield the plan was to establish the run and the Patriots certainly did that and then some.

Jordan Allen and Jayden Mines led a ground assault that Varina's defense just could not seem to contain.

The Patriot defense complimented the offense taking the Varina run game out of the equation with a -17 yard performance and forcing the Blue Devils to the air. With the run game neutralized, the Patriot defense could focus on the myriad of receivers at the disposal of Varina.

An exchange of scores in the first half gave way to a second half that saw the Patriots shutout Varina until there was just a little over two minutes left in the game.

The Patriots game plan worked, no doubt about that... the Patriots beat Varina, that was evident to anyone who witnessed this one. It was also evident that Varina beat themselves as well.

Varina racked up several penalties throughout the game that made it tough to find that rhythm. When they were not shooting themselves in the foot with penalties they were doing so with bad snaps. In the first quarter the Blue Devils snap got past the kicker which resulted in a safety for the Patriots first lead of the night. This would be the first of four bad snaps for the Blue Devils and the yards lost repeatedly put the Blue Devils in holes which they rarely overcame.

It was not the night Varina envisioned but for Patrick Henry... it was a great night to be a Patriot.

Varina had a rough start to this game which almost was a bit of a preview of what this game would be for the undefeated Blue Devils. The Patriot defense held them to a 3 & out after the Blue Devils were called for holding on first down and DaShawn Green knocked down a third down pass. As the Blue Devils went to punt, the snap sailed past the kicker and into the end zone. The Patriots got the safety and had an early 2-0 lead within the first two minutes of the game.

After the defense held Patrick Henry to a 3 & out, the Blue Devils went to work to right the ship but it did not come without obstacles.

Another bad snap for the Blue Devils, their second of four by my count nearly handed the Patriots the ball yet again. Instead the Blue Devils got to replay the first down; sandwiched by two Anthony Fisher receptions the Blue Devils were called for a false start and later a hold.

The Blue Devils would be plagued by bad snaps and penalties all night long. Patrick Henry's Edwin Henderson nearly got an interception but could not hold on. It seemed as if the Blue Devils would be forced to another punt attempt but instead the Patriots were called for holding and moments later Kamaree Wells was on the receiving end of a Myles Derricott 14-yard pass.

As bad a start as it had been for the Blue Devils, they led 7-2.

Patrick Henry benefitted from the Blue Devil penalties. On Patrick Henry's second possession of the game Varina was called for a personal foul and offsides. Meanwhile DaShawn Green was rushing for 13 yards on 2 carries as time winded down on the first quarter.

The Patriots finished off a drive that began in the first quarter with QB Jordan Allen running the rock, something we would see a ton of on this night. That said, the drive was capped off by a pass from Allen to JMU bound Jayden Mines to put the Patriots back on top.

This would be the first of two Patrick Henry touchdowns in the second quarter. Scoring drives that would sandwich a Blue Devil response. The Patriots also put together a 58-yard drive that had to overcome a 4th & 2 situation at the 50 after Amari Baylor kept the Patriots from a first down on third down. The Blue Devils were burned by the Patriots Jayden Mines all night long with the jet sweep as the Blue Devil defense just could not seem to stop the tandem of Mines & Allen, Allen found the end zone from two yards out.

Between the two Patriot TD's was a 61-yard Varina scoring drive that was completed by just 4 plays and aided by a pass interference call against Patrick Henry. Myles Derricott had a couple of runs, the Blue Devils had to overcome a false start call but in the end the Blue Devils responded with a 26-yard hookup between Derricott and Carlo Thompson.

When Varina got the ball back shortly before the end of the half, the Blue Devils were being penalized again for a low block.

As the half ended, Patrick Henry led 14-13.

Patrick Henry picked up right where they left off in the first half with a 63-yard, 7 play drive that saw Jordan Allen and Jayden Mines continuing to make the plays, chew up the yards and challenge the Blue Devil defense. Jordan Allen capped off the drive with his 2nd touchdown of the night from 22 yards out as the Patriots extended their lead to 22-13.

Varina would not fare as well. The Blue Devils started out with a promising drive with two first downs early but another bad snap cost the Blue Devils mightily. 2nd & 29, the Blue Devils had work to do and it was made more difficult on third down when Camden Byrd got to Derricott with a sack.

The Patriots facing a 3rd & four was called for holding on a Jordan Allen Scramble just as time was expiring on a third quarter largely dominated by the Patriots.

After a holding call at the end of the third quarter, the Patriots faced a 4th & 20 and chose to punt.

On the Blue Devils possession the Patriots nearly got the ball back when Camden Byrd got his hands on a Derricott pass but could not complete the process on the very first play. The Patriot defense did, however, keep the Blue Devils to a 3 & out continuing their second half shutout of Varina.

After being burned all night long by the jet, the Blue Devils sniffed it out this time and got to Jayden Mines for a loss of 13 and just like that the Varina defense held the Patriots to a 3 & out.

Down by 9, Varina faced a 3rd & 8 when Patrick Henry was called for pass interference. The Blue Devils offense stalled and on fourth down there was yet another bad snap that cost the Blue Devils yet again.

The Varina defense bailed out the Blue Devils holding the Patriots to a 4 & out and a turnover on downs. Varina responded with a 74-yard drive with Myles Derricott hitting Anthony Fisher and Kamaree Wells.

It was on this drive that Carlo Thompson went up for a catch yards shy of the end zone. Although he was never hit, he could not bring the ball down and when he, himself came down, he did not get up. There was a long delay as Carlo was attended to and ultimately left the game in an ambulance. A dynamic young man, we all hope it is nothing serious and he makes a speedy recovery.

When the game resumed Varina was benefitted by pass interference on a pass to Kamaree Wells. Setup at the 16 it took just two plays for the Blue Devils to find the end zone for the first time since the second quarter. Anthony Fisher was on the receiving end of a Derricott pass and with a 2-point conversion the Blue Devils trailed by just one point.

The Blue Devils attempted the onside kick but the Patriots recovered it. Moments later Patrick Henry was getting the first down and able to run out the clock and secure a 1-point victory.

Jordan Allen of Patrick Henry was relentless on the ground with 121 yards on 32 carries and 2 touchdowns.

Jayden Mines of Patrick Henry complimented the ground assault of Jordan Allen with 66 yards of his own on 10 carries and a touchdown as well. Mines jet sweeps sustained multiple Patriot drives as the Blue Devil could not get a handle on it till it was too late.

Myles Derricott of Varina thrived in the passing game with the run game shutdown by the Patriot defense. The junior QB threw for 202 yards and 3 TD's while completing 15 of 20 passes.

Anthony Fisher of Varina was a leading target for Derricott as he scored once but caught 4 other passes for a total of 89 yards receiving which included the TD late to draw the Blue Devils closer at the end.

Patrick Henry held Varina to 21 points, the fewest for the Blue Devils since 1991.

1991 also happens to be the last time Patrick Henry won in the series.

Patrick Henry's win at Varina was the first for the Patriots since 1986!