On Friday night when Powhatan arrived to Varina, the two teams were meeting for the first time in 38 years! After this double overtime thriller, I would say the wait was worth it.

This contest took two overtimes to settle and only ended because the Indians chose to go for the win with a 2-point conversion try rather than a third overtime. A gutsy call but given how the Indians had moved the ball on Varina in the second half, I would have made the same call.

Some might question the call but that is not what is going to haunt Powhatan. What will haunt the Indians are the two red zone possessions in the early stages of this one that saw Powhatan came away with nothing, not even a field goal!

More drama at the end, Varina had a chance for a field goal to end the game in regulation and the first attempt came up short but the whistle had been blown signaling a timeout. Another try, the Blue Devils field goal attempt again failed which sent this one to overtime.

This contest as you can tell was one of momentum and waves. Powhatan looking like the aggressor early on but then Varina scoring two touchdowns over two quarters to lead 14-0 in the third quarter.

Then it was Powhatan's turn with two scores of their own in the third quarter and a run game led by Mitchell Johnson that seemed to be wearing down the Varina defense.

In the end, however, it was Varina's defense that made the play to send the Blue Devils to Region 4B semifinals.

If one were to look at this first half alone and then the final score, they might ask how? It was a rough start for the Powhatan offense to say the least.

First possession the Indians moved the ball 17 yards in 4 plays but disaster struck on a bad snap and Varina's Kyree Surita got to the ball first to recover the fumble.

Surita also got a sack on QB Dylan Trevillian and the Indians found themselves facing 2nd & 13. The Indians converted a 4th & 5 with Trevillian hitting Ethan Dowdy with an 11-yard pass to the 10. On second down Ethan Dowdy was brought down by Anthony Fisher for a loss of 2 but Mitchell Johnson made up for that with a 4-yard run. The Indians faced a 4th & goal but rather than go for a field goal, the Indians went for it and there was another bad exchange between center and QB and the Indians failed to score again.

On the third possession of the night for the Indians, Kamaree Wells intercepted a Trevillian pass. The Blue Devil defense delivered again on the next Indians possession forcing a 3 & out.

The half came to a close with Kenny Faison intercepting Trevillian, the third turnover of the half and 2nd INT for the Blue Devils.

Varina did not fare too much better but they at least got on the board. The Powhatan defense held Varina to a 3 & out early.

After Powhatan's first bad snap of the game the Blue Devils wasted no time moving down the field and into the red zone. The Blue Devils faced a 3rd & goal at the Powhatan 7 when the Blue Devils had their own snapping issues. On the next play, Derricott's pass feel incomplete.

Varina would struggle to convert on fourth down as Anthony Fisher on the run could not convert the 4th & 2 on the Blue Devils next possession.

On the Blue Devils fourth possession of the game Varina finally hit pay dirt with a 79 yard, 8 play drive that saw Myles Derricott hitting Anthony Fisher and Jordan Edwards with the pass to move the ball down the field. Edwards had two catches for a total of 26 yards. The biggest pass came on 2nd & 13 with the ball on the Powhatan 21... that is when Myles hit Kaveion Keys with a shot to the end zone and Varina had their first touchdown of the game.

Varina picked up where they left off in the first half with a 64-yard, 6-play drive that saw Myles Derricott scoring from 26 yards out. That would prove to be the final score of the half for the Blue Devils.

Varina would have success but their inability to convert fourth downs continued to plague them.

Varina had 43 yards through the air as Derricott continued to target Jordan Edwards but things would go south on a pass to Tae'mon Brown for a loss of 4 yards. On 3rd & 14 Powhatan would breakup the pass and a pass to Kamaree Wells on fourth down was not enough for the first.

Anthony Fisher had a big return to midfield but was called back due to a penalty. The Blue Devils found themselves facing 4th & 1 with Fisher on the run and unable to convert.

With time running out in the half, the Blue Devils found themselves facing a 3rd & 12 situation and that is when Derricott hit Edwards yet again, a game of 39 yards! A couple plays later and the Blue Devils were at the 20 but the Indians defense continued to play big. The Indians broke-up two passes on 2nd & 3rd down which forced the Blue Devils to settle for a field goal to win the game.

The first field goal fell short but a timeout was called just before the kick so the Blue Devils got another crack at it. The second attempt proved no better.

After Powhatan fell behind 14-0, the Indians came charging back. Mitchell Johnson had 32 yards in carries early on as Powhatan would look to get back in the game on the back of Johnson. The Indians were also helped out by a pass interference call against Varina. Just like that the Indians were again in the Varina red zone but this time they made it count. From the 6, Dylan Trevillian hit Wyatt Lowe for a much needed Powhatan touchdown.

When the Indians got the ball back it took them just 3 plays to find the end zone again. The drive began on their own 7 but from their own 10, Trevillian hit Ethan Dowdy for a 83-yard touchdown! With Tucker Thomas' second PAT of the game, Powhatan had rallied to tie.

Powhatan's third and final possession of the second half saw Mitchell Johnson carry the ball for 30+ yards on 6 carries. A penalty slowed the Indian drive on third down... what was a 3rd & 13 became a 3rd & 29. Trevillian hit Johnson with a pass but not enough for the first. The Indians would punt setting the stage for Varina's final possession.

Powhatan got the ball first in overtime and it only took two plays for them to punch the end zone. Mitchell Johnson got it going with a 4-yard carry and Ethan Dowdy took off to the right for 6 yards for the score.

Varina nearly scored on the first play but was called out at the one despite hitting the pylon. Two Tae'mon Brown runs and the Blue Devils were facing 4th & 1, season on the line. Jasiah Minor took care of the rest punching it in and Gerard Cousins PAT sending us to a second overtime.

In the second overtime, Varina had the ball first and Jasiah Minor who scored the last Blue Devil touchdown got it going with a 3-yard carry and then Myles Derricott hit Kamaree Wells with a 7-yard pass to the end zone. With another Gerard Cousins PAT, the Blue Devils led 28-21.

The pressure now on Powhatan... Mitchell Johnson scored right off the bat with a 10 yard touchdown run. The Indians could take the PAT and go to a third overtime and go for the win. They chose to go for the two-point conversion but it was not to be as ball was never caught, fumbled around the end zone and the game was over....

Dylan Trevillian of Powhatan made things happen 146 yards on 12 of 19 competions and 2 TD's and overcame two INT's in the game to still give the Indians a chance to win.

Mitchell Johnson of Powhatan fed the ball 25 times, rumbled for 157 yards and scored a touchdown in overtime in what proved to be his final game as an Indian.

Ethan Dowdy of Powhatan had 4 catches for 116 yards which included an 83-yard TD to tie the game in the second half. Ethan also had 7 tackles on the defensive side of the ball.

Chase Gayness of Powhatan was the leading tackler for the Indians on this night with 11.5 tackles and 2 of which were for a loss.

Myles Derricott of Varina made things happen be it ground or air. 316 yards of offense and 3 TD's on 5 carries and while completing 20 of 27 passes.

Kyree Surita of Varina had a fumble recovery for the Blue Devils in addition to a sack on the Powhatan QB.

This was the first overtime game in the now 12 games these two have faced one another.

This was the 4th time in the last 5 meetings that the game was decided by a touchdown or less.

This was Varina's third straight game decided by one point. Previously they lost to Patrick Henry 21-22, beat Highland Springs 7-6 and now 28-27 over Powhatan.

Varina is now 2-1 at James Dawkins Stadium and 9-3-2 overall against Powhatan.

Varina will now face King George who they faced from 1956 to 1960 and are a perfect 5-0 against.