Wilson Memorial (3-1) and Western Albemarle (0-3) was expected to be a physical battle that see-sawed on the scoreboard. Instead, the Green Hornets dominated on both sides of the ball and capitalized on the Warriors' mistakes to go away with a 33-7 victory on Friday night during their homecoming contest.

The homestanding Green Hornets received the opening kickoff and began their first drive at their 23 yard line. Immediately, Wilson Memorial set the tone, going on a 10-play, 77-yard drive that ended with sophomore Clinton Coffey rumbling into the endzone from three yards out. Keyvon Jones, Ainsley McAllister, and Coffey all carried the ball on the drive, and quarterback Logan Podgorski only attempted one pass during the stretch, a 10-yard completion to McAllister.

Coffey scored on his second rushing touchdown of the night with just 23 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, once again from three yards away to cap a 10-play Wilson Memorial drive. It didn’t take long, however, for Western Albemarle to respond on the scoreboard after the Green Hornets special teams unit delivered a squib kick that was recovered by the Warriors at their own 46 yard line.

Cooper Shelton burst for a 25-yard dash on the first play after the kickoff to move the ball to Wilson Memorial’s 29 yard line. After a Green Hornets penalty and two plays that resulted in minimal yards put Western Albemarle at the 10 yard line facing 3rd down and six to gain. Junior quarterback Gray Heilman found a diving teammate in the right corner of the endzone for a touchdown and the Warriors trailed 14-7.

On the ensuing drive, the Western Albemarle defense came up with a fumble recovery to put their offense back in business with another short field. The Warriors quickly moved to the Green Hornets 21 yard line following a nine-yard run by Sean Dean. The Green Hornets' defense tightened up, however, forcing Western Albemarle into a fourth-and-one situation. A penalty on the Warriors moved the ball back five yards and an incomplete pass on the next play turned the ball over on downs ending Western Albemarle’s bid to tie the score.

Wilson Memorial’s offense wouldn’t take long to flip the field with McAlister leading the way on the ground. In what seemed almost instantly, the Green Hornets lit up the scoreboard once again to stretch their lead and knock the wind out of their opponent. Podgorski found senior receiver Parker Baucom behind the Warriors' secondary for a 27-yard scoring strike.

On Western’s first play from scrimmage after that score, Wilson Memorial’s secondary came up with one of their three interceptions on the night. That turnover set up another Podgorski to Baucom connection into the endzone for a 35-yard touchdown sending the contest to intermission with a Wilson Memorial 27-7 lead.

McAIlister reached the endzone late in the third quarter to set the final score in a half filled with turnovers and little offensive scoring. Wilson Memorial improved to 3-1 with the victory that saw them accumulate 333 total offensive yards, including 212 on the ground. In addition to the turnover on down, the Green Hornets defense pulled down three interceptions in the game and held Western to 155 yards with nearly 1/3 of those coming in the final quarter after the game was all but decided.

SCORING SUMMARY

Western Albemarle 0 7 0 0—7

Wilson Memorial 14 13 6 0—33

FIRST QUARTER

WM—Clinton Coffey 3 run, (conversion failed), 8:19

WM—Clinton Coffey 3 run, (Keyvon Jones pass from Podgorski), 0:23

SECOND QUARTER

WA—Gray Heilman 10 pass, (John Van Yperen kick), 10:22

WM—Parker Baucom 27 pass from Logan Podgorski, (Judah Brown kick), 2:25

WM—Parker Paucom 35 pass from Logan Podgorski, (kick failed), 0:28

THIRD QUARTER

WM—Ainsley McAllister 2 run, (kick failed), 1:17

Parker Baucom, Wilson Memorial…The Green Hornets senior caught six passes for 111 yards on the night. Two of those receptions went to the endzone and helped his team stretch the lead to 20 points before halftime. Baucom also pulled down the last of the teams’ three interceptions to help his squad secure their third victory of the season through four games.

Logan Podgorski, Wilson Memorial…Only a sophomore, Podgorski has complete command of the Green Hornets offense. The Green Hornets are a run first team but the young talent can throw the long ball and is efficient. Against Western Albemarle, Podgorski completed 7 of his 9 pass attempts for 121 yards and two touchdown scores. With two and half more years remaining in his high school career, this name will likely be heard often in the future.

Clinton Coffey and Ainsley McAllister, Wilson Memorial…The Green Hornets' offense is led by their rushing attack. The success of the passing game can be dictated a great deal by the success of the running game. In the victory on Friday, the unit cleared 200 yards with Coffey accumulating 95 yards rushing and two touchdowns while McAllister added 71 and a score. Both players are Class of 2027 athletes boding well for the program’s future.

TAKEAWAYS

THE GREEN HORNETS ARE PRIMED FOR SHENANDOAH DISTRICT PLAY

Wilson Memorial begins district play next week with a contest at Riverheads. The Gladiators have advanced to the state championship game each of the last eight seasons and have seven titles during that span. In addition to that road test, the Green Hornets will have to face Fort Defiance and Stuarts Draft, both programs that are physical and have had recent success. Those are just three of the remaining six contests with their other district foes not being slouches. Under first-year head coach Ryan Byrd, last season Wilson Memorial went 4-2 in district play and if their first four games this year are an indication of what we’ll see down the road, the Shenandoah District should take notice. The Green Hornets have outscored their four opponents this season 104-45 with 24 of those points allowed to Turner Ashby in their only loss of the season. The Green Hornets are playing well on both sides of the ball entering district play which means no one should take the squad from Fishersville lightly.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT AT WILSON MEMORIAL

With just nine seniors on their roster and playing at a high level, the Green Hornets and their fans should be optimistic about the teams' outlook for not only this season but the future as well. Certainly, replacing Parker Baucom and a handful of linemen will not be an easy task for a team that is highly effective at the line of scrimmage but head coach Ryan Byrd has established a foundation that will allow players to step into those roles and be ready to play. Podgorski playing quarterback since his freshmen season gives continuity on the field at one of the most important positions and having Coffey (2027), McAllister (2027), and Jones (2026) contributing at high levels currently as underclassmen gives the team confidence that they will continue that progress into the future as well as build up players new into the program in the next few years.

WESTERN ALBEMARLE QUARTERBACK GRAY HEILMAN HAS POTENTIAL

The Warriors' 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior quarterback has an arm that can find receivers all over the field with accuracy. In the game against Wilson Memorial, Heilman showed poise in the pocket and awareness to find his receivers when given the opportunity. The struggles for the signal caller came in part because the trajectory of the contest forced the Warriors essentially to lean on the pass. The Green Hornets' defense did a solid job of pinning their ears back and getting into the pocket quickly. Additionally, his team had several penalties that forced difficult situations and negated multiple big plays. Still, Heilman is a player to watch as the team continues to build and improve. A football and baseball standout, Heilman can run the football when necessary but looks the most comfortable in the pocket when he’s not under duress.

WHAT’S NEXT

The game was the final non-district contest for each. Western Albemarle has now lost 14 of its’ last 15 regular season games. The Warriors will be returning home next week to host Louisa County who was off this week. The Lions are 1-2 entering the contest but are coming off a 49-34 win over Massaponax in week three. Western Albemarle has dropped their last seven in a row against Louisa County.

Wilson Memorial begins district play with a road trip to face Riverheads. The Gladiators have defeated the Green Hornets in the last ten meetings between the teams. Those victories for Riverheads include three shutouts with the most recent being last season’s 37-0 win. Riverheads is 3-1 and defeated Rocktown 48-6 this week giving up just 89 total yards of offense.

Robert Edmonds has been contributing to Virginiapreps.com, part of the Rivals.com network, since 2013. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) @bigrob2523 and subscribe to his YouTube channel
for sports-related content. You can read his work in the Daily Progress
and occasionally in other journalism publications. He began working in the sports sector in 2006 and covers public and private schools throughout the state with a focus in the Central Virginia area. He currently lives in Keswick with his wife and has seven children and two grandchildren. To contact Robert, please email him at bigrob2523@gmail.com.