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Sweet 16: Judges extend winning streak, top Pioneers
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By Jeremy Stafford -- jstafford@nvdaily.com
WINCHESTER -- Handley quarterback Geremi Long said it would take him and the Judges "about five more minutes" to get over their 15-7 win over district rival Millbrook.
Long meant no disrespect to the Pioneers -- the score alone was proof enough that the Judges' win was far from an easy one -- but with Handley's regular-season finale against James Wood looming only seven days away, the last thing Long wanted was for his mind to float wistfully away in the elation of Friday night's win.
Still, Handley (9-0, 3-0 Northwestern) had just beaten Millbrook, a team which has proven time and again this season that it can compete with any team in the district. Heck, Millbrook beat James Wood last week, which must account for something, right?
"Five more minutes is kind of an exaggeration," Long corrected himself. "I think I'll think about it for probably this weekend, but come Monday I'll be ready to get back to work, because I know we've got a big challenge coming up."
But the Pioneers (5-4, 1-2 Northwestern) had plenty of chances to win the game. Despite having committed two turnovers, Millbrook was down only 8 points with 58 seconds remaining and the ball on its own 31-yard line.
Pioneers quarterback Curtis Daily, who until then was 6-for-11 passing with 51 yards, stepped up in the pocket, ran into pressure and fumbled.
It was Millbrook's third lost fumble.
With the ball safely back in his hands, Long took two knees, and his five minutes of bliss began to tick away.
The game was hardly one of finesse. Though Judges tailback Delroy McDaniel began the night with rushes of 17 and 13 yards, his long, stringy runs quickly dwindled down to bruising gains of three and four yards. He trotted off the Millbrook grass having earned every one of his 119 rushing yards.
"I'm a big boy," the 5-foot-11, 220-pound McDaniel said. "But the yards were hard-fought, kind of a blood, sweat and tears kind of thing."
Handley coach Tony Rayburn agreed.
"He's definitely a power halfback," Rayburn said of McDaniel. "He's a big, strong runner and he makes a lot of positive plays. Usually he's not going take a loss, he's going get some positive yards, and that's good -- that enables us to move the chains."
None of Millbrook's tailbacks ran for as much as McDaniel did, but Jordan Hartman's 50 yards combined with Josh Casagranda's 40 yards were just as effective. Millbrook's touchdown, the second and final touchdown of the night, was scored on a one-yard rush by Daily.
Because of the Hartman-Casagranda combination, Millbrook's first drive of the second half seemed promising. The Pioneers quickly marched 16 yards to the Handley 46, but the drive stalled, and the Pioneers were forced to punt. A heavy dose of McDaniel limited Millbrook's possessions for the rest of the night, and repeated field goals from Handley place kicker Graham Sharples slowly but surely increased the Judges' lead.
"The flow of the game kinda got away from us late in the third quarter," Millbrook coach Reed Prosser said. "It would have been nice if we could have been in a little bit more control ... I thought if we could have punched it in, make it 14-9 ... then we'd get control of the game back a little bit.
"But Handley did a really nice job of holding up, and then they took control of the game."
Thus, the Judges left Millbrook still atop the district, still undefeated, and with only a few precious moments left to enjoy their win. Because come Monday, Long knows exactly what he and the rest of the Judges will be talking about.
"We'll be talking about next Friday," he said, smiling.
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