Coming into the Section VI Class B title game, the Albion Purple Eagles knew they had a lot of work to do in order to slow down the dominant Maritime rushing attack.
327 Falcon rushing yards later, it turned out to be Albion’s downfall.
The Purple Eagles fell to Maritime 34-20 in the Section VI Class B title game on Friday night at New Era Field.
“That’s impressive, they’re well coached,” Albion coach Adam Krenning said on Maritime’s speed and rushing attack. “I thought we had a good game plan coming in here, but at the end of the day, they got the W.”
It was a rough start for the Purple Eagles (8-2), as a three-and-out on their opening drive, led to a 62-yard punt return touchdown from Maritime’s Addison Copeland. A long, rush filled drive capped off by a Maurice Vaughn touchdown added to the Falcon (9-1) advantage later in the first quarter, as the Purple Eagles trailed 12-0 after one.
Deyonci Farley would get Albion on the board in the second quarter with a five-yard touchdown rush to pull within 12-6, but two more Falcon touchdowns from Vaughn and John Washington left the Purple Eagles trailing 26-6 and fighting an uphill battle the rest of the way.
The Purple Eagles put together a strong comeback attempt late in the second half, as Kevin Hillman reeled in a 25-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Furmanski and Farley found the end zone again for a 24-yard score to cut their deficit to 26-20 in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, after a long kickoff return set up Maritime deep in Albion territory, Washington punched in a four-yard touchdown to kill the Purple Eagles’ aspirations.
“That was the dagger to heart right there,” Krenning said on Washington’s late score. “That took the wind out of our sails pretty good. We got it within six right there, and that hurt.”
Despite the loss, Krenning could not be prouder of his team, who played in their first sectional final since 2002.
“These guys have been awesome all year. We have fought, we have fought, we have fought every single time,” Krenning said. “They’ve never given up every game we’ve been in, there’s been some close ones, every single one of them they’ve worked very hard.”
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