BY ANDREW FAISON/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
andrew.faison@yahoo.com

ISLE OF WIGHT—The Isle of Wight Academy Chargers clinched a playoff birth Friday night when they defeated the Atlantic Shores Christian Seahawks 48-16.

The Chargers came into the game ranked No. 4 in the Division III poll of the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association.

“We came out with the mindset that we were going to play hard, going to execute and we did,” said IWA head coach Dale Chapman. “We knew our backs were against the wall. We had to win this to assure ourselves of getting into the playoffs, and we didn’t want to back our way into the playoffs.”

The Chargers improved to 7-2, while the Seahawks end their season at 2-9.

Leaders for the Chargers were senior Matt Brummett who had 16 carries for 80 yards and senior Zeb Warnick with 9 carries for 28 yards. Junior quarterback Brandon Saxby completed 8 of 12 passes with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Senior Jackson Goodman had 6 catches for 93 yards with one touchdown.

“We challenged these seniors for the last home game, and from day one we challenged the whole team to play as a family and that’s what they did tonight.” Chapman said.

The Chargers scored first on their second play of the game. With 11:12 left in the first quarter, junior Gage Rodgers caught a 67-yard pass from Warnick. The extra point by sophomore kicker Josh Weihe was good, making the score 7-0.

Down 8-7 with 7:34 left in the first quarter after the Seahawks scored on a 22-yard run by Brehon Britt and a 2-point conversion by Omari Banks, the Chargers took over and never looked back.

The Chargers next two scores came in the first quarter. With 4:48 left in the quarter, Saxby threw a 22-yard pass to Goodman, and the extra point by Weihe was good making the score 14-8. With 2:25 left in the quarter Rodgers ran for a 27-yard score, and the extra point by Weihe was good making the score 21-8.

The Chargers scored two more times in the first half. With 9:54 left in the second quarter, Warnick found the end zone on a 40-yard run. The extra point by Weihe was good making the score 28-8. With 3:41 left Weihe found the end zone on a 39-yard run. The extra point attempt was no good, and the Chargers went into halftime with a 34-8 lead.

IWA’s final two scores came in the fourth quarter. With 7:40 left in the game, senior Hunter Tipplett intercepted a pass from Atlantic Shores’ quarterback Jow Beauchamp and returned it 12-yards for a touchdown. The extra point was converted by Weihe, making the score 41-8. With 4:19 left in the game Saxby threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Rodgers. The extra point attempt was good, closing out the scoring for a final score of 48-8.

The Chargers will be on the road for the first round of the playoffs next week. Their opponent was not known at press time.

“I don’t know where it may all play out, with the result of the Norcross/Norfolk Christian game coming into play. At this point we really don’t know. We will just have to wait and see, we are in the playoffs and we will be on the road,” Chapman said.