by James J. Lidington

ISLE OF WIGHT
Hunter Edwards rushed for 148 yards and three touchdowns and Colby Williams 189 yards and scored once as Isle of Wight Academy defeated Fuqua 43-26 here on Monday night, in a game rescheduled because of inclement weather on Friday.

The Chargers amassed 504 yards of total offense; Fuqua, 370.

After IWA punted away their first possession, Fuqua took over at its own 27-yard line. They advanced into Charger territory and stalled at the 40 when faced with a fourth-down-and-1 situation. The Falcons snapped the ball and a ballcarrier appeared to have made a first down before fumbling the ball at the IWA 36.

Seven consecutive rushes pushed the Chargers offense to the Fuqua 14. On third-and-6, quarterback Ryan Boyce hit a favorite target, receiver Odin Bristol, for a 12-yard scoring strike. Tre Powell’s PAT made the score 7-0.

Fuqua countered quickly, though. Quarterback Elijah Warner found receiver Matt Osborn on their third play of their ensuing possession, resulting in a 48-yard touchdown just 22 seconds after IWA’s score.

Boyce connected with Bristol again on IWA’s first drive of the second quarter, which culminated with a 29-yard touchdown with 4:00 elapsed in the period.

IWA forced a Falcon punt, then launched a 56-yard, eight-play ground offensive, with rushes by Boyce, Williams and Edwards to make the score 19-6.

They reached into their bag of Halloween tricks on their next drive. On first down at the Fuqua 42, Boyce hit Josh Savage with a screen pass and the senior receiver reared back and uncorked a touchdown strike to Jesse Hopkins. Powell’s PAT made the score 20-6 with :44 left before halftime.

Not to be outdone, Fuqua’s Warner found Osborn on their next play from scrimmage. Osborn ran 78 yards for a touchdown with :25 remaining.

The win capped a 7-2 season for the Chargers, who must wait a week to find out if they have qualified for the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II playoffs. They are ranked fourth in the latest poll, but lead fifth-place Norfolk Christian by 13-hundredths of a point. The top four teams in each division qualify for state playoffs.

JAMES J. LIDINGTON is a teacher at Isle of Wight Academy. He can be reached at 357-3866.