Colonial Forge football stopped in the state semifinals

Down a touchdown after the Tigers took a 14-7 lead with 31 seconds left, the Eagles put together a quick drive that saw them knocking on the door of the end zone at the 5-yard line.

Two incomplete passes forced the field goal unit to come out, but an offside penalty on Oscar Smith shifted the game plan as the offense re-entered the field.

Brimhall took the direct snap and barreled toward the end zone, diving for the goal line but somehow, someway, he was stopped by the Tigers’ defense, keeping the score at 14-7 going into the half.

“I just knew there was going to be more of a hole on the outside,” Brimhall said. “I believe that the ball crossed the line. I thought I scored, but there’s nothing you can do.”

Colonial Forge got the ball out of the second half, hoping to rectify that empty trip into the red zone, but quickly turned the ball over, giving the Tigers a short field, a persistent theme of what ended up being a 42-7 blowout loss.

“When you’re that close, you have to go for it,” head coach John Brown said. “That was the right call. They just played great defense right there. … I needed to do a better job calling plays at the beginning of the second half. We needed to take the ball down the field and get some yardage more than anything else.”

In a game featuring two of the best teams in the state and in Class 6, it was Colonial Forge (10-4) that was able to move the ball in the first half, mostly through the passing game.

Brimhall found teammate TaySean Jones often early on as he recorded more than 125 receiving yards at half, but just as the Eagles weren’t able to get over the line as the clock ran out in the first half, so did their offense.

Oscar Smith (14-0) out-scored Colonial Forge, 28-0, in the second half, scoring 35 unanswered points after the Eagles’ lone touchdown of the game, a 15-yard scamper into the end zone from Brimhall.

“We were trying to get first downs and make plays, but things just didn’t go our way,” Brimhall said.

With their backs against the wall quickly, it didn’t help that the Tigers had prime field position for most of the game, regularly starting inside the Eagles’ 50-yard line or just over the other side of the 50. Several of their drives in the second half stalled out around midfield, giving Oscar Smith a short field to execute and execute it did.

Coming up short is a feeling no team or player wants to experience, but on its way back to Stafford, Colonial Forge is bringing with it a regional title and a renewed fire to reach the pinnacle of Virginia high school football.

“I’m super proud of our kids,” Brown said. “We played tremendously in the first half and it just fizzled out for us in the second half. … I told our seniors they righted the ship, starting last year. Those kids were juniors then and seniors now. They played outstanding for two years and here we are.