Lane Zoom!

Governor back’s 93-yard run extends win streak over Heritage

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

Change a couple of letters in his last name, and he’s a can’t-miss comic book hero.

Lane Bloom’s 93-yard touchdown run on William Blount’s first play from scrimmage was all too real for rival Heritage on Friday, the early jolt standing for the duration in a 13-2 win over the Mountaineers at Mike White Field.

The win extended the Governor streak to 16 straight over the Mountaineers, but it wasn’t easy.

William Blount (2-4, 1-2 District 4AAA) went for it on fourth-and-3 at its 30-yard line with five minutes left, a fumble on the center/quarterback exchange giving Heritage one last shot.

The Mountaineers (0-6, 0-3) got as far as the Governor 13 before an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and William Blount’s defense finished things. A five-play Governor drive, with Bloom running out of the wildcat for one snap, then exhausted the remaining time.

“I’ve taken a couple of snaps,” Bloom said, “but I’ve never played quarterback in my life.”

Two Ryan Hodgson field goals of 37 and 24 yards accounted for the remainder of the Governor scoring. Hodgson’s 37-yard boot spun through above the uprights!

Bloom finished with 108 yards rushing and the game’s lone touchdown on eight carries. Tim Green added 70 yards passing as William Blount racked up 252 yards of offense.

Green doubled at linebacker on defense for the shorthanded Governors, a move that proved telling late.

“It’s like I told them,” William Blount coach David Gregory said. “Some times you win ugly, and it doesn’t really matter, and that was ugly.”

Heritage surprised the Governors with a spread passing game, quarterback Jake Olvey throwing for 112 yards with several nice grabs from Dylan Harris, Jesse Huff and Schuyler LaRue.

Each time William Blount needed it most, the Governor defense stiffened.

Olvey marched Heritage to the William Blount 35-yard line on the game’s opening possession before a procedure penalty helped short circuit the drive.

A Mountaineer punt pinned the Governors deep at their own 7 on fourth down.

Bloom took a toss around the right side and went the distance untouched on the next play.

“The hole opened up,” Bloom said, “and I just turned it on as much as I could and hoped they didn’t catch me.”

Je’Rell Bledsoe jumped Heritage right back in it with a 50-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, only to see the drive stall at the William Blount 23.

Defense became the theme for both teams at that point, the Governors adding a Hodgson 37-yard field goal with six minutes to play in the half. The Mountaineer defense, specifically the punt return team, accounted for the Heritage points when the snap sailed over Hodgson’s head and out of the end zone.

The inability to capitalize on the game-opening drive was big, Heritage coach Tim Hammontree said.

“We needed that first one,” he said. “That would have been it.”

The Mountaineers’ first series of the second half cut deeper.

The return following the safety put Heritage in first-and-10 at the Governor 12-yard line with eight minutes to play in the third, William Blount holding a 10-2 lead.

The Governors yielded only a yard on the ensuing series, linebacker Trace Fuller getting the sack on Olvey on fourth-and-9 to stuff the threat.

“That was huge,” Gregory said.

William Blount marched the length of the field for a Hodgson 24-yard effort on the next series.

Green was pulled from the field for cramps during the drive, former middle school phenom Marty Rogers taking over at quarterback. Rogers became the only Blount County player ever to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 1,000 while running the show at Carpenters Middle.

Rogers and the Governor center couldn’t make the connection when the Governors decided to go on fourth-and-3 late.

The failed Mountaineer effort that followed was one of six drives to reach as deep at the Governor 40-yard line on the night.