Heritage quarterback Ayden Slash pushes off running back David Bradley (8), who was blocking on the play, against Rustburg on Friday.
Ben Cates
There was one sequence in the second half of Friday's anticipated rematch between Heritage and Rustburg when Pioneers quarterback Ayden Slash got bounced around like a pinball.
He took two hard back-to-back knocks from a couple Rustburg defenders, absorbed them both, then got sandwiched between two more Red Devils a few yards later, but kept plunging forward in search of extra yardage.
Five-foot-9. One hundred fifty-one pounds. Tough as nails.
Slash never quit grinding his way up the field, rushing for 181 yards and scoring three of his team's four touchdowns as Heritage defeated Rustburg for the second time this season, this time bouncing the Red Devils from the playoffs with a 26-7 victory in the Region 3C quarterfinal round.
"Pound for pound, he's one of the toughest I've ever had," Heritage coach Brad Bradley said of Slash after his team headed to the locker room. "You cannot say enough about his toughness."
Slash recorded runs of 6, 11 and 1 yards, the second of which put HHS up for good in the second quarter, and the Pioneers defense came alive to hold the Red Devils scoreless for the final three quarters.
Rustburg (7-4) entered riding a three-game winning streak. But the Red Devils were held to 117 rushing yards. The team's lone score by Shaun Rosser at the 2:35 mark of the first quarter gave them a 7-6 lead after Heritage opened the game with a touchdown and the extra-point attempt sailed wide-left, pinging off the upright.
"It's tough for the seniors," Rustburg coach Dustin Russell said. "They fought long and hard, and it didn't end the way we wanted it to."
Rosser, who had led the rushing attack all year but had recently missed time because of a hamstring injury, returned to the field just in time for the playoffs. He finished with 104 rushing yards on 20 carries, but after their opening drive, the Red Devils could never get the run game going the way they hoped.
"I think we both knew that we were gonna run the football," Russell said, "and we were able to get it going in the first quarter but weren't able to continue it throughout the whole game."
Heritage's defense had something to say about that. Linebackers Jeffrey Mosley and Brayden Morgan set the edge, while guys like defensive tackle Tyler Reed collapsed on the RHS offense to put a stop to the run.
"Tonight's goal was just to stop the run game, because we knew they didn't pass the ball as much," Reed said. "And I think we did pretty good."
Slash also completed 5 of 6 passes for 52 yards. Rustburg quarterback Jaydon Herndon, a lefty sophomore, completed 7 of 10 passes for 76 yards and also tossed one interception near the end of the third quarter. Heritage capitalized a few minutes later with a 5-yard touchdown run by Zaid Holloway.
Heritage (9-2) led 12-7 at the half. The game swung on the Pioneers favor at the beginning of the third frame, when Rustburg was forced to punt on its opening drive. The punt sailed high and short out of bounds, going for about 15 yards and giving Heritage a short field.
The Pioneers responded by scoring on that drive to go up 19-7.
In addition to the interception, Clark finished with 45 rushing yards and 36 receiving yards.
"I feel like I'm that guy, and I wanna be that guy," he said. "So I just put the work in and show it on Friday nights."
Clark noticed the hard-earned totes Slash had against the Red Devils. "He's a dog, man. He keeps going."
The first-round win sets up a region semifinal matchup between the fourth-seeded Pioneers and No. 1 LCA. The Bulldogs defeated No. 8 Broadway 42-14 in another first-round game Friday.
"Great football team," Bradley said of LCA. "The best in [Class 3]. Obviously, they're the defending state champions. Nobody's gonna give us a chance, but we're gonna be there for four quarters."
LCA (10-0) earned a 34-27 win the first time the two teams played, back on Sept. 26.
"I feel like it's gonna be a big game," Clark said, "a hard-fought game, and revenge."
Region 3C quarterfinalsHeritage 26, Rustburg 7
Rustburg;7;0;0;0; -- ;7
Heritage;6;6;7;7; -- 26
HHS -- Ayden Slash 6 run (kick failed)
RHS -- Shaun Rosser 8 run (Brendan Stevens kick)
HHS -- Slash 11 run (pass failed)
HHS -- Slash 1 run (Jeremy Estrada kick)
HHS -- Zaid Holloway 5 run (Estrada kick)
;RHS;HHSFirst downs;7;17Rushes-yards;27-117;43-320Yards Passing;76;52Passing;7-10-1;4-5-0Total offense;193;372Fumbles-lost;1-0;2-0Penalties-yards;7-80;12-100 Individual Statistics
Rushing -- Heritage: Ayden Slash 22-181, David Bradley 6-44, Brayden Morgan 8-65, Zaid Holloway 3-1, Tavion Carter 3-45, Team 1-(minus 16). Rustburg: Shaun Rosser 20-104, Air Reid 3-27, Alex Dunn 2-(minus 5), Jaydon Herndon 2-(minus 9).
Passing -- Heritage: Slash 4-5-0 (52). Rustburg: Herndon 7-10-1 (76).
Receiving -- Heritage: Clark 2-36, Jeffrey Mosley 2-16. Rustburg: 7 2-4, 11 3-21, 4 1-34, Rosser 1-17.
Records: Rustburg 7-4. Heritage 9-2.
Next: No. 4 Heritage advances to face No. 1 LCA in the region semifinals next Friday.
Ben Cates, (434) 385-5527
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