Lee Closing In

STAUNTON – On his 18th birthday, R.E. Lee High School senior Joe Moore made an eventful homecoming night even more memorable.

Wearing No. 15 in honor of close friend and former teammate Acoye Breckenridge – a recent graduate who died in a car accident last week – Moore scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a pair of interception returns, to lead the Leemen to a 40-14 victory over Broadway.

The win put the first-place Leemen (6-1 overall, 4-0 in the Valley) one step closer to a Valley District championship.

“I just know that was my boy for life, and I know he would’ve done the same for me,” Moore said of his decision to change jersey numbers.

Moore, who paid additional tribute with Acoye’s name on his eye black, also scored on a 13-yard run. Though it was just a jersey number, Moore appeared to play pretty well with No. 15 on his chest.

“I felt like I was blessed with an angel, just looking down over me,” said Moore, who missed two district games against Fort Defiance and Harrisonburg for unspecified reasons.

Lee coach David Tibbs noticed too, as Moore’s three-TD outing helped put Lee one district win away from clinching at least a share of the league title.

“We may let him wear that number permanently, if he keeps playing like that,” Tibbs said.

The Leemen have now won eight of the last 13 meetings with BHS, which was seeking its first win in Staunton since 2003.

Both offenses – led by potential district Player of the Year candidates – struggled to get going against fierce pressure.

The Gobblers (4-3, 2-1) limited dual-threat quarterback Javon Chisley to just 27 yards on 15 carries in the first half, tackling him for a loss seven times. Meanwhile, Broadway managed just 28 total yards of offense before halftime. Senior tailback Trevor Bostic – the league’s leading rusher with over 1,000 yards – had just 14 and finished the game with a season-low 27.

Back-to-back botched punts by Lee, though, gave BHS short fields twice. But the Gobblers were only able to cash in on one of the opportunities. After a 5-yard run, Bostic handed it off to Tyler Yost for a 4-yard TD to open the game’s scoring with 10:24 left in the second quarter.

Lee tied it 7-7 on the ensuing drive as Chisley found a groove. He connected on four consecutive passes, including a 15-yard TD to running back Collin Spears, who was wide open in the flat.

“A lot of pressure,” Tibbs said, “and when they do that, they’re forcing you to hit some passes. We hit a couple big ones. … They were smart. They said, ‘Hey, if they’re going to beat us, they’re going to beat us throwing the ball.’”

Later, Moore turned a defensive battle into a rout.

The Leemen scored 19 unanswered points in the final period.

The only real positive for Broadway after halftime was a Bostic interception that led to a sneaky touchdown pass by senior quarterback Dane Spitzer. Spitzer faked a draw on third-and-10 from the Lee 14-yard line and executed a jump pass to his wide-open tight end, Hugo Balderas.

That cut the BHS deficit to 21-14 with 3:36 left in the third, but the Gobblers imploded from there. Spitzer finished with three interceptions.

“There was at times this game we looked really, really good,” BHS coach Brad Lutz said. “We didn’t make enough plays on both sides of the ball to win this football game. … Lee’s a very good football team. We’re a very good football team. We’ve got three big games ahead of us and an opportunity to finish out the season and go to the playoffs.”

Chisley finished with 62 yards and two scores on the ground to go with 132 yards through the air, going 10-for-17 with a touchdown and interception.

Though both coaches downplayed the district title race, Moore was all smiles with Lee closing in on its first league championship since winning its fourth straight Southern Valley District title in 2010. 

“It feels really good to know we’re on top,” Moore said. “… I feel like we really are [playing at a championship level]. We can go all the way. We just have to get our mindset right.”