JAMES CITY — When asked to name the key to Lafayette’s 40-0 win over Denbigh in the Class 4 Region A quarterfinals Friday at Wanner Stadium, Rams coach Andy Linn requested the Patriots’ passing stats.
Told that Denbigh’s touted quarterback, Kevin Parker, was 8-of-25 passing for 85 yards, Linn said, “That’s all you need to know. You hold them to that, that’s the story.”
Breon Stokes, Lafayette’s all-state defensive lineman, was among the human faces behind those numbers, well below Parker’s 75% completions and 161 yards passing per game this season. Stokes and his teammates continually pressured Parker, obliterating Denbigh’s game plan to complete long passes early, jump to a lead and force the Rams to the air.
“Man, it’s win or go home, so you’ve got to leave it all out on the field,” Stokes said. “We’re just a dominant defense.”
The Rams’ offensive line of Yianni Kokolis, Andrew Buckley, Nate White, Greyden Wilson, Parker Arnold and Jordon Hampton was also dominant. Lafayette ruled the trenches during a first half in which the Rams (10-1) rolled to 277 yards and a 31-0 lead by intermission.
“Coach Linn told us to come out physical, and that’s exactly what we did,” said Kokolis, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior. “Chemistry is always big with us.
“We block as a family and our backs follow behind us.”
Stokes (15 carries, 123 yards) and Josh Simpson (19 carries, 152 yards) were the beneficiaries. Stokes ran for 89 yards in the first half, while Simpson added 83 and quarterback Baum Hogge 50. Each ran for a touchdown, while Hogge completed 4 of 5 passes for 50 yards, a 7-yard TD strike to Jael Love included.
The Rams had first-half touchdown drives of nine plays/57 yards, two plays/47 yards, four plays/27 yards and 14 plays/64 yards. Love provided the highlights, a diving catch to set up one touchdown and an interception that set up another. All-state kicker Aidan Gerda added the other first-half points with a 32-yard field goal.
Denbigh (5-6) kept playing hard despite being down 31 points at intermission, fitting for a team whose five victories are the program’s most in 12 years. The Patriots stopped the Rams twice to open the second half and drove once inside the Lafayette 5.
But the Rams retook control to start the fourth quarter, with Kelvan Hall capping a 65-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The No. 2-seeded Rams added two more points via a safety and looked ahead to a semifinal meeting Friday at Wanner against No. 6 Smithfield, which upset No. 3 Warhill 30-22 in the quarterfinals.
Lafayette, which opened the season with a 40-14 win at Smithfield, approaches the rematch with confidence after dispatching a Denbigh team loaded with skill talent.
“Playoff (game) 1 sets the tone for everything,” Stokes said. “Now, we’ve just got to keep the energy up.”
