Armstrong’s Wildcats have gotten hot – make that smoking hot – at just the right time.

Coach Jeremy Pruitt’s 9-3 East Enders are heading north to Brentsville District (11-2) for the Region 3B finals Friday at 7 p.m.

The Wildcats continued their season with a head-spinning 28-0 upset over previously undefeated Thomas Jefferson last Friday at Hovey Field. AHS led 20-0 at halftime.

“We came out with a different formation, we call Maybach, like the car, and it worked really well,” Coach Pruitt said.

It was a smooth ride, especially for Jahkei Chavis who had 157 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Anthony Allen passed for 157 yards with TDs to A. J. Byrd and Gerald Williams.

Byrd, who Coach Pruitt calls “my most recruited player,” now has 1,137 receiving yards on the season with 17 TDs.

A force on both sides of the ball was tight end/defensive end Marvin Banks. Having returned from injury several games ago, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Banks had eight tackles, including four for losses.

The inner-city showdown avenged a 28-12 loss to the Vikings on Oct. 27. The ’Cats have won four in a row, outscoring their opponents by a combined 178-21.

This is the furthest any Armstrong squad has extended a football season since the advent of the Virginia High School League playoffs in the late 1960s.

Brentsville’s All-Northwestern District QB Caleb Alexander suffered a leg injury in the Tigers’ 28-7 region semifinal win over Kettle Run last week.

Alexander left the stadium on crutches and his availability against Armstrong is in question.

With so much success, it’s time to peek at the AHS record book.

In 1977, Armstrong went 9-0-1 and might have been a postseason contender. However, the Wildcats were ineligible for the playoffs due to their late date with Maggie Walker.