It’s been an August and September to forget for the 2019 Jefferson District.
Harrisonburg, Spotswood, Turner Ashby, and Spotsylvania all picked up a pair of wins over JD schools. And one Class 4B power from Culpeper tallied a 3-0 record with an average margin of victory of 49 points.
Charlottesville was the latest squad to run into the Eastern View buzzsaw, as the Cyclones kicked off their homecoming weekend with a 48-0 victory over the Black Knights.
“You can’t say enough about Greg (Hatfield) and the program at Eastern View: they’re good, and they’re good every year,” said Charlottesville coach Eric Sherry. “We were able to get out of it fairly injury-free, so that’s good.”
Despite an utterly one-sided first half in which the Cyclones opened a 41-0 lead and outgained the visitors 319-26, Charlottesville came back from the locker room and made the third quarter something positive to take into district play. Namely, they did not allow Eastern View’s offense a single snap. The Knights ran 14 plays in the period, driving from their own 20 to reach the Cyclones’ 22 while dialing the pace of play way back with this season’s 40-second play clock. In a rare game for CHS on a natural grass surface, it was literally a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust approach, as junior Lamont Bullard carried eight times for 25 yards while junior Gary Jackson, who got the start at quarterback, picked up 24 yards before a sack on the last play of the period. Senior Marcus Targonski added 11 hard-earned yards before both he and Jackson sat out the fourth.
“It’s a moral victory,” said Sherry of the drive that lasted a total of 17 plays and stretched nearly 14 minutes before ending on downs. “We’re getting the reps we need to get. We’re playing very tough teams, so I think we’ll get better from that if we can survive from the injury standpoint.”
The Cyclones set the tone on the evening’s first play from scrimmage as Eastern View senior Chance Graves took a jet sweep around the right edge all the way for a 62-yard touchdown. After a CHS three-and-out, senior Alex Spanger returned the punt 56 yards to the house. Following another three-and-out, the Cyclones covered 45 yards in five plays behind the two-headed ground attack of sophomore Raq Lawson and junior Ronta Robinson.
“When the whole team clicks together, everything’s way better,” said Lawson, who broke his first carry for a 30-yard gain and then capped the drive with a six-yard touchdown. He finished as the game’s leading rusher with 96 yards on just six first-half carries.
Already trailing 21-0 not even midway through the first quarter, Charlottesville again came up short of the sticks on its ensuing series. Thoughts of going for it on 4th-and-2 were abandoned after a false start. Eastern View’s offense kept rolling despite a sack and block-in-the-back penalty, as senior quarterback Till Butler tossed it out to senior Blake Leake on a 3rd-and-19 flanker screen in the left flat, and Leake took it 38 yards for six.
The Knights closed the opening quarter with their fourth three-and-out. The defense then held and set up a fourth down for Eastern View, but Lawson converted with a carry for 22 yards. On the next snap, Robinson picked up a touchdown with his own 22-yard run.
“When the offensive line is good, it makes the whole thing work,” said Robinson, who finished with 60 yards on five rushes.
Junior Mikey Keene became the sixth different Cyclone to find the endzone by capping the next offensive series with a 3-yard touchdown. Eastern View led 41-0 before CHS picked up its first first down.
“I think when we can distribute the ball, we’re pretty hard to defend,” said Eastern View coach Greg Hatfield. “I thought we got back to running the ball really well. We have some talent in the backfield: Drew Shurina and Mikey both ran really well, and Turk (Robinson) and Raq are both really tough young kids who’ve worked really hard.”
In the fourth quarter, sophomore Jory Cardoza took over at quarterback for CHS as both offenses were content to grind out the running clock. Eastern View picked up a late final touchdown on special teams when Drey Waters fell on a loose ball in the endzone after Charlottesville’s snap sailed over the punter’s head.
Charlottesville (0-4) opens JD play back home next Friday, though they certainly catch no break as the first matchup is defending champ Louisa County (3-0).
Eastern View (4-0) will seek the 100th win in program history as it kicks off Battlefield play at home vs. Caroline.
