By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Not even seven minutes into Friday night’s game against visiting Spotsylvania, the Fluvanna Flucos already trailed by seven when the Knights’ T.J. Heflin picked off Fluvanna quarterback Gavin Patrick and raced 52 yards for a touchdown, doubling his team’s early lead.
Few in the stands would have predicted that Patrick would turn the tables on the Knights shortly thereafter and help spark the Flucos to a 34-14 win, their first victory of the season.
The junior shook off his early struggles to complete 12 of 31 attempts for 239 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-14 Fluco victory in Palmyra. Patrick tossed two scores each to Macen Dahl and Vinny Agee. Dahl’s first score came less than two minutes after Heflin’s pick-six, getting the Flucos off the mat and onto the scoreboard with 3:45 to go in the first quarter.
“I just came out to the huddle and told my guys, ‘Forget about [that interception],'” Patrick said. “I told them it was time to get going and get ourselves back into this game.”
Despite Fluvanna’s offensive heroics, it was actually the Fluco defense that turned the game around. After Spotsylvania intercepted Patrick for the second time deep in its own territory to begin the second quarter, the Knights marched down field on the legs of Teflin and quarterback Garret Johnson, showcasing its triple option rushing attack. Spotsylvania marched 83 yards and took over nine minutes off the clock, but a would-be touchdown run by Tyler Lindsay was wiped out by a holding penalty, and two plays later, Fluvanna sacked Johnson for a loss on fourth down, giving its offense possession at its own 24 with 2:18 left in the half.
“[That stop] was a big deal for us,” said Fluvanna head coach Jason Barnett. “They had a great drive down the field. For us to come out and stop them, and then get three points out of that, that was the biggest thing for us.”
Patrick led Fluvanna down the field with a masterful two-minute drill, setting up Marcus Ditta’s 36-yard field goal to make it 14-10 at halftime. The drive featured completions of 16, 23 and 13 yards to Dahl.
The Flucos forged ahead with another quality drive that took up over five minutes of the third quarter, culminating in Agee’s 25-yard touchdown catch that made it 17-14. The Knights fumbled the first snap of their ensuing drive, and Fluvanna cashed in three plays later when Patrick hit Dahl again, this time from 29 yards out for a 24-14 lead. The senior wideout had a whopping eight catches for 162 yards on the night.
“Vinny and Mason are guys who can catch through contact. They’ll go up and get it no matter what,” Patrick said. “They’re two great weapons for us to have.”
Ditta tacked on a 33-yarder with 9:25 left in the game, while Agee put the icing on the cake by hauling in a 34-yard pass from Patrick with 2:49 remaining. The win evens Fluvanna’s record at 1-1 on the season. The Flucos will enjoy a bye week next Friday before hitting the road to play Culpeper County on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
