Tammy Purcell/Scrimmageplay.com Contributor
It didn’t take Louisa County long to light up the scoreboard in their home opener against Spotsylvania Friday night thanks to a pretty remarkable repeat performance.
Just as he did in Louisa’s victory over Eastern View last week, Senior C.J. Lambert fielded the game’s opening kickoff and rumbled 76 yards for the score.
That play set the tempo for the night as the Lions rolled past their cross-lake rival, 62-15.
“We planned in that way,” Louisa Coach Mark Fischer joked of Lambert’s return. “Give credit to C.J., he broke some tackles and found that hole. He’s pretty good at it.”
Lambert wasn’t the only Lion to find holes as the squad racked up over 330 yards of total offense, all on the ground. Junior Anthony Hunter and Senior Glen Cosby carried much of the load early on for Louisa (2-0), amassing 62 and 59 yards respectively. Hunter found the endzone three times in the opening half on a pair of 6-yard runs and a 39-yard jaunt.
Fischer had his pick of productive runners all night as senior Ernie Cross emerged as the go-to guy in the late stages of the game. Cross tallied over 100 rushing yards, hitting pay dirt on a 8-yard effort midway through the second quarter and a 7-yard run to open the fourth.
“I told the kids in meetings that I have about six running backs that can carry the mail all day and I only have one football,” Fischer said. “I am trying to get it to everybody and keep everybody happy. I am trying to be as creative as I can to get everybody touches.”
Sophomore Kire’ Worley, a transfer from Patrick Henry High School who is sharing the quarterback duties with veteran signal-caller Dillon Hollins, added the Lions’ other rushing touchdown, converting on 3rd and 13 with a 30-yard romp late in the opening stanza.
“Kire’ brings a lot to the table,” Hollins said. “We have a two-headed monster back there now.”
Louisa smothering special teams were monstrous as well, finding ways to stifle the Knights (0-3) again and again.
After Lambert’s opening score, Rayshawn Jackson turned a muffed snap on a Spotsy punt into a safety, giving Louisa an 8-0 lead barely a minute into the contest.
To open the second quarter, Jackson blocked another punt deep in Knight territory and Brandon Payne picked it up for the Lions’ fourth touchdown.
Less than a minute and a half later, Jackson had a hand in one more Louisa score, this time on defense. He grabbed a Spotsylvania fumble and cruising 52 yards to the end zone.
Indeed, Louisa’s defense had their way with the Knights throughout much of the contest, holding Spotsy runners to just 43 yards on the ground.
But the Knights’ offense did have one ray of light. Having failed to score in their two previous contests, Spotsy found the endzone for the first time this season when quarterback Cody Jenkins, a recent transfer from Eastern View seeing his first action in a Spotsylvania uniform, hit freshman Ashten Dixon with a 30-yard launch with about three minutes left in the first half.
Spotsy hit pay dirt one more time on a 34-yard Dra Nelson run late in the game.
