After two straight weeks of frustrating offensive performances after losing Markel Groomes to an injury, Louisa County got back into a groove Friday against Orange County.
It turned out to be huge because the Lions needed nearly every one of those points in a 42-28 victory over Orange County.
Quarterback Trey Cherry’s 259 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries ignited the offense, but three different Lions cross the 100-yard mark. Idris Davis went for 135 yards and a score on 12 carries and Deion Johnson had 105 yards and two touchdowns.
In total, the Lions rushed for 505 yards as a team.
They did it largely while going score-for-score with Orange before pulling ahead for good early in the fourth quarter. Orange County matched Louisa touchdown for touchdown largely due to Mikael Wallace and Isaiah Ferguson’s 148 combined yards on the ground and some savvy defensive play. The Hornets jumped ahead 7-0 after Trevon Smith raced 66 yards after a fumble recovery early in the first quarter. But Louisa countered with the first two of their six rushing touchdowns in the game to grab a 14-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.
By halftime, the Lions were up 28-21, but Orange refused to go away, with quarterback Garrett Johnson finding Ferguson for a 4-yard touchdown pass midway through the third to even the game at 28-28.
That’s when the Louisa rushing attack went back to work with Johnson and Cherry each scoring fourth quarter touchdowns to lead the Lions to the 42-28 win.
Louisa will take on Albemarle Friday as they continue to scrap and claw for a playoff spot in 4A, while Orange hosts Monticello with the Mustangs trying to bounce back from a loss to Albemarle.
