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Overcoming mistakes: Louisa County shakes off turnovers to push past Western

The first time Louisa moved into the red zone against Western Albemarle Friday night, they lost a fumble on the 15-yard line.

 

The second time the Lions sniffed the goal line, quarterback Malik Bell coughed it up and the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone for a touchback, keeping the game scoreless.

 

On its third drive, Louisa (5-0, 2-0) was forced to settle for a 36-yard field goal, leaving head coach Mark Fischer wondering if his team would ever find the end zone.

 

It took them nearly a half, but they finally did.

 

Brandon Smith broke off an 80-yard touchdown run with his team ahead 3-0 in the final minute of the first half and the Lions used a long touchdown drive to open the second half to grab control of the game in a 22-8 win over the Warriors (1-4, 0-2) in Crozet, remaining perfect on the season despite four turnovers.

 

“If you had told me we’d lose the turnover battle 4-0 and still won, I’d have said it wouldn’t be pretty,” Fischer said. “We seemed to put ourselves in bad spots, and it’s all self-induced. Fortunately this year we were able to bounce back. Last year [against Western] we got into a 14-point hole and we didn’t get out.”

 

Leading 9-0, the Lions took the second-half kickoff and marched 69 yards in 16 plays over 8:22, finishing with a one-yard dive from quarterback Malik Bell to make it a two-possession game. A failed two-point conversion kept it there, but Louisa’s defense locked down Western quarterback Derek Domecq and the rest of the Warrior offense to keep that margin going into the fourth quarter.

 

“The turnovers are always going to have an impact,” Smith said. “But our defense came out and got every stop we needed them to get.”

 

The Lions appeared to be well on their way to a shutout in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors, as they so often do against Louisa, made things interesting. Luke Tenuta stepped in front of a Bell swing pass on the Louisa 15 and recorded Western’s second interception of the night, setting his team up with a golden opportunity to finally touch the scoreboard. Jack Weyher also had an interception for the Warriors.

 

Three plays later, Domecq kept it himself from eight yards out and Western converted a fake extra point to cut the margin to 15-8 with 7:52 remaining.

 

“The things we worked on this week was effort and discipline and never quitting. Those were our three goals for the week,” Western head coach Ed Redmond said. “I think it’s safe to say we accomplished all three.”

 

Western’s defense began feeling the momentum as well. On the ensuing drive, the Warriors stopped Job Whalen short of the sticks on a fourth down at the Western 41 with under four minutes to play, giving them a chance to tie the game.

 

But Louisa’s defense came up with its most important stop of the night, with Jarrett Hunter breaking up a Domecq pass intended for Jack Lesemann on fourth down after only allowing the Warriors to gain a yard. If that didn’t effectively end the game, Job Whalen’s four-yard scamper in the final seconds for the final margin did.

 

Bell rushed for 98 yards on 21 touches on the evening while Whalen went for 85 yards on 15 carries. The Lions also converted five of six fourth downs on the night.

 

“Western is a tough-nut team and it’s always going to be a dogfight,” Fischer said. “I didn’t feel good until there were zeroes on the board.”

 

Louisa returns to The Jungle next Friday night when it hosts Powhatan. Western Albemarle will travel to Monticello.

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