By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
PALMYRA – Sometimes it does pay to fix something that isn’t really broken.
Goochland, which historically has had a potent ground game, tried a little something different in its season opener on Friday night against Fluvanna County.
The Bulldogs found their formula for success against the Flucos as they took to the air and used a staunch defensive effort en route to the 46-7 victory.
“You have to take what the defense gives you and they were packing the box. So we felt like we needed to try to loosen the defense up,” Goochland coach Joe Fowler said. “We put the ball in the air a little bit, had some success with it and just stuck with it. And some things went our way.”
Goochland created opportunities early, as Matthew Haller recovered a fumble to give the visitors good field position on its second drive.
Mitchell Brice broke away for a 13-yard gain to move the ball down field, and several plays later Cody Johnson found a wideopen Brent Alvis from 21 yards out for the touchdown.
The Bulldogs clamped down on the defensive end and Dasheem Norris came up with his second interception of the night with 2:22 to play in the first quarter.
Goochland capitalized on another short field with a 26-yard field goal from Colby Cooke and broke to a 10-0 lead.
The Flucos were forced to punt on the following drive and the Bulldogs needed just two plays to find the end zone again. This time, they stuck to the ground game and fullback Patrick Clore bulled his way down field for a 38-yard TD run.
“We told our guys that it needed to be low-scoring and we needed to sustain drives and we needed to keep their defense on the field and we needed to make them have to drive on us,” Fluvanna coach Jason Barnett said. “In the first half when we give them short fields on three straight possessions, there’s no way we’re going to be able to stop an offense like that.
“We just have to capitalize and do a much better job of executing. And we’re capable of that because I’ve seen it before. It was just one of those [games] where Goochland just did a great job tonight and handed it to us.”
Goochland took to the air again and put together another impressive drive before halftime. Johnson hooked up with Nathan Adams on back-to-back plays of 17 yards and Clore touched the ball twice for 14 yards before Johnson punched it in from the 1-yard line.
The Bulldogs took a 25-0 halftime lead after Cooke converted a 21-yard field goal late in the second quarter.
Goochland opened the second half with a 75-yard scoring drive, capped by Johnson’s 40-yard pass play to Adams. The senior quarterback found five different receivers on the night and finished 8-12 passing for 210 yards. Adams was his favorite target, as he hauled in four passes for 122 yards.
“He’s getting better and better with each passing day,” Fowler said of Johnson. “He’s got a great feel for our offense and he’s an incredibly intelligent young man who helps us with his athletic ability. We’re blessed to have him.”
The Bulldogs continued to thwart the Flucos on the defensive end and added two more scores. Brice and Jake Martin had electric touchdown runs of 40 and 49 yards, respectively.
Fluvanna’s lone score came in the fourth quarter as Austin Foster connected with YaYa Anderson for a 9-yard TD in the corner of the end zone. Anderson finished with four catches for 75 yards. Logan Walls carried the load on the ground for Fluvanna, toting the ball 21 times for 84 yards.
The Flucos look to get back on track next Friday with a non-district matchup at Spotsylvania. Goochland also gets a non-league test as it plays host to Fork Union.
