The first nine minutes of play were two teams throwing jabs, figuring out what was going on, playing defense and punting. The next five minutes was Monticello connecting on a right and left hooks, five of them to be exact — three touchdown drives connected by a pair of turnovers forced on special teams and defense.
Just like that it was 21-0 early in the second quarter. And while Spotswood made things a little interesting in the beginning of the third quarter, this one was never in doubt. Big wins over William Monroe and Turner Ashby are one thing. But a 48-21 thrashing of a physical Spotswood team? Monticello is not messing around as it heads into its Jefferson District opener with Fluvanna County next week.
“This one was harder because Spotswood is big, physical and runs the double wing really well,” said Mustangs coach Jeff Lloyd. “We gave up (314) rushing yards tonight, so credit to their kids, we got up 21 and 28 but they wouldn’t go away. The thing I liked most about my kids is that every time (Spotswood) scored, we answered.”
The majority of the first quarter was uneventful. Both defenses were playing hard, both offenses were a touch of sync. But inside the five minute mark, Monticello’s running game behind quarterback Kevin Jarrell and running back Jerrick Ayers started to roll.
“With injuries last week we had new players at guard and center since we slid Carter Elliot over to guard,” Lloyd said. “But we still produced. We’ve got two really good kids in that backfield (with Jarrell and Ayers) and they feed off each other.”
The Mustangs drew first blood with 1:45 to go in the first off an 11-yard touchdown run from Jarrell and in just three minutes and thirty three seconds later, it would be a three score game.
“We came out a little slow but our offense got going and then the defense started making stops,” Jarrell said. “That’s what we talk about. This defense gets a stop and the offensive comes out and picks it up.”
On the ensuing kickoff Monticello was able to force a fumble and set the offense up with a short field just outside the redzone. The Mustangs wasted little time, scoring with 1.7 seconds left in the first off a 1-yard keeper from Jarrell. Spotswood had a bit of a drive going on its next possession until Monticello’s Jacoby Jackson picked off a pass and returned it for 20 yards to set up another short field. It took no time for Ayers and Jarrell to set up a 1-yard TD keeper for the latter to make it 21-0 with 10:33 to play in the second.
While Spotswood was able to get on the board with a long drive capped by a Brandon Brown five yard scoring run, Monticello didn’t punt from the middle of the first until the middle of the fourth quarter. Jarrell broke off one of his biggest runs of the night on the next Mustangs drive in the second, a 37-yard touchdown scamper to make it 28-7. The next Monticello drive saw Jarrell and Ayers connect on a bit of an extended play with Jarrell rolling over to the sideline and finding his running back coming off a block in a short pass that resulted in a 62-yard touchdown to make it 35-7 going into the break.
“They were bringing pressure and it was a great time to throw,” Jarrell said. “We’ve been working on that play all week and it was great to see it work out.”
The second half saw Spotswood make things just a little bit tense in the third. The Trailblazers scored on the opening possession of the second half on long drive finished off by a 1-yard run from Alec High to make it 35-13. That paired with a redzone stop on fourth and 14 from the 20 yard line on Monticello’s next possession gave Spotswood an opening. Monticello responded with a redzone stop on fourth and two.
“What we did (for this game) is brought down an extra linebacker as a lineman,” said Monticello’s Danny Talbert. “We basically blitzed the A-gaps to try and cause havoc in backfield before they could get upfield on us.”
Following the big stop Jarrell broke off his longest run of the night to close the third quarter, an 86-yarder. That allowed Ayers to finish off the drive with a 4-yard run and it was 42-13 with 10:22 left.
Spotswood got a late touchdown, a 2-yard pass from High to Kalen Morton to make it 42-21 after a two point convert. But for the third straight time, the Mustangs answered a Trailblazers touchdown with one of their own. Jarrell capped the next Monticello drive with his fifth touchdown of the night, and 8-yarder and that wrapped up the scoring.
“It is amazing to me the numbers that he’s putting up and that I don’t have college coaches calling me up asking me about him not stop,” Lloyd said. “It makes no sense and I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years coaching.”
For the night, Monticello saw Jarrell run for 228 yards and go 6-for-11 passing with 151 yards passing. That’s ten rushing touchdowns for the senior quarterback in just two weeks and 13 in only three games. Ayers had 109 yards rushing.
Monticello (3-0) has its homecoming game with Fluvanna (2-1) next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
