Friday night, it was Home Sweet Home in more ways than one.
After two rough outings on the road to begin the season, Louisa County finally roared to life in The Jungle. Fittingly, it was a pair of juniors back in the green and gold after a year at private school who had the ball in hand as the Lions staked out a 21-0 second quarter lead. From there, Louisa answered each salvo from visiting Massaponax through a wild second half to wrap up a 49-34 victory.
“There’s no playbook for what has happened over the past few weeks,” said Louisa County coach Will Patrick. “We have a team, we get some new guys, but they’re Louisa kids. They’re back to play where they belong, at home, with their boys.”
After holding the Panthers on downs to halt their eight-play series to open the game, Louisa marched 51 yards in eight plays. On this drive, returning receiver Dyzier Carter was the key, hauling in a 40-yard pass from senior quarterback Caleb Brady to convert on third-and-23. Four plays later, Carter took a direct snap and made his way to the endzone from 13 yards to put the first points on the board.
“Coach trusts me to go to quarterback and run it in, and I just had to go and get it,” said Carter.
The Lions’ defense then forced a quick three-and-out. Thanks to a short punt and penalty on the Panthers, the offense took the field in plus territory. Louisa reached the 1 yardline before Massaponax stuffed another Carter rush attempt. Brady’s fourth-down pass sailed just over the hands of an open tight end in the corner of the endzone. However, Louisa took advantage of the tilted field position. Another three-and-out and short punt set the offense up at the 35. They needed just one snap as returning running back Savion Hiter raced untouched through the middle to paydirt. 74 seconds later, Hiter then made a highlight-reel play on defense.
“I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t even playing my zone, but I jumped up in the air, made a play to get the ball and I scored, so I’m glad about that,” said Hiter as the 20-yard pick-six made it 21-0 for the Lions with 7:46 to go in the half.
“Unbelievable athletic play,” Patrick said. “That’s why that kid’s so highly touted. He can make plays that most can’t.”
At risk of the game devolving into a rout in the rowdy Jungle, Massaponax responded with a 12-play, 64-yard drive. Junior quarterback Ian Shook hit senior Gabe Newby for a 14-yard score in front of the north endzone student section. Thanks to a 35-yard connection between Newby and Carter, Louisa had a scoring chance in the closing seconds of the half, but a 48-yard field goal attempt bounced short off the crossbar.
Down two scores and set to kickoff coming out of the break, the Panthers instead seized another possession with a perfectly-executed onside kick. Following a first half in which the teams combined for just 126 rushing yards, the third quarter seemed like a totally different game. There were six rushing touchdowns, none shorter than 17 yards. Massaponax scored on series lasting two, two, and four plays, while Louisa had quick-hitters of one and two plays.
“Man, some honey holes opened up definitely, and our o-line really bowed up,” said Patrick, as Louisa racked up 217 total yards in the second half, all on the ground.
Massaponax junior running back Josiah Perry scored twice in the third on runs of 52 and 53 yards, the latter marking a comeback after he required assistance with cramping. He also steamrolled a Louisa safety about halfway to the endzone, something for the film session during the bye week.
“We gave up a few things, that triple option is always tough,” said Patrick. “[Massaponax] has a lot of speed and some really good players.”
For the Lions, Jayden Seaberry and Lavartell Creasy tallied the first two scores after the break, the latter setup by a 57-yard kickoff return from Carter and fortuitous recovery of a fumble at the end.
“We’ve got a lot of running backs who can put the ball in the endzone but there’s only one football,” said Patrick. “It’s about finding creative ways to get touches to guys. O-line does their job, everybody else who doesn’t have the ball does their job, you can see what can happen.”
Hiter capped the wild quarter with a 70-yarder, on his way to a team-high 136 yards on 11 carries on the night.
“The hole wasn’t really open on the inside where I was supposed to be, so I hit the outside and it was done,” Hiter said.
At the end of the third, the scoreboard showed Louisa still leading 42-27. The Lions reclaimed a three-score margin early in the fourth after Seaberry took a direct snap and picked up 19 yards down to the 1. Carter then took a jet sweep left for his second rushing touchdown.
“I saw that hole open up and I just hit it; thank you to my linemen for making that,” said Carter, who carried five times for 17 yards in the game.
The Panthers answered with a 7-yard touchdown run by Newby, but it took 13 plays and nearly six minutes of clock time. Louisa was ready for the ensuing onside kick and recovered to effectively end the drama.
Perry led Massaponax (1-2) with 21 carries for 192 yards, both game-highs. Shook completed 9-of-13 passes for 109 yards, with Alonzo Bowler his top target with five catches for 61 yards.
After Hiter, Seaberry posted 66 yards on nine carries for the Lions. Brady completed 6-of-8 passes for 112 yards, all in the first half. Carter led the receivers with 107 yards on four catches.
“Figuring out how all the pieces are going to fit, getting on track both offense and defense, we can be very dynamic, we’ve just got to keep getting better each day,” said Patrick.
Louisa (1-2) heads into its bye before hitting the road to open Jefferson District play at Western Albemarle on September 27.
