If Orange County spreads the ball around like it did Friday night, there won’t be many defenses that can slow down the Hornets.
Western Albemarle certainly couldn’t in a 44-20 rout by Orange Friday night.
“We’re starting to get a little bit of rhythm,” said Orange County quarterback Cameron Hughes.
The senior may be underselling the Hornet’s current offensive pace. Including Friday night’s win, Orange is averaging 45 points per game over their last five outings, with only Louisa holding the Hornets under 40 points.
Orange scored 24 points in the second quarter alone, capitalizing on a number of Western turnovers to grab a 24-7 halftime lead. The Hornets turned three Warriors turnovers into 17 points in the first half, and scored another touchdown when Alex Galimore hauled in a 10-yard score on a fade in the endzone with 23 seconds left before the break. On the ensuing possession, Orange’s Eddie Ellingon picked off a pass by Western’s Abbot Wallenborn and raced to the eight-yardline. Ellington’s return set up a 35-yard Hunter Ferguson field goal after an offensive pass interference penalty.
That final minute of the first took Western, who built a little momentum when Tommy Mullin grabbed an Orange screen pass and raced 44 yards for a touchdown to make the game 14-7, almost completely out of the game. After Western sputtered on the opening drive of the second half, largely because Orange’s defensive line and linebackers knocked down several passes on the possession, Orange drove 80 yards to take a 30-7 lead.
Western struggled to slow the Hornets without All-State linebacker Mitchell Parks in the lineup as he continues to nurse a back injury.
“He gets everybody lined up right and communicates all the coverages,” said Western coach Ed Pierce. “That’s a really important thing that’s overlooked all the time. It definitely hurts not having him.”
The Hornets’ seniors, in particular, put together big-time nights. Tyrone Ellis snapped out of his recent funk to pile up 94 yards and two touchdowns on just nine touches. Senior pass-catcher Dillon Morrow hauled in 82 yards on five catches—beating up on Western largely on seam patterns down the middle of the field. Hughes tossed the ball for 176 yards on 16-for-23 passing, completing passes to five different Hornets on the night. But the Hughes to Morrow connection is quickly developing into one of the area’s more reliable.
“I’ve played 20-something games here now and it’s good to have a lot of catches and yards in my last game,” Morrow said. “Their defensive backs just kept backing up so we kept throwing underneath.”
Amir Waller had an interesting stat line with a 23-yard completion as the wildcat-style quarterback, a couple of solid runs and a 24-yard catch on a jump ball. As usual, he drew a lot of attention from the opposing defense and opened things up for Morrow, Seal and Galimore.
Defensively, the Hornets did a nice job of containing Western quarterback Abbot Wallenborn, who was under duress in the passing game most of the night. He still managed 116 yards on the ground, but the Warriors’ drives regularly stalled on turnovers or incompletions when the Hornets created pressure up the middle.
“Oh my goodness, when I watched him on film and I said we’re going to be in trouble,” said Orange coach John Kayajanian. “But our defense stepped up tonight…we bent a lot but we didn’t break and that’s a quote, everybody says it, but we didn’t let them in the endzone and I’ll take it.”
Marquis Maddox forced a first quarter fumble that Brian Devine recovered. That turnover eventually led to an Isaiah Ferguson touchdown from a yard out. William Wells then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to set up Ellis’ 35-yard run and give Orange a 14-0 lead.
Western had some early success with their Hog-Cat formation, utilizing mammoth defensive tackle Adam Frazier in a shotgun formation. He rumbled ahead for a 12-yard gain on the first play out of that look, but Western couldn’t get much going out of it after that, though it was used sparingly.
Orange is in position to make the Division 4 playoffs — likely as the seventh seed out of eight — with just Charlottesville left on the schedule next week. Western also has an outside shot to slip in—they were in position before the loss to the Hornets—but will almost surely need a win over Goochland at home next Friday to qualify.
