When Buckingham County picked up two short rushing touchdowns respectively from Kyree Koonce and Kenneth Johnson on its first two drives, it looked like a lopsided affair was in the making. But in the second quarter that all changed as Fluvanna’s offense came alive behind the play of quarterback Dashon Tibs.
With a 1-point lead going into the second half, the Knights had finally run into some adversity after rolling to their first two wins of the year with ease. Thanks to a few adjustments and some more power from its running back tandem though, Buckingham was able to keep the Flucos at bay and wrap up a 56-26 win behind a 28-point fourth quarter.
“They made three three good plays on us and its Fluvanna, I said ‘Boys their up, they came here ready to play,’ and we tried to tell them about that all week,” said Knights coach Craig Gill. “We hadn’t faced adeversity all year long and we’re getting ready to hit the meat of our schedule so we’re going to face it against some good teams. The thing I’m proud of was the way we regrouped, came together and showed some heart.”
After going up 14-0 to start, Buckingham saw the visitors race back to tie the game starting with Tibbs hitting receiver Jesse Van Dyke for a 41-yard strike before a 7-yard touchdown pass to the same target. Fluvanna then recovered a squib kick, and Tibbs hit Van Dyke again, this time for 38 yards which was soon followed by a 7-yard rushing score from Javon Burton.
“This group had every reason to not come out and listen to what (a lot of people outside the program) tell them every week, but they still come out and fight hard for their teammates,” said Fluvanna coach Jason Barnett. “I’m proud of that. So proud of that. Dashon came out and played great and there was a confidence in him that we haven’t seen before.”
The two teams traded touchdowns to close out the first half with Johnson’s second 1-yard touchdown rush, a play where he recovered his own fumble on the goal line. The Flucos answered with a long pass from Tibbs to Jalen Harrison that set up a 5-yard play-action pass to Harrison again to make it 21-20. Fluvanna missed the extra point to set the table for second half.
In the third quarter the Knights got some breathing room thanks to a 28-yard run from Koonce that allowed Johnson to score on a 12-yard rush. At 28-20, punts were traded back and forth, but the two brusing backs for Buckingham were at their best in the fourth quarter.
The scoring barrage started in the fourth with Koonce’s second TD, a 35-yard run and was quickly followed by Cam Johnson picking off a short pass to give the Knights the ball back with a short field. Johnson had little trouble punching in his fourth score of the night to make it 42-20.
With three minutes left, Tibbs marched the Flucos down field and punched in a 5-yard keeper to make it a 16-point game.
However, moments later Koonce broke off a 45-yard scoring run and Johnson grabbed his fifth TD on a long run in the last minute of play.
Buckingham had 375 yards on the ground and attempted just two passes. Cam Johnson had solid night with 17-carries for 75 yards, but was only slightly overshadowed by Kenneth Johnson’s 18-rush 137-yard 5-TD night and Koonce’s 16-attempt 148-yard 3-score performance.
Fluvanna (1-3) will host Kettle Run on Friday at 7:30 p.m. to continue a murderer’s row of their schedule where they’ll played two of the state’s top-ranked Group A squads (Goochland, Buckingham) and now one of the best in Group AA.
Buckingham (3-0) hits the road to pay Amelia where they will to look to avenge one of their two regular season losses from last year at 7 p.m.
