By Logan Riddick / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
In a battle of Central Virginia heavyweights headlining the first week of Jefferson District play, Monticello and Powhatan each had two backs eclipse the century mark in rushing yardage. However, the Mustangs’ four-deep ground attack and handful of game-breaking plays propelled coach Jeff Woody’s top-ranked squad to surge past No. 5 (CVPFPP) Powhatan 45-19.
“With Coach Woodson and the great program that they’ve established, they’re going to do things right and fundamentally sound,” said Woody. “We needed up front to make sure we controlled the trenches, and it took us a minute or two. When you play a good football team like Powhatan, you’ve got to expect them to have a good game plan. You’ve got to be able to match it and, defensively speaking, bend but not break.”
The teams played a scoreless first quarter, although Powhatan opened with an impressive 13-play drive that ended in the red zone with an eight-yard completion on fourth and nine. After exchanging punts, Darian Bates setup the Mustang offense with a short field after a good punt return along with a 15-yard penalty. Three plays later, on the first snap of the second quarter, Kyree Koonce broke 21 yards for a touchdown.
“I’d just give it to number 2,” said Powhatan coach Jim Woodson. “He’s the real deal. He’s hard to tackle, got good feet, strong legs, and he’s the fastest thing on the field, no doubt about it.”
Powhatan’s Linwood Jackson answered two minutes later with a 46-yard touchdown run. Jackson was the counter-punch to Logan Allen in the Indians’ ground game, which amassed 188 yards by halftime behind Allen’s remarkable 22 rushing attempts (for 141). Allen posted 161 yards for the game on 31 carries, while Jackson finished with 132 yards on just 10 rushes for a game-high average of 13.2 yards per attempt.
“[Allen]’s one of the best athletes we’re going to see all year,” said Woody. “Big, physical, quick on his feet, he’s fast in the open field. We knew we had our hands full coming into this football game.”
With the game still tied 7-7 midway through the second quarter, Allen propelled a Powhatan drive into the redzone with three carries for 40 yards before Monticello called a defensive timeout. After containing Allen and Jackson on the next three runs, Powhatan lined up to go on fourth-and-inches inside the 10 until a false start flag cost them five yards. Opting instead for a 31-yard field goal attempt, T.J. Tillery raced from the right edge of the defensive line to block it.
After a Monticello fumble and Powhatan punt, the Mustang offense took the field pinned back at the six yard line with 2:50 left in the half. Rather than sticking to the ground, though, senior quarterback James St. Hill dropped back and unloaded a deep pass to Alex McNair, who made the catch and shed members of the Indians’ secondary for a 94-yard touchdown. The play surpassed a 10-year old mark for the longest passing touchdown in program history.
“It was a play-action,” said St. Hill. “My line did a wonderful job blocking. I had enough time and I looked up and saw 81, Alex McNair. He was wide open so I just threw it up and he caught it and scored.”
Powhatan quickly moved to near midfield on its next possession, but Cambrun Graham’s deep pass was tipped in the air and intercepted by Tillery, who returned it 19 yards back to the Indians’ 38. Two plays later, St. Hill hit Koonce on a middle screen, and he took it 36 yards for Monticello’s second touchdown in 99 seconds. Despite running 16 fewer plays and trailing by more than 2-to-1 in time of possession, with Tillery’s big plays and well-timed passes the Mustangs led 21-7 at the break.
“T.J.’s a Swiss Army Knife,” said Woody. “He’s an integral part of our football team. He made a special teams play, he did great on defense with the interception and was in there in the middle in the mix making tackles. Then we turn around and we hand it to him and he runs downhill and he plays physical.”
Monticello received the second half kickoff and Koonce quickly put the home crowd’s hopes of a comeback to rest. He raced 32 yards on his first carry and 24 yards three plays later for a touchdown. After the teams exchanged three punts, Monticello mounted an eight-play drive covering 79 yards all on the ground with five different rushers. St. Hill capped it with a one-yard sneak to open a 35-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After Allen sacked St. Hill on third down in the red zone on Monticello’s first fourth-quarter possession, Josh Malm hit a 35-yard field goal. The teams then traded touchdown runs over the next three series, first with Allen scoring from six yards out for Powhatan after a 40-yard completion from Graham to Elijah Goode. Bates took it in from five yards for Monticello, and then Jackson broke another long run for the Indians, going 44 yards to cap the scoring with 2:35 left.
“It was a great team effort,” said Woody. “I made mention of this in the huddle, but I want to thank the scout offense and defense for pushing us and whipping us in practice from time to time. We wouldn’t be where we are right now without those guys. They need to get some credit.”
Koonce led all rushers with 174 yards on 14 carries. Tillery went for 113 on 11 attempts for Monticello, while Bates and Wagner added 48 and 46, respectively. St. Hill completed 3-of-7 passes for 158 yards and two scores.
Powhatan (3-1) will look to bounce back next Friday with a trip to the Jungle to face Louisa (2-2). Monticello (4-0) hosts Charlottesville (2-2) for homecoming.
