By Nick Eilerson/Scrimmageplay.com Contributor
Fluvanna County opened with a quick two-touchdown lead and appeared to have complete control of the game.
But with Jesse Ayres in the fold, putting Monticello away is much, much easier said than done.
The Mustangs stormed back to capture a convincing 55-25 win, Monticello’s ninth-straight against the Flucos, largely on the shoulders of their senior tailback
Ayres powered the Mustang comeback with four touchdowns and 175 yards on 25 carries. The performance allowed Monticello to walk out of Costello Stadium with its first league win of the season and a much-needed boost of momentum heading into next week’s battle at Goochland.
“It was a real step forward,” Monticello sophomore quarterback Jhalil Mosley said. “Coming off [last week’s] loss to Orange, we knew we should have beat them. We worked hard in practice and it paid off out here.”
Fluvanna’s hot start came after Monticello went three-and-out on its first possession, leading to a drive capped off by an 18-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback TJ Dudley.
Things got worse for the Mustangs when a bad punt snap forced senior kicker Nick Kalinsky to catch the ball with his knee on the ground, handing the Flucos the ball on the Monticello 12 yard line. Junior running back Ben Markiewicz promptly capitalized with a 12-yard touchdown run up the middle.
“They couldn’t stop us,” Fluvanna coach Jason Barnett said. “They had to do things to try to catch us off guard… and hats off to them for running those plays, executing them and finishing them. We make a tackle, we stay with our assignments and this is a different ball game. But that’s not the way it went, and we have to learn from it.”
Just a few minutes later, Mosley took the initiative with a 48-yard scamper to the Fluvanna four-yard line, after which Ayers took advantage of stellar blocking to run up the gut untouched and draw the Mustangs within seven points. A failed onside kick gave the Flucos the ball at their own 46, and junior quarterback YaYa Anderson led his unit downfield for what looked like another potential Fluvanna score. Then the tide turned completely.
With the Flucos inside the 20, Monticello’s sophomore defensive back Denzel Terry emerged from a scrum with the ball and raced 92 yards for the tying touchdown.
“Sometimes that’s what it takes,” Monticello coach Brud Bicknell said. “I didn’t think we came out with the spark that I would have liked, but we made some plays and that’s what energizes the team. It’s never anything I say.”
Monticello again rolled the dice with an onside kick, but this time it paid off. Defensive back Hunter Dickerson recovered it for the Mustangs, and on the following play, wide receiver Deno Robinson caught a screen pass and galloped 39 yards down the left sideline to put his team up 20-13 with 10:28 remaining in the second quarter.
Anderson answered on the ensuing possession by hitting senior running back Aric Edmonds with a six-yard play-action pass for the touchdown. Freshman defensive back TJ Tillery blocked the extra point to keep the Mustangs up one.
Fluvanna responded to a touchdown catch by senior wide receiver Tyler Moneymaker with a touchdown pass of its own with 20 seconds left in the first half, but a holding penalty nullified the score. Anderson’s next four passes fell incomplete and Monticello held a 27-19 halftime lead.
The Flucos started the second half with the same spark they brought to the first, as Kyle Pillow picked off a Mosley pass and raced 31 yards for the score. Monticello then stuffed the fake extra point and proceeded to take total command the rest of the way.
Ayres exploded through a gap in the middle of the line and cut right for what turned into a 70-yard touchdown run with just under seven minutes to play in the third quarter. After another Ayres rushing touchdown, Tyson Wahcenheim caught a Mosley pass in the flat and sprinted 65 yards down the sideline before being pulled down just short of the goal line. Ayres then sealed the deal with a rush up the middle to put the Mustangs up 48-25 at the end of the third quarter. The touchdown marked his 15th of the season.
“I think [Ayres] played within the scheme a little bit better than maybe he did last week in terms of setting up some of his blocks and being patient. He matured as a running back, and he ran incredibly hard and physical, and that’s what we expect out of him.”
Monticello will travel to Goochland next Friday while Fluvanna will play at Monroe.
