If you glanced back at where the one-time Jefferson District foes who squared off in Stanardsville stood last November, you would find that a vaunted senior class had propelled William Monroe to a winning season and a 3A East home playoff game. On the other side, a young and undersized Monticello squad dropped their last four down the stretch and was a non-factor in the 3A West playoff hunt.
Ten minutes into Friday night’s 2017 season opener, senior Monticello quarterback Kevin Jarrell cruised 16 yards on an option keeper for his third rushing touchdown, and fourth overall, of the quarter. To that point, the Monroe offense had gone three-and-out twice and fumbled twice.
Suffice it to say, things look to be drastically different this fall.
“I don’t think 3-7 will happen again,” said senior Monticello receiver Austin Haverstrom, who caught a slant from Jarrell on the Mustangs’ second offensive play and raced 63 yards for the season’s first touchdown. “When I lined up, I saw there was a huge hole and knew if I got a slant and beat him off the first couple steps, I had it home. There was a safety over the top slightly shaded to the left, so if I beat him to the center, I knew I was gone.”
Moments later, senior linebacker Danny Talbert came up with the season’s first turnover on a sack-fumble at the Dragons’ 25. Senior Jerrick Ayers carried three times and covered 24 yards before Jarrell scored on a keeper.
“At the end of last year, I challenged our kids that they had to buy in, and part of that was the off season,” said third-year Monticello coach Jeff Lloyd. “We kind of switched our defense from a 3-5 to more of a 3-4, but it’s really the same concepts. We challenged them to be more physical this year. We’ve had great attendance in the weight room. They worked really hard in the summer. It showed up tonight.”
Following an exchange of punts, Monticello’s linebackers again converged on the Dragons’ junior quarterback Alex Kinsey in the backfield. This time senior Trenton Mullins recovered to setup the Mustangs in the redzone. The offense took two snaps to cover 18 yards on runs by Ayers and Jarrell and open a 21-0 lead.
“When you’re rebuilding, you’re rebuilding,” said Monroe coach Jon Rocha. “When you take a defense that good against four inexperienced offensive linemen, it makes for sort of a long day.”
After another punt, a late hit penalty allowed Monticello to begin a third drive in Monroe territory, which was capped by Jarrell’s aforementioned 16-yarder. But then the Dragons shored up their blocking and offered the home fans a glimpse of what the offense might deliver, at least in time. Kinsey completed five of six passes for 51 yards, including an outstanding high-arcing connection with junior Jaekwon Wayne by the home sideline after rolling out to his right converted a third-and-five. Zachary Miller and Cameron Hayes sprinkled in a few effective runs. Kinsey capped the 12-play, 75 yard drive with a six-yard keeper to make it 28-6 with 9:23 left in the half.
“Alex played great,” Rocha said. “On that drive, he had protection. We were picking up the blitzes. Those are the things you build off of, and you take those with a young team.”
Sixteen seconds later, the Mustangs’ special teams snuffed out any momentum swing with the ensuing kickoff. Haverstrom initially muffed the catch but quickly gathered it inside the 10 and was off, thereby eclipsing a 19-year old mark for the longest return in school history.
“The ball had this awkward spin and kind of jammed my thumb,” said Haverstrom. “The blocks had already been set, so I picked it up and turned the corner and saw Danny (Talbert) and Matthew (Allen). He got one block on the kicker and the rest was just open grass.”
Later in the quarter, Monticello mounted its longest drive of the game, covering 52 yards, all on the ground, in seven plays. Ayers scored from 19 yards out, good for his longest carry of the night. The Mustangs led 42-6 at the break.
Monticello received the third quarter kickoff and Jarrell saw action for the first series only. After a holding penalty setup first-and-21, he launched a deep bomb to senior Airrick Salisbury, who hauled it in behind the secondary for a 70-yard touchdown. Sophomore Jack Culbreath converted his seventh extra point to cap the evening’s scoring.
While Ayers finished with 88 yards on 10 carries for Monticello, it was sophomore Benson Hawker, who saw action starting late in the second quarter, that led all rushers with 16 carries for 96 yards. Jarrell rushed six times for 48 yards and completed five of eight passes for 144 yards, accounting for five touchdowns total.
“I keep singing the kid’s praises and somebody’s going to get a hell of a quarterback at the college level,” Lloyd said.
For the Dragons, Kinsey completed 11 of 18 passes for 75 yards. On a tough night for the ground game, Miller led the way with 24 yards on seven rushes.
Monroe (0-1) hits the road to face Spotswood (0-1) from the Valley District next Friday. Having snapped the longest regular-season losing streak since 2001, Monticello (1-0) has a Labor Day weekend bye before hosting Turner Ashby.
