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Wild One: Monticello wins thriller over Orange County

Photo by Kristi Ellis

As Monticello’s field goal unit set up for a 23-yard attempt with 1:15 to play, it was a chance for quick redemption for senior kicker Chase Hummel.

 

Four and a half minutes earlier, Monticello’s last drive ended without points when he pushed a go-ahead 28-yarder wide to the right.

 

“My teammates told me to brush the first one off,” said Hummel. “They gave me confidence. They have trust in me, and I’m thankful and grateful for that.”

 

This time, again positioned left-of-center but five yards closer, Hummel nailed the kick inside the right upright, delivering Monticello a 31-28 win over visiting Orange County.

 

“It’s a funny thing, actually, because yesterday during pregame practice we put him up for a chip shot right around that area,” said Monticello coach Matt Hicks. “I told him, ‘you’re going to win the game tomorrow with one of these,’ and he stepped up huge tonight and drilled it.”

 

That the scoreboard totaled 59 points at the end was somewhat inconceivable for a game that was tied 28-28 after the opening possession of the third quarter. The teams combined for 935 yards of offense.

 

“One of the biggest things we did this week was just continue to build cohesion up front,” said Hicks, whose offense had averaged fewer than 145 total yards, and only 50.7 on the ground, through its first three games, but exploded for 404 yards against the Hornets, including 278 rushing. “It was by far the best week of practice I’ve seen us have yet. This is an entirely new system and scheme for these guys. We’re starting a freshman and two sophomores on the offensive line. There are moments where you see amazing potential. Tonight, some big things happened for us on the ground and in pass protection.”

 

As the night wore on, backs and receivers failed to keep quite as tight a grip on the football. Both teams lost two fumbles, and the officials’ blue bean bag was out on the turf several other times. Monticello’s secondary also turned things around after getting beat deep twice in the first quarter.

 

“They had a really big tight end, so we should shift over to the tight end’s side,” said Hummel, who also played in the defensive secondary. “Once we changed that, we were able to stop them better on both the run and the pass.”

The Mustangs picked off Hornets’ quarterback Paul Poirier three times, including Will Trent’s game-sealer on a last-play heave toward the end zone.

 

“The whole team was working together, keying in on their top players,” said Trent, a senior who anchors the secondary and had big plays in all three phases in the game. “The secondary was working together. We were all flying to the ball, and I just happened to be the first one to get there.”

 

Remarkably, Orange did not score in the second half. Their last four possessions all ended on turnovers inside Monticello territory.

 

“Guys were talking and pointing and communicating every play, and that was so different from what we saw in the first half,” said Hicks. “That communication in the second half was so big to see. I think that, along with a couple of minor adjustments, really showed for our guys.”

 

The game certainly started with all the makings of an offensive shootout. The Hornets received the opening kickoff and drove 72 yards in eight plays, the capper coming when senior receiver Douglas Newsome raced past the secondary and Poirier hit him down the middle for a 35-yard score. Monticello answered with a quick 59-yard drive, highlighted by a third-down completion from Malachi Fields to Trent, who dragged defenders for the last 20 yards of a 39-yard pickup. Fields put the Mustangs on the board with an 11-yard keeper.

 

Poirier promptly engineered another scoring drive, this time covering 80 yards in nine plays. He converted a third-and-14 by finding Jeremiah Mejia for 19, and later a fourth-and-3 with a seven yard completion to Newsome. On the next play, he scrambled right and just before reaching the sideline fired a 39-yard strike to Newsome, who was streaking toward the front-right pylon in the endzone. Orange led 12-7 after one quarter.

 

Monticello had to punt on its next possession, while the Hornets’ offense kept things moving by firing up the ground game on an eight-play, 78-yard drive. Senior Markell Jackson carried four times for 27 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown right after another Poirier-to-Newsome connection down the left sideline picked up 34 yards on a fourth-and-3. Jackson also ran in the two-point conversion for Orange to grab a 20-7 lead. But that lasted only 15 seconds, as Trent fielded the ensuing kickoff and took it 78 yards to the house.

 

“It was all about the front line; they created a good opening for me to take off,” Trent said.

 

Orange went right back to work, even going-for and converting on fourth-and-1 at its own 30. Seven runs and a late hit flag had the Hornets at the MHS 32 before the game’s first turnover: Poirier uncorked another deep ball toward the goal line, but this time Fields tracked it down and intercepted it for a touchback. Four plays later, it looked like Monticello had a big-play passing touchdown as Fields tossed it 13 yards to tight end Kai Gaines near midfield, who slipped tacklers and raced down the right sideline; however, the last defender caught him at the 1 yardline and jarred the football loose, sending it through the endzone for a turnover and touchback.

 

Poirier and Jackson accounted for all 80 yards on Orange’s ensuing eight-play drive, including a 43-yard screen to convert a third-and-10. Poirier scored on a 6-yard keeper, and then completed the two-point conversion with a pass to Bryant Chiles. Trailing 28-14 with under two minutes left in the second quarter, Monticello put together a critical answer to cut the margin in half before the break. FIelds called his own number for a 21-yard run on third-and-17 as the clock ticked under a minute. Three plays later, he matched Poirier with a 6-yard keeper of his own with only 11 seconds remaining in the half.

 

Monticello erased the rest of the deficit with a 12-play, 65-yard drive to open the third quarter. The series featured a new skill player in sophomore running back Logan Clark, who carried five times for 42 yards and caught one pass for 10.

 

“When the line was still trying to work and develop some rhythm and chemistry, he was so patient and positive,” Hicks said of Clark, who broke through for a season-high 101 yards on 19 rushes. “I just kept telling him, ‘it’s going to happen, just keep working,’ and he ran very hard tonight.”

 

Trent tied the game at 28 with a two-yard run with 7:12 left in the third. From there, the teams traded punts before the fumbles and interceptions started piling up. With three minutes to go in the third, Poirier broke a 57-yard keeper before being chased down and stripped by Fields at the MHS 18. Just three plays later, Clark lost a fumble at the end of a 19-yard run. The Hornets took over at their 47 and drove to the MHS 24 before Jason Armstrong intercepted a fourth-and-6 pass and returned it across midfield as the third quarter ended.

 

Monticello took nearly five minutes to march to the OC 11, keeping things on the ground with FIelds, Trent, and Clark, before ending without points on a missed 28-yarder. The Hornets then mounted a drive that seemed to have go-ahead potential as Poirier found Chiles on third-and-10 for a 16-yard gain; however, Mustang defenders forced and recovered a fumble at the 35 with 5:15 remaining.

 

Fields promptly flipped the field with a 45-yard dash. He and Clark then drained most of the clock with rushes before Hummel converted with 1:15 to go. Hummel also drilled the ensuing kickoff into the endzone for a touchback, setting Orange at the 20 for its final series. Poirier converted a fourth-and-4 by completing to Newsome for six yards out to the 43 with 0:26 on the clock. The teams traded yardage with holding and unsportsmanlike conduct flags before a 15-yard pass to William Lewis got Orange to the MHS 40 for one final play. Poirier rolled out right and launched deep, but Trent made the pick around the 10 yardline.

 

Poirier finished 17-of-33 through the air for 290 yards and led the Hornets with 146 yards rushing on 16 attempts. Jackson added 87 yards on 18 carries and caught three passes for 58 yards. Newsome had nine receptions for 149 yards, but only three in the second half for 21.

 

For Monticello, Fields led the way with 160 yards on 22 rushes and completed 4-of-12 passes for 126 yards.

 

“Even though we had an unfortunate last couple of games against very good opponents, we still have every opportunity to do what these guys wanted to do,” said Hicks, as his squad looks to climb up from seventh in the Region 3C power point standings, where only the top four make the playoffs in this unique season that is already two-thirds complete. “Every goal is still right there. We’ve got to keep improving those little bits every single day.”

 

Monticello (2-2) travels to Charlottesville (0-4) next Friday, while Orange County (1-2) heads to Goochland (2-0, at Liberty-Bealeton on 3/13) for a non-district tilt.

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