Monticello is searching for an identity right now and the Mustangs came out determined to be more aggressive than they’d been in a loss to Rustburg a week ago. Monticello definitely got more aggressive, but Wilson Memorial rolled 41-7 over Monticello Friday night.
The Mustangs were aggressive early on offense, but taking to the air backfired out of the gate. Monticello got off to a rocky start, with quarterback Matt Dixon throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown on his second pass attempt. On the ensuing drive, Monticello went three and out, and from that point on, the Mustangs struggled to move the ball down the field on offense.
“We ran the game well in spurts,” said Monticello coach Matt Hicks. “There are definitely areas we need to improve on.”
Defensively for the Mustangs, they had a rough time trying to stop Wilson’s dynamic rushing attack. Wilson took advantage of the push they earned at the line of scrimmage and were very successful in finding gaps in the defense to pound the ball through. With Wilson’s smashmouth style of running the ball in between the tackles; Monticello wore down early in the matchup, and the home team soon quickly found themselves in a 28-0 hole going into the locker room at halftime.
The start of the second half was more of the same from the Hornets. They rushed the ball a combined 45 attempts and scored five touchdowns on the ground for the evening. With the number of times Wilson rushed the ball, along with their ability to move the chains, they milked the game clock. The Hornets left very little time on the clock for Monticello to even consider mounting a comeback.
Selorm Kartey has undoubtedly been the shining star of Monticello’s offense through two games, and he didn’t disappoint in this matchup. Despite Wilson controlling the line of scrimmage defensively for most of the game, Kartey still rushed for 118 yards, averaging about 8.0 yards per carry.
With about 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, led by mostly their rushing attack, Monticello put together a nice 77-yard drive to get themselves in the end zone for a touchdown.
After two losses, Monticello will look to rebound on the road against Turner Ashby next Friday night.
