Broadway and Fluvanna County opened the 2023 season with a one-point overtime thriller and closed it out jockeying for the last spot in the Region 3C playoff bracket. In both cases, the Flucos had the edge. But when the schools met in Palmyra on Friday night to kick off the 2024 season, it was the Gobblers who clearly held the upper hand, claiming a 20-7 victory as they aim to be a top contender in the Valley District.
“To come down here on a two-hour bus ridge and pull off this win on the road is huge for our program,” said Broadway coach Danny Grogg. “Fluvanna played physical tonight, Coach Pace is one heck of a coach, but kudos to my coaching staff and these kids. I just told the team, being able to go home 1-0 is everybody’s dream as a coach.”
Broadway quieted the home crown from the jump, needing only two plays from scrimmage to tally its first touchdown of the season. First, junior running back Jaday Castillo Luis broke through the right side for a 61-yard gain. Then, junior quarterback Uriah Rutan kept on the option and jogged untouched around left end for a five-yard score.
“We wanted to start fast and we wanted to start physically, and that’s why we established the run early,” Grogg said. “They gave us the looks that we wanted and practiced all week long.”
Fluvanna picked up a first down on its opening series and had a chance for a chunk play to convert a third-and-8, but junior quarterback Will Lambert’s pass down the middle caromed off his diving receiver’s hands and fell to the turf.
After three punts, it was still 7-0 when the Gobblers mounted a 13-play, 55-yard drive spanning the last three minutes of the opening quarter and the first three-and-a-half of the second. Freshman back Jayce Suters joined Rutan and Castillo Luis carrying the load, picking up two first downs. Rutan capped the series by again keeping on the option, rolling around the left end, and winning a footrace to the pylon.
“He attracts some eyes with his speed,” Grogg said of Rutan, who finished with 57 yards on 11 rushes.
However, a short ensuing kickoff from the Gobblers gave the Flucos excellent field position near midfield. Lambert looked deep on second down and targeted senior Benny Denby, who fought through double coverage to haul in a 42-yard reception.
“We had the right coverage, I thought it should’ve been a pick,” said Grogg. “We’re one play short of a shutout.”
Two plays later, Lambert got Fluvanna on the board with a 1-yard sneak.
“They got off with a bang, and I don’t think we were quite ready to play,” said Fluvanna coach Mitchell Pace. “It woke us up and we responded, tightened up from there. [Denby]’s a playmaker and we’ll need him to make those plays.”
For fans of offense, the middle of the second quarter proved to be the evening’s peak. The next series saw Broadway toss in a wrinkle with freshman Brenden Glovier taking the helm at quarterback and promptly racking up 33 yards on a keeper. He picked up 14 yards on two more runs before Suters capped the seven-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
“[Glovier] had a rough game last week where he fumbled two snaps in his first varsity experience, and to see him come out and have success was nice,” said Grogg as Broadway reclaimed a two-score lead with 2:48 left in the half. “He’s a big kid (6”1” 200) and we think he has a lot of talents and intangibles. We told him we were going to have a set package for him. He’s put in a lot of work this offseason and does a lot for us running the scout team, so to see his hard work payoff was amazing.”
Unlikely as it seemed, that rounded out the night’s scoring. The Flucos’ next two series were foiled by an errant third-down shotgun snap and a fumble at the end of a 10-yard run. The Gobblers also couldn’t get anything done in two-minute mode as Glovier’s next pass was picked off by Kyle Harris.
After Broadway rushed for 175 yards in the first half, both defenses came back strong after the break as neither squad cracked the century mark in total offense. The Gobblers were still far more successful at moving the chains, tallying 86 yards on the ground including a gutsy 2-yard pickup on a direct-snap to an upback in punt formation at their own 21 yardline late in the third quarter. Their main foil was three second-half holding penalties.
“It was an ugly second half,” Grogg said. “It’s hard to make play calls when you’re behind the sticks. We have plenty to clean up.”
While the home side had memories of last year’s game which featured a two-touchdown rally that forced overtime, the Flucos could not cash in on three drives into Gobbler territory. Darnell Vandevander picked off Lambert’s deep fourth-down pass to foil the first. Midway through the fourth, Fluvanna seemed to have things rolling on an 8-play drive but the pursuit forced a fumble as Sam Loving crossed the 25 yardline. Loving got the next series started with a 28-yard catch-and-run, but things went awry from there. Facing fourth-and-16, Lambert scrambled and heaved one for Denby, but drew a flag for releasing the pass a yard beyond the line of scrimmage.
Lambert finished 8-of-14 for 109 yards. The ground game struggled all night, totaling 39 yards, of which Loving had 21 on seven rushes. Loving also caught four passes for 49 yards.
Castillo Luis led the Gobblers with game-highs of 126 yards on 14 rushes. Rutan completed 4-of-10 through the air for 25 yards.
Fluvanna (0-1) heads into an early bye week looking to shore up play in the trenches.
“Honestly, they just whipped us up front,” said Pace. “They were more physical and executed and it was hard for us to get off the ball and make holes. We didn’t tackle well, we got outmatched up front. We’ll lick our wounds and come ready to work.”
The Flucos are next in action on Friday, September 13 at Chancellor.
