Coming off of a come-from-behind victory over one quality district opponent and with a meeting with another looming next week, Albemarle’s football team might have been prone to a letdown in Friday night’s homecoming game against Fluvanna.
That proved to not be the case as the Patriots were in control wire to wire in a 34-12 victory.
Jamal Thompson racked up 151 yards on 19 carries, J’Quan Anderson tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Tyquan Rose and ran for another and the Patriots defense did plenty to back them up one week after Albemarle erased an 18-0 deficit to score a huge 26-18 road win over Charlottesville.
“Stranger things have happened in football,” Albemarle coach Brandon Isaiah said. “So we just wanted to approach this week businesslike and stay focused. We came out and we didn’t play as well as we would’ve liked to but we took care of business.”
For Fluvanna, things started poorly and never really got better as on their third play from scrimmage, the Albemarle defense swarmed quarterback Jordan Melton and forced a fumble, recovering on the Flucos’ 10. Thompson registered his first touchdown on the first play after that for a quick 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
The Patriots, who travel to Powhatan next Friday at 7:30 p.m., forced three first-half turnovers and matched that with three touchdowns en route to a 21-0 halftime lead. The second score came on a 17-yard weaving catch-and-run by Tyquan Rose with 4:46 to go in the quarter, and then Anderson got a rushing touchdown of his own with 2:11 to go in the second quarter.
“Tyquan and I have been playing with — and against — each other for years,” Anderson said. “We always know what the other’s gonna do on the field.”
Fluvanna, whose next game is at home against Western Albemarle, used a quick ground attack to get into scoring range, but a 39-yard field goal attempt fell short at the end of the half. Determined to start digging into the Albemarle lead, they recovered an onside kick to start the second half, but the Patriots defense forced a turnover on downs.
Albemarle made the Flucos pay as Anderson linked up with Rose for the second time, this one from 18 yards out, on the ensuing drive for a 27-0 lead. That was the last pass Anderson threw, as he, Thompson, and the rest of the AHS starters were pulled late in the third quarter.
Melton got the Flucos on the board with a 22-yard dash with 7:27 to play in the game, avoiding a shutout. But the Patriots answered by going 49 yards in just three plays culminating in Brock Shorten’s 19-yard touchdown run to quash any hopes of a miraculous Fluvanna comeback.
“Defense has been doing well all year, but we haven’t been able to score in the early part of the game,” Isaiah said. “I’ve been challenging my guys to get off to faster starts.”
Melton led the Flucos on offense with 133 yards on 22 carries, largely accumulated during garbage time. The Fluvanna offense struck twice more in the fourth when Melton hit Craig Russo from 18 yards out with 2:54 to go and the Dylan Walker around another Albemarle touchdown, but it was too little too late as Albemarle salted the game away after that.
