By Liz Keller/Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
PALMYRA — Fluvanna coach Jason Barnett couldn’t have asked for a better performance from his team in its season-opener against Prince Edward on Friday night.
The Flucos executed on offense and made big plays on defense to give Barnett a win in his head coaching debut in front of a large home crowd.
Fluvanna’s ground game, led by Ben Markiewicz and T.J. Dudley, paved the way in the 36-14 victory.
“It was good because it was nice to see the way we handled adversity,” said an elated Barnett after the game. “Fluvanna teams in the past didn’t handle adversity very well. Last year we didn’t handle adversity very well.”
The Flucos broke to a first-quarter lead after marching down the field on their opening drive. Dudley, who rushed for around 1,000 yards last season and has assumed the quarterback position this year, punched it in from one yard out to give Fluvanna the lead.
Just two plays later, Aric Edmonds intercepted Jeremy Walker’s pass with one hand and ran it 33 yards for the score. With the two-point conversion, the Flucos extended their lead to 15-0.
However, turnovers in the second quarter proved costly for Fluvanna. After Raheem Smith came up with an interception, the Eagles recovered a fumble on the 6-yard line, which set up the visitors’ first score.
John Robertson ran in for the six-yard touchdown and the Eagles added the point after to cut the lead to 15-7.
But Fluvanna made the necessary adjustments during halftime and it paid off.
On their opening possession of the second half, the Flucos used a five-play drive to build on their lead. Markiewicz, a 5-foot-9, 155-pounder, provided a spark as he got some nice blocks and dashed 36 yards for a big pickup. Three plays later, Jovan Burton rushed 16 yards untouched for the score.
“[After halftime] we just focused more. We got kinda psyched out and we changed a few things around and it worked better than it did in the first half,” said Markiewicz, who led all ball carriers with 136 yards. “Everything just came together really well and we executed everything perfectly.”
The Flucos’ defense forced Prince Edward into a three-and-out on the following drive as Markiewicz broke up a pass on third down.
The junior continued to make an impact as he broke away for another huge gain — 46 yards — to set up another quick Fluvanna score. Dudley — who finished with 115 yards on 16 carries — ran up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown as the Flucos took a commanding 29-7 lead.
Barnett was pleased with his team’s resiliency.
“We had a little bit of a letdown in the second quarter and I was kinda disappointed. But we had a really good halftime session and made a couple of adjustments on how we wanted to block it,” Barnett said. “And for us to be a good football team we truly have to make those adjustments on the fly, and you saw the results in the third quarter.”
The Eagles added another score in the fourth quarter (11-yard run from Ralick Lockett) before Markiewicz ripped off an electrifying 45-yard dash to complete the final margin.
In addition to Edmonds’ interception return, defensive highlights for Fluvanna included Logan Walls’ four sacks and a blocked punt by Dudley.
“I love my defense. Those boys get after it. We are extremely excited to have a chance to play defense,” Barnett added. “We’re going to be the type of team that we don’t have a single run-stopper. We have people who fly around, they know the system, they’re a whole lot more comfortable.”
Fluvanna (1-0) is back in action at home next week against Madison County.
