In a game that featured touchdowns via blocked punt and kickoff return, plus a safety off a botched offensive snap, it was fitting that a defensive touchdown turned the tables when overtime appeared imminent.
After an unfortunate stoppage for medical personnel to cautiously remove a Monticello player from the field, Turner Ashby’s offense resumed play with the ball at its own 22. With 1:24 remaining on the fourth quarter clock, the Knights had just tied the game 90 seconds earlier. After an incomplete halfback pass down the Monticello sideline, it was third-and-11. The defense was aggressive.
“We had a chance to talk to them and settle them down,” said Monticello coach Jeff Lloyd of the 25-minute injury delay. “We had a pretty good idea of what they were going to do. Our defensive coordinator dialed up a great blitz.”
As TA quarterback Ben Custer brought his arm back to throw, MHS sophomore Tre Chapman-Shiflett came streaking through the backfield from the right edge.
“I give all props to number 10 (Tre), who dove at him and knocked the ball out of his right hand,” said junior linebacker Garrett Porterfield, who circled into the backfield from the left edge. “It just popped up and I grabbed it and scored.”
Porterfield collected the ball in stride and took it 10 yards for the winning score, beating a diving Knights running back across the goal line.
“Coming out of that delay, we said we’re going to do this for Caleb (Bouw, the injured defender), and we went out there and played our game,” Porterfield said. “It was amazing moment on our home field.”
TA’s final series went nowhere, and junior Austin Haverstrom sealed Monticello’s 26-19 victory as he intercepted a fourth down desperation heave.
“The thing I give our kids credit for is that they battled,” Lloyd said as Monticello returned from an early week two bye with a four-turnover, 10-penalty showing. “We didn’t play well tonight. They found a way to make a play to win. Good teams, even when they don’t play well, find a way to win.”
The game began with a scoreless first quarter. Monticello fumbled at midfield after picking up a first down on the opening possession. TA drove to the 25, but senior running back Michael De La Cruz was stopped in the backfield on fourth and six. The teams then traded punts as Monticello gained a field position edge. Early in the second, starting at the Knights’ 43, the Mustang offense put together a six-play drive, capped by Kevin Jarrell’s 31-yard touchdown strike to Haverstrom, to put the first points on the board.
Later in the quarter, as the exchanging of punts resumed, TA junior Jake Capasso delivered the night’s first special teams highlight. With the line of scrimmage at Monticello’s own 35, Capasso blocked Dylan Booth’s punt, then scooped and scored to tie the game, 7-7. Monticello seemed poised to answer right before halftime as the Jarrell-to-Reid Huffman connection overcame a second-and-32 situation by picking up 16 and 21 yards on consecutive plays. On first-and-goal, however, the Knights’ Cody Warner stepped in front of Haverstrom on the near sideline and intercepted a late pass from Jarrell. Despite a yardage disparity of 154-44, the teams went into the break tied.
“Our defensive coordinator Chris Snead did a great job of preparing the kids this week,” said Turner Ashby coach Charlie Newman. “We knew that (Jarrell) was a player; he hurt us last year. I thought we came out and executed well.”
TA punted again to start the third quarter, and then Monticello seemed to find a spark as it covered 81 yards in five plays. Jarrell hit Huffman for a gain of 40 on third-and-7, and then junior Jerrick Ayers picked up 37 on the next play to setup a quick 1-yard touchdown sneak by Jarrell. The celebration on the home side was brief, as special teams gamebreaker number two unfolded: De La Cruz took the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for six.
“Special teams can get you beat,” Lloyd said. “As I told the kids, we were undisciplined tonight. We tried to lose. Sometimes you have every statistical advantage but you’re in a close football game.”
Monticello came back with some smaller special teams victories, first by blocking the extra point to maintain a 14-13 lead. Two and a half minutes later, MHS junior defensive back Airrick Salisbury intercepted Custer and setup the offense at the Knights’ 43. Monticello drove into the red zone but, after a false start penalty, Jarrell’s third down completion to Haverstrom came up five yards short of the stick. Senior kicker Ryan Underwood came through with a 31-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-13.
“That was awesome,” Lloyd said. “We talked him into playing, and he had struggled through the summer. Last week I split kicks, and this week he kicked so well we let him kick it. He had ice water, and that’s what it takes.”
Monticello tacked on two more points as the fourth quarter began when an errant TA snap trickled back in their own endzone, where the Knights fell on it for a safety. Then, with excellent field position after the free kick, there appeared to be miscommunication on routes as Jarrell’s second down pass was intercepted by senior Jason Powers. After forcing another TA punt, Lloyd decided to roll the dice when Monticello faced fourth and 2 at its own 44. However, Jarrell was stopped in the backfield, and the Knights suddenly found themselves in prime position to mount a scoring drive with 7:36 to play, and trailing by only six. It took nine plays and nearly five minutes of game time, but TA punched in its only offensive touchdown courtesy of a Tebow-like jump pass from Warner to senior tight end Jordan Branner.
“Actually, that was my son, the offensive coordinator,” said Newman. “I didn’t even know he had called it. It’s one that he had been a part of at JMU. We’d been working on it and working on it, and that was a heck of a time to call it, right there.”
In yet one more critical special teams moment, the extra point sailed wide left, leaving the score tied 19-19.
“I thought our defense played really well, and offensively, it took us a little bit going,” Newman said. “We kept fighting, they kept fighting; it was a great football game. We had a safety, and trading points like that, it comes down to the wire. It was a tough way to lose.”
TA’s Cody Warner finished with just 40 yards on 15 rushes. However, Monticello’s rushing totals were certainly down from the opener. Ayers led with 51 yards on 14 carries, while Jarrell added 50 yards on 20 attempts. The Mustangs’ ability to move the ball through the air accounted for most of the total offense disparity (274-92), as Jarrell finished 10-of-19 passing for 155 yards. Huffman was his top target with five receptions for 84 yards, followed by Haverstrom’s 63 yards on four catches.
Monticello (2-0) wraps up its out-of-district schedule next Friday when it hosts another Valley District opponent, Spotswood (1-2).
