Fluvanna football knew going into this week’s matchup at Orange how tough it would be to come out with a win. It was going to be physical, and whoever emerged victorious would have to grind out a tough win.
The Flucos did just that, as it was far from pretty, but found ways to leave Orange with a 23-16 win.
“It was definitely hard fought, it was our toughest and hardest win that we had of the year,” said head coach Mitchell Pace. “I’m so proud of them, we found a way to do it, it wasn’t clean or pretty or easy, but we found a way to pull it out in the end.”
The game began and a physical tone was set from the start, with both defenses locked in and forcing early stops. That continued throughout the first quarter as the game remained a scoreless tie going into the second.
That changed quickly in the second quarter, as the Flucos struck first. Marcus Dickerson emerged from a crowd of players on a run up the middle, and scampered away 61 yards to the house, helping to give his team a 7-0 lead with 9:11 left in the half. Dickerson ended the night with 11 carries for 81 yards and two rushing touchdowns, and a receiving touchdown.
That score seemed to break the ice for both teams, as the Hornets followed quickly with a score of their own. They drove down the field on six plays, and capped off the drive with a Dwayne Wells touchdown, and Christian Simpson with the two-point conversion gave the Hornets an 8-7 lead with 5:38 left before halftime. Wells finished the game with 17 carries and 150 yards with two touchdowns.
The Flucos took momentum right back before the half however, using a couple big runs from Logan Wade to help move down the field. Then, with 1:50 left, William Lambert found Dickerson down the field on the 24-yard touchdown pass, and Dickerson got the two points as well to give the Flucos a 15-8 lead that they would take to the half. Lambert went 9-for-12 with 134 yards and a touchdown in the game.
“It feels great to come out and beat a team like this, we haven’t done that in years,” said Dickerson on Fluvanna beating Orange for the first time since 2018.
After the break, the defenses came up big forcing a couple of punts. However, it was Orange that would then strike on a very quick, two-play 75-yard drive. Wells would punch it in from 14 yards out and Simpson added the two points to give the Hornets a 16-15 lead with 5:46 left in the third.
On a night like this though, it felt like the scoring for both teams came in bunches, and Flucos immediately struck back. After a big pass from Lambert to Chazz Barksdale-White, Dickerson powered it in from the goal line. A two point conversion from Logan Wade gave the Flucos a 23-16 lead with 2:07 left in the third.
After that, the fourth quarter was all about the defenses, as both made some stops and forced punts to start the quarter. The Fluco defense struck big around the middle of the quarter, recovering a fumble on a first and goal play for the Hornets, which allowed the Flucos to run time off the clock until the Hornets got it back with about 35 seconds left in their territory with no timeouts.
A Fluvanna horsecollar on the next play set up the Hornets at the Fluco 36-yard line, but a Dickerson sack took a ton of time off the clock as the Hornets spiked the ball with two seconds left. The throw towards the endzone on the next play was incomplete, and the Fluco defense officially shut the door on the victory.
“Yeah it means a lot for the playoffs and this team, but this means so much for Fluvanna football from the past to the future, and this is another big win toward changing this program in the right direction,” said Pace.
After the win, Fluvanna will host Louisa next Friday, while Orange will look to regroup and get back on the right track on their bye week.
