When Louisa County head coach Mark Fischer has been at the helm in Mineral, the Lions’ bread and butter has been running the football and wearing down opposing defenses by keeping them on the field for long periods of time.
With that said, it should surprise absolutely nobody that the Lions ran the ball 61 times for 355 yards and kept the ball for 34:52 of a 27-7 victory.
What may be a little bit surprising is the opponent the Lions dominated–perennial Jefferson District power Monticello, whose only previous district loss had come against 2014 state semifinalist Western Albemarle in September.
It was the Lions’ first win over Monticello since 2009. But Fischer didn’t give that any thought.
“I only think about today,” Fischer said. “I wanted to know if our kids could rise to the challenge, and they did.”
Louisa had three backs rush for over 90 yards, led by Job Whalen’s 133 yards on 24 carries. Whalen opened the scoring for the Lions on their first possession, capping a tone-setting 13-play drive with a two-yard touchdown with 4:41 in the first quarter.
RaQuan Jones carried the ball 17 times for 97 yards for the Lions and he made it 14-0 with a one-yard score with 10:31 in the second quarter. That came nine plays after Monticello running back Darian Bates lost a fumble on the Louisa 39-yard line on the Mustangs’ first possession. It was Louisa’s second long drive in as many attempts against a usually stout Monticello defense.
“I had a meeting with our offensive line,” Fischer said. “We go as they go. Monticello has a great defensive line, and we’d been struggling all year. But tonight, we went as our offensive line went, and they produced.”
That wasn’t the only turnover the Lions forced on the night. With the first-half clock running down and Monticello threatening to cut into the lead going into halftime, Caleb Turner picked off Mustang quarterback Kevin Jarrell on the Lions 29. That interception loomed even larger as the Mustangs put together their only successful drive of the night to open the second half, capped by Jarrell’s six-yard scramble into the end zone to make it 14-7 with 9:58 in the third, breathing life into a Monticello team that had little reason to celebrate to that point.
But Louisa had an answer in the form of a nine-play drive lasting 4:41 topped off by another rushing touchdown. This time it was Malik Bell who found himself in the end zone, rumbling 33 yards and shedding would-be Mustang tacklers on his way to restoring the Lions’ two-touchdown lead. Bell finished with 92 yards on 11 carries.
“Really, [Louisa] played defense by playing offense,” Monticello coach Jeff Lloyd said. “They beat us in the trenches and you can’t win if you don’t have the ball. It’s that simple.”
The Lions forced a Mustang turnover on downs on the ensuing drive, and Jones put the game completely out of reach with a one-yard touchdown dive with 7:47 remaining in the game. The extra point try failed, but it hardly mattered as Louisa forced another turnover on downs and Monticello never saw the ball again.
“I think the back half of our defense played really well,” Fischer said. “That’s a talented football team we just played against. We had some coverage breakdowns, but I thought the right kids responded at the right times. That’s the kind of maturity we need to see.”
Jarrell struggled against the Louisa defense all night, completing just 7 of 20 passes for 76 yards. Bates carried the ball 13 times for 89 yards for Monticello, but was held out of the end zone. For the Lions, quarterback Jordan Cherry didn’t have to do much, attempting just two passes and completing both of them for a total of 33 yards.
Both teams will gear up for rivalry games next week — Louisa travels to Orange County, while Monticello hosts Albemarle.
