MINERAL — Like a well-oiled machine, Sherando came out firing on all cylinders on Friday night in its season opener at Louisa County. The Warriors, the reigning Northwestern District champions, used an explosive first quarter to power past the Lions en route to a 35-7 win.
“Obviously that was a much better coached team,” Louisa coach Mark Fischer said. “It’s that simple. It’s on me — I thought we were ready, I thought we were prepared, but I didn’t have my team ready to play football tonight.”
After the Lions’ opening drive stalled, Sherando took just four plays to score, as junior standout Dylan Rivers hauled in a pass from Patrick Minteer, sprinted to the left sideline and into the end zone for a 72-yard play as the visitors took the early lead.
Rivers came up with another big play a few minutes later, recovering a Louisa fumble and giving his team a short field.
The Warriors wasted little time in scoring again, as Daryl Myers broke to the sideline and darted 38 yards for the score.
“We had a problem with staying home,” said Fischer of giving up big plays. “They ran that dive and then turned that into a little counter play and I think we were just misreading it.”
Sherando (1-0) recovered another loose ball on Louisa’s following possession and took advantage of the opportunity. The Lions struggled to get in sync all night, with three lost fumbles, a pair of dropped snaps in addition to several bobbled snaps.
The visitors scored on their third straight possession as Myers dashed up the middle for a nine-yard TD to take a 20-0 first-quarter lead and the wind out of Louisa’s sails.
Myers, a senior running back, finished with 139 yards rushing on 14 carries and three touchdowns. Rivers, a 6-3, 225-pounder, tallied three catches for 121 yards and two scores.
Louisa’s lone score came late in the fourth quarter as Job Whalen reached the end zone from eight yards out. The sophomore running back was the workhorse, pacing the Lions with 44 yards on 17 carries. Teammate D’Jon Shelton toted the ball 11 times for 42 yards.
“We can take a ton from this game. It’s just one game, it’s the first game of the year, we took it on the chin,” Fischer added. “I would have loved to have been on the other side of the scoreboard, but by the same token, maybe something positive can come out of this and we can get this thing on track.”
Louisa (0-1) has a week off to prepare for a road game against Courtland on Sept. 11.
