By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
On a rainy Homecoming night in Mineral, Louisa County’s running game made Friday night a memorable one for the hometown crowd, clobbering previously undefeated Western Albemarle 56-26.
Freshman Job Whalen, playing in his first varsity game, rolled up 158 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries to lead the way and senior Trey Cherry gained 85 yards on 12 carries and also scored twice. In total, Louisa amassed 392 yards of total offense and had seven different players score touchdowns.
“We’ve got a ton of running backs. You should see how hard it is in practice, trying to get everybody reps,” Louisa head coach Mark Fischer said. “The cream will rise to the top.”
Western, on the other hand, struggled to get its offense in gear all night. Sam Hearn threw two first-quarter interceptions, the second of which was returned 35 yards for a touchdown by Demetrius Washington, giving the Lions a 20-0 lead near the end of the period. Earlier, Cherry had scored on a pair of short touchdown runs to get Louisa off to a fast start, easily erasing memories of a lopsided loss to Powhatan last week.
“We had our work cut out for us,” Fischer said. “We had to put last Friday behind us, and the guys responded.”
Oliver Herndon got the Warriors on the board with a 10-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the second quarter to make it 20-6, but Whalen answered a minute and a half later with a 51-yard dash to the end zone. After the Lions forced a three-and-out on Western’s next possession, they went 58 yards in 10 plays and Deion Jackson got into the scoring act, going in from eight yards out to put Louisa up 32-6 at the half.
“I was very excited when [Coach Fischer] told me I would be starting, “Whalen said. “I was really hyped.”
The Warriors needed only three plays to get their second touchdown of the game to open the second half, with Hearn converting a one-yard quarterback sneak, but the Lions once again had an answer. This time it was RaQuan Jones scoring from 20 yards out for a 38-14 lead early, effectively ending any momentum shift Hearn’s touchdown may have brought.
“I can’t really express my feelings right now,” Cherry said. “Louisa and Western always clash every time we get together. It’s good to finally come out on top.”
Luke Wilson and Malik Bell added fourth-quarter touchdown runs for Louisa as Fischer liberally rotated his players in the final period. Derek Domecq hauled in a 56-yard touchdown pass from Hearn for the Warriors’ third touchdown, and the Warriors recovered a fumble in the end zone 41 seconds before the gun for the final margin.
Western will have to bounce back quickly as they host cross-county rival Monticello next week while Louisa hits the road to take on Fluvanna County.
