When the Louisa County football team started the season 0-2, making the playoffs was likely one of the last things on the Lions’ collective mind. Right then it was all about getting back on track.
Fast forward to Friday night in The Jungle against visiting Charlottesville. Coming off of back-to-back wins over Jefferson District foes Monticello and Orange, Louisa found itself with a winning record for the first time all season and needed only a win over the Black Knights to find its way into postseason play yet again.
Led by its usual strong ground game and a few passing touchdowns—often talked about but rarely seen in Mineral — the Lions got just what they needed, routing CHS 49-12 and ensuring they would play at least one more week.
“It’s a lot different from last year when we took a whooping at the hands of Monticello in Week 10,” Louisa head coach Mark Fischer said. “We’ve continued to improve and make progress. We’re not nearly where we need to be, but I like the direction the team’s going in.”
Sophomore Job Whalen once again led the way on the ground with 18 carries for 114 yards, and his five-yard touchdown barely four minutes in kicked off the scoring, giving the Lions an early 7-0 lead.
The Black Knights punched right back, getting a 36-yard touchdown run from Rashad Brock while facing fourth down on the next possession. The Knights went for two, but the attempt was unsuccessful and they still trailed by a point midway through the first period.
That’s where things started going Louisa’s way.
The Lions responded with an 11-play, 68-yard drive that culminated in RaQuan Jones’ 10-yard score to make it 14-6. Then, on the second play after Louisa’s defense forced a turnover on downs, Jordan Cherry hit Marquis Lee on a 76-yard touchdown strike for a 21-6 lead. Following a CHS punt, Cherry tossed his second touchdown pass of the game, this one to Jones from 15 yards out on a wheel route and Louisa took a 28-6 lead into the locker room.
“As a Louisa quarterback, you don’t really get to see the ball in the air that much,” Cherry said. “But they let me open it up a little bit and I got to show a little bit of something.”
The Lions continued to pour on the points in the second half. Malik Bell got into the scoring act with 4:37 remaining in the third on a five-yard touchdown rush of his own to make it 35-6. Bell carried the ball just five times on the night, but finished with 75 yards on the ground.
Cherry completed his hat trick with seven-and-a-half minutes left in the game with a nifty jump-pass to Jay’von Jackson before the Knights touched the scoreboard again.
“Jordan is one of those players that if I told him to go play guard, he’d go line up at guard,” Fischer said. “He won’t question and he’ll give maximum effort. He gives us an opportunity to do things.”
Brock, the lone bright spot for Charlottesville on a night where they struggled on both sides of the ball, broke off a 32-yard touchdown run to make it 42-12 late in the game. He finished with 123 yards on 19 carries.
But even after that, the Knights couldn’t catch a break, as Louisa’s Darius Smith picked up the ensuing onside kick and took it all the way to paydirt for the final margin.
The Louisa defense also registered a pair of interceptions in the second half, the first by Cooper Yancey deep in Louisa territory in the third quarter. The second came on Charlottesville’s final offensive play of the game and landed in the hands of Dylan Farmer, sealing the game.
The win also gave Louisa’s senior class a chance to go out on a high note in what is likely to be their final game in Mineral.
“They’re great kids. This is such a tight community–they all played Little League here. They’ve been playing on this field since they were nine, 10 years old,” Fischer said. “Senior night means more to me than any other kind of night.”
The Lions will go on the road in the first round of the playoffs against an opponent to be determined. Charlottesville finishes its season with a record of 3-7.
