Friday night’s clash in Mineral featured the area’s top-ranked team facing a team still in search of its first district win, and it wasn’t hard to tell which one was on a roll as Louisa County picked up a 53-6 victory over visiting Fluvanna.
The Lions, coming off of last week’s blowout win at home over Albemarle to vault itself to the top of the Jefferson District, got off to a quick start and never looked back. After the defense forced a three-and-out to open the game, Job Whalen dashed 45 yards to paydirt for what was the first of many Louisa touchdowns.
Malik Bell quickly added to it with a rushing touchdown of his own, and on Fluvanna’s first play after that, Reginald Cosby jumped a route and took a 55-yard interception return to make it 20-0, which was the score at the end of the first quarter.
“My players read the paper, the websites, everything,” Louisa head coach Mark Fischer said. “But a team that’s worth its salt shows up for every game no matter what. You don’t drink the Kool-Aid. You don’t want to take anything away from your opponent, but I was interested to see how we’d come out.”
Louisa showed no signs of letting up in the second frame. Bell connected with Rasheed Richardson on a 59-yard bomb not even two minutes into the quarter, and the Lions added a two-yard rushing touchdown by Ra’Quan Jones after Tony Thurston fell on a Fluvanna fumble on what was the Flucos’ best drive of the half
Jones got into the end zone again when he took a 32-yard swing pass from Bell to the house for a 40-0 lead which Louisa took into the locker room. From there, it was smooth sailing as the Lions’ reserves tacked on a pair of second-half touchdowns.
Before being pulled in the fourth quarter, Bell ran seven times for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Whalen totaled 92 yards on just six carries as the Louisa offense moved down the field with almost astounding efficiency.
As well as the Lions’ offense played, the defense played lights out as well, forcing two turnovers and keeping Fluvanna outside its 30 yard line until late in the third.
Fluvanna got on the board early in the fourth when Jordan Melton scored on a two-yard rush following a Louisa fumble. The Flucos recovered another fumble on the next possession but could do nothing with it.
“We wanted some film, something we could evaluate,” Fischer said. “And we got some good stops with out backups in. That means the guys have been listening, and when they get their reps in practice, they’ve been taking advantage of them.”
The game was also significant for the Lions because it served as their Cancer Awareness game. Louisa players wore color-coordinated socks based on what type of cancer they were there to “stand up” against. All Louisa coaches, including Fischer, wore shirts recognizing family members who had been affected by the disease.
“It was a chance for everyone to be exposed,” Fischer said. “My players obviously have no experience with cancer themselves, but they have relatives who do, so we wanted to let those guys pull out what it meant to them.”
Louisa returns to action next Friday when it travels to Powhatan. Fluvanna will play host to Monticello.
