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Louisa’s offense succeeded in correcting its backfield exchange troubles during an early-season bye week, but the defense struggled to contain Courtland’s trio of senior running backs, which combined for six rushing touchdowns as another perennial 4A-North (now East) power surged past the visiting Lions 50-24 at the Cougar Den in Spotsylvania County.
“We’ve played two dynamite football teams right out of the gate, and I thought there were improvements,” said Louisa coach Mark Fischer. “Defensively, we’re really struggling on assignments. We’ve got to come up with a better way to teach it.”
Courtland never sent its punter on the field, as all of its drives ended in touchdowns except for two turnovers-on-downs in Louisa territory.
“We’re a wing-T football team; we’re going to run it and we’re going to throw it, this year,” said Courtland coach J.C. Hall. “We were clicking on all cylinders offensively tonight.”
The Lions received the opening kickoff and drove 48 yards on seven rushes before its only fumble of the game halted them in the redzone. Courtland junior quarterback Chet Wilborn flipped the field with a 69-yard completion to senior receiver Jabari Allen, and Vic Greene scored from six yards out on the next play. Late in the first quarter, a Louisa drive stalled on its own 38, forcing its second punt of the game. That setup a second gamebreaking play for the Cougars.
“We were going to rush, and if they wanted to do the rugby punt, we were going to try and get a piece of it,” Hall said. “DJ Adams got a piece of it, and almost scooped and scored.”
Greene took the next snap and went 17 yards for another touchdown, and a 14-0 Courtland lead.
Louisa responded with points on its next drive that stretched into the second quarter. Junior quarterback Jordan Cherry found senior Marquis Lee for a 58-yard pickup to setup first-and-goal, but a personal foul would force the Lions to settle for Pavel Finely’s 31-yard field goal. The Cougars came back with a seven-play, 61-yard drive, including another big completion (26 yards) from Wilborn to Allen, and a third touchdown run by Greene (1 yard). Allen executed a trick play on the conversion for a 22-3 lead.
“Vic is a monster, man, you can’t deny him,” said fellow running back George Cheetham. “We had to shore up the offensive line [after last week], and they did great tonight. Our backs did a great job blocking for each other.”
A scoring onslaught continued over the remaining 7:56 of the half. Louisa drove 58 yards in nine plays over 3:52, with all but eight yards coming via runs by Job Whalen. The sophomore scored the Lions’ first touchdown from six yards. Greene and Cheetham led Courtland’s next 64-yard drive on the ground, with Cheetham taking it the last six yards to answer Louisa’s score. Then, with less than a minute in the half, another gamebreaking play for the Cougars likely settled the outcome. On second down near midfield, senior linebacker Jason Hokenson intercepted Cherry’s pass attempt and returned it 49 yards for six.
“The pick-six was also key for us, so we did it offensively, defensively, and special teams-wise,” said Hall, as Courtland led 36-10 at the break.
Although Louisa recovered its signature squib kickoff to start the third quarter, the offense went four-and-out. Courtland covered 54 yards in four plays, with Cheetham getting his second touchdown from 19 yards. The Lions averted a running-clock situation by coming back with a 13-play, 64-yard touchdown drive, including two fourth-down conversions and a six-yard scoring run by sophomore fullback Dustin Matney. After the defense held on downs early in the fourth, Louisa marched 70 yards in 12 plays, with Whalen capping the drive and his night with a six-yard touchdown to make it 43-24 with 4:44 remaining.
“Job’s such a good workhorse kid,” Fischer said. “We were going to feed him, and continue to feed him until we felt like it was time to sit him down. We needed the practice, he needed the carries; a lot of tenth graders out there getting good reps, and that bodes well.”
Any thought of a miracle rally was extinguished 10 seconds later when Blair Lawson took Courtland’s first snap after recovering the squib kickoff and went 48 yards for a touchdown. Sophomore Malik Bell took snaps at quarterback for Louisa’s final possession, and picked up 38 yards on three rushes before time expired.
Whalen led all rushers with 174 yards on 39 carries. No one else had more than five carries for Louisa, which posted 349 total yards to Courtland’s 393. Cheetham led the Cougars with 101 on a team-high 13 attempts, while Lawson finished with 76 on five carries and Greene had 72 on 10 rushes. Wilborn completed four of 10 passes for 127 yards.
Louisa (0-2) faces another Battlefield District school next Friday on the road at King George (1-2).
