By Drew Goodman / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
The William Monroe football program has asked a lot from senior middle linebacker Rayquone Wayne over the years.
However, of all of the situations that he has been forced into throughout his career, his test on Friday night against Culpeper was one of the most difficult of his career.
With the Greene Dragons selling out to seal the edges against explosive athletes Malik Roy and Gabe Frye, Wayne was often the lone defender responsible for guarding the middle of the field.
However, despite facing one of the most difficult matchups of the year in a less than ideal situation, Wayne stood tall in the face of adversity.
With Wayne and company keeping the Culpeper playmakers in check, the William Monroe offense was able to use a number of different weapons in a 35-24 over the rival Blue Devils.
The Dragons (5-4) checked in at number 11 in the most recent 3A East standings, and Monroe likely wrapped up a postseason bid following Friday night’s triumph.
After allowing Roy to run wild in last season’s 35-14 win, William Monroe limited the dynamic rusher to just 53 yards and one touchdown in Friday’s rematch. While Culpeper tried and failed to speed by the home team with Roy, the Blue Devils’ primary plan was to establish Frye with dives up the middle. Though he reeled off a few solid runs, Frye finished the contest with just 61 yards, thanks to a stellar effort from Wayne and the Dragon defense.
“[Frye] was really strong and our defensive line just held their gaps and I just did what I had to do,” said Wayne of his team’s defensive effort against the run. “At half time, when they adjusted and put [Roy] back there, he’s more of a quick and more explosive running back, we told the defensive linemen at halftime to just hold their gaps and wait, and we just got the job done.”
In order to punch their ticket to the playoffs, Monroe head coach Jon Rocha knew that they would need to prevent either Roy or Frye from reeling off big plays throughout the night on both offense and special teams. As a result, Rocha instructed his kicking unit to perform squib kickoffs every time to keep the ball out of Roy’s hands.
While the strategy took a little pressure off of the special teams, the short fields did not do the defense any favors.
Thankfully for Rocha, his defense held serve. The Greene Dragons forced a fumble on Culpeper’s second play of the game, and turned the visitors over twice on downs throughout the night.
Out of all of the defensive stops that the Dragons made throughout the contest, one play in the third quarter epitomized just how dominant Monroe was on defense.
Trailing 21-10 and facing a fourth down and inches near midfield, Culpeper looked to continue its recent success on the ground. Unfortunately for the Devils, both Wayne and fellow senior linebacker Dylan Madison timed the snap perfectly, and proceeded to light up Frye in the backfield for a big loss and a turnover on downs.
“What was going through my mind was, ‘we just got to get the stop, get the ball back to the offense, and just do down and score to put this game out of reach,’” said Wayne. “All of that was going through my head and it was just an emotional moment right there.”
Following the fourth down stand, with the exception of a 62-yard touchdown reception by Ty White in the third quarter, and a late scoring drive when the game was well out of reach, Culpeper never threatened to do much of anything offensively in the second half.
The William Monroe offense responded to the play of its counterpart by out rushing the Blue Devils 333-153. Friday might have been senior night, but sophomore Jalen McKinnie proved to be the workhorse for Monroe. McKinnie led the way with 151 yards and one touchdown, highlighted by a 59-yard scamper that helped set up a four-yard TD run by Malique Shackleford.
Shackleford racked up 160 yards of total offense and three rushing touchdowns. With the Dragons looking to ice the game on fourth down and one late in the fourth quarter, Shackleford took a quick snap and cruised through a wide open lane to the end zone for a 25-yard score to effectively slam the door on the visitors.
While McKinnie, Shackleford, and fullback Greg Sizemore have been known commodities all season for William Monroe, the Dragons unleashed a new weapon on Friday night.
Sophomore running back/linebacker/punter Cameron Hayes had a productive outing running the ball against Culpeper. Hayes rushed 10 times for 65 yards, including a late first down sprint to enable William Monroe to run out the clock.
In addition to his impressive night on offense, Hayes made perhaps his most exciting play of the game on special teams.
Facing a fourth down and one late in the first half, the Blue Devils called a timeout in order to save time for one last drive before intermission.
Little did the visitors know that Hayes had a little trick up his sleeve.
After Hayes called for the ball from the long snapper, the sophomore faked the punt and hit Zachary Miller for a 25-yard pass for a first down.
With Hayes’ late-season emergence as a threat on offense, Rocha believes that he has added another weapon to his already-existing three-headed monster in the backfield.
“[Hayes] has come on; he’s our punter, and now he’s our quarterback throwing the ball on that fake punt,” said Rocha with a laugh. “He’s only a sophomore; he transferred in from Arizona… and he hits the hole hard and he’s different. Now, we’ve got McKinnie, we can put [Hayes] in, and Sizemore too, so it’s four of them (including Shackelford) and it’s really a blessing to have that backfield.”
William Monroe will conclude its regular season at Strasburg next Friday night.
