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Monticello falls to Botetourt on the road

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For the third straight year, Monticello’s season came to an end on the road in the second round of the Group 3A West playoffs. Lord Botetourt (11-1) will hope history continues to repeat, as in the prior two years, the school knocking out the Mustangs rolled on to win the 3A state championship.
“These kids have been hungry to win, and I think there’s a sense of the importance of football not as a sport, but as a tool to build our school and community,” said Lord Botetourt coach Jamie Harless, as the Cavaliers’ 17-7 victory ensured that 2015 will set a new mark in program history for most wins in a season. “We don’t necessarily talk about being perfect, but about perfect effort. The kids executed well.”
After three weeks of strong second half output by Monticello’s offense, there was no similar surge on a cold night in Daleville. The ground attack struggled all game long and finished with just 28 total yards. Botetourt sent pressure in passing situations, often getting hands on Jarrell and forcing rushed or off-target passes. The sophomore quarterback finished 9 of 27 for 109 yards. But beyond the Cavaliers’ defensive aggression, the Mustang offense may have been thrown off the rails by a key injury on its third play of the game.
“We lost our starting center, and that’s not an excuse, but it changed everything,” said Monticello coach Jeff Lloyd. “It’s kind of like the quarterback, who gets 95% of the reps during the week. Your starting center gets all of them.”
Perhaps the series that best foreshadowed the night’s recurring struggles came midway through the opening quarter after sophomore Austin Haverstrom’s punt return setup Monticello’s offense at the Botetourt 41. Bates was stuffed for a short gain on first down. Jarrell fell on an errant snap in the backfield, and then was sacked beyond midfield on third and long.
Yet, with Monticello’s defense holding the dangerous Botetourt ground attack to 4 net yards over the first three series and forcing punts, the game was scoreless early in the second quarter. The Cavaliers finally put together a sustained drive, moving 68 yards in 16 plays over nearly eight minutes before senior Grant Clemons drilled a 24-yard field goal. Botetourt sustained the momentum after a quick three-and-out by Monticello. Garrison Mayo then provided the first of his two gamebreaking plays with a 38-yard punt return to put his offense back on the field in the red zone.
“He had a line of blockers setup there and it looked like a picket fence,” said Harless. “Garrison did a nice job of running behind the blocks, and made some magic happen himself. That’s all attributed to the effort these guys put in for each other.”
Botetourt covered 15 yards in four plays, with senior tailback Noah Fletcher capping the drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge with 71 seconds left in the half. Monticello, which had 6 yards of total offense to this point, picked up 36 yards with two Jarrell scrambles and two passes to senior Darian Bates, but time expired at the Botetourt 44.
Haverstrom gave Monticello the upper hand in the field position battle coming back from the break with a 45-yard return on the third quarter kickoff. The offense picked up a first down when Bates snared a deflected third-and-10 pass and picked up 16 to the Cavs’ 38. The drive stalled, but senior Daniel Hummel’s punt pinned Botetourt at its own 15. After a three-and-out, Monticello took over across midfield. A 15-yard facemask penalty moved the chains after Jarrell was stuffed on third and 3, and then senior receiver Seth Weaver won a jump ball battle with a Cavalier defender for a 20-yard pickup on Jarrell’s fourth down heave. With 4:09 left in the third, Jarrell pulled Monticello within 10-7 on the next play with a 4-yard keeper.
“Monticello’s got some talented kids on that team,” Harless said. “I tell you what, that dadgum young quarterback’s going to be a special one.”
But Monticello’s offense wouldn’t have it back before Mayo struck again. After Fletcher gained three to start Botetourt’s next drive, Harless called timeout. Senior quarterback bought time on the next play and lofted a deep pass for Mayo, who slipped beyond a pair of defenders and picked up 62 yards.
“We felt like we could kind of lull them to sleep and hit a big one,” Harless said.

Three plays later, Fralin answered with his own 4-yard keeper, and the 10-point margin was restored as the third quarter wound down.
“I felt good when we came out of halftime and cut it to 10-7, but then we got beat deep and that’s really the football game, truthfully,” Lloyd said. “[Mayo] just ran past us. That’s a young defensive back out there; as athletic as he is, he just got caught looking in the backfield.”
Monticello came back and drove 37 yards, but turned it over on downs as Jarrell’s fourth-and-2 pass was batted down at the line with 11 minutes to play. Botetourt drained five and a half minutes off the clock with its next possession, which was extended by a successful fake punt where up-back Ty Maust took the snap and ran for 20 yards.
“It was pretty, wasn’t it?” said Harless, who kept the fake on despite a delay of game penalty. “We weren’t worried about how many yards it was. I told them, ‘can’t play with scared money.’ You either have fear in your heart, or you don’t.”
Monticello forced the game’s only turnover by stripping Fletcher at the 6 to prevent further scoring; however, three incomplete passes forced another Hummel punt with 5:07 left. Botetourt drained another three-plus minutes before a 41-yard field goal attempt missed wide right. Jarrell hit Weaver one more time for a 15-yard gain, but the Cavalier defense sealed the victory with a fourth-and-10 sack.
Fletcher finished with a game-high 96 yards on 29 carries to lead the Botetourt ground attack, which before victory formation kneel downs tallied a modest 155 yards on 52 rushes. Fralin completed 3 of 6 passes for 81 yards. The Cavaliers host no. 7 seed Abingdon next Friday night in a 3A state quarterfinal.
Bates was held to just 7 yards on seven carries for Monticello (8-4). Jarrell led with 29 yards on the ground.
“We’ll be back,” Lloyd said. “Each year, Jarrell will get better. He threw for over a thousand yards this year and ran for over 600, and those numbers will go up next year. He’s a great kid to coach.”

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