After two straight losses, Orange County’s football team came to Fluvanna looking to turn things around. The Hornets did just that, exploding offensively in a 52-20 victory over the Flucos.
“I’m proud of the kids, with the Covid year being that we get what we get and making the most of what we’ve got, to see these kids come out and finally play a four-quarter football game, it was good,” said Orange coach Jesse Lohr.
The Hornets got the ball first and jumped in front fast on a 42-yard run from Paul Poirier to take a 7-0 lead and Orange never relinquished that advantage. They seemed to hit big play after big play, tallying 603 yards of total offense. Poirer had 274 yards through the air, completing 9 of 13 passes and two passing touchdowns, while running for another 90 yards and another two touchdowns. Running back Markell Jackson ran 17 times for 171 yards and three touchdowns, including a 45-yarder in the second half that helped wipe out any momentum the Flucos had. Donald Brooks had five receptions for 216 yards, including an 89-yard score.
“I love the team’s effort, we’re categorized as a young team but we play hard, everybody’s getting into this,” Brooks said. “We’re buying into the program and just building confidence every week we come in, we practice every day hard, we just have to fix the mental mistakes,”
Those mental mistakes were few and far between in the second half, as once the Hornets got the momentum back, they never took their foot off the pedal as they scored 19 unanswered points after the Flucos opened up the scoring in the half.
The Flucos tried their hardest to get back into the game, but anything they did, Orange had an answer for — with a little extra thrown in. There were a few key performances, with Kobe Edmonds throwing for 128 yards and a score on 7-for-11 passing and another touchdown on the ground. Xavier Copeland ran for 121 yards and a score on just nine carries and Jaden Ferguson caught only one pass, but made it count as it was for a 69-yard touchdown.
After tonight, Orange will end the regular season hosting Western Albemarle, while the Flucos will travel to Monticello next Friday.
