When Charlottesville High School nose guard Shandon Pritchett arrived at Fluvanna for Friday’s Jefferson District tilt, he knew that he would have to maintain the intensity for four quarters to achieve to the Knights’ ultimate goal; a shutout.
Little did Pritchett, a 6-foot-2, 355-pound lineman, know that he’d be forced to do a little more running than he was accustomed to to secure what his team had been working for all week.
Late in the second quarter of the Jefferson District opener for both teams, Pritchett caught a Fluco fumble at the CHS 40-yardline, and the mammoth junior begin to change course towards the opposite end zone.
Despite not being used to carrying the ball, or running away from potential tacklers, Pritchett rumbled 60 yards surrounded by a wall of blockers for the first touchdown of his high school football career.
The defensive score lifted the Black Knights to a 36-0 lead, and sent the already excited visitor sideline into a frenzy.
Charlottesville fed off of Pritchett’s exciting play, a late goal-line-stand, and a balanced defensive effort to blank host Fluvanna 43-0.
“All I can remember was just seeing the ball come out, so I just reached out and grabbed it, and my first instinct was to scoop and score,” said Pritchett. “I knew that all of my brothers would have my back and circle around me and protect me because, I’m not a fast person, but when I get there, I’ll get there.”
The victory marks Charlottesville’s (3-1) first shutout win since the program’s 24-0 triumph over Orange County on October 11, 2013.
Though the Knights were well on their way to an easy win in the second half, defensive-minded head coach Eric Sherry urged his troops to continue to keep Fluvanna off the board.
Charlottesville’s lone turnover of the night in its own territory late in the third quarter gave the sixth-year head coach a cause for concern.
The Flucos took the excellent field position and used a pair of key penalties as well as a clutch fourth down conversion by Joey Vandyke to drive the ball all the way to the CHS five-yard line for a fresh set of downs. Later, facing a fourth-and-goal from the four, the Knights stuffed Fluvanna’s Craig Russo at the goal line to preserve the shutout for the time being.
Charlottesville bottled up the Flucos for much of the contest. The Black Knights forced three turnovers and limited the home team to just three first downs in the opening half.
“With the way football is today, you have to take care of the opportunities to tackle anytime that you can,” said Sherry. “The mental effort [on defense] is there; they’re working hard. Coach Johnson does a great job on the defensive side.”
While the defense played well for most of the night, Charlottesville’s triple option offense took some time to get into gear.
Though Rakeem Davis scored a 25-yard touchdown run on the game’s first series, the Knights’ opening drive featured several penalties that drew the ire of Sherry.
That all changed on Charlottesville’s ensuing possession however.
On the drive’s first play, senior tailback Lorenzo Louderback raced past the entire Fluvanna defense for a 59-yard touchdown run to double the CHS lead.
From then on, it was the Louderback show.
The junior did not get as many carries as leading rusher Sabias Folley, but every time that Louderback touched the ball, something good happened for the Black Knights.
Louderback finished Friday’s rout with 157 yards rushing and a trio of touchdowns, highlighted by the 59-yard scamper in the first quarter.
Per usual, Folley was the workhorse back for the Knights. The 5-foot-10, 246-pound Folley grinded out his total a few yards at a time on most occasions, but the sophomore followed up Louderback’s first score with a 59-yard touchdown run of his own on Charlottesville’s next series.
Folley’s big play lifted the Black Knights to a 23-0 lead. Charlottesville then stretched its advantage to 30 points with just 18 minutes gone by, thanks to Louderback’s second TD of the day from 16 yards out.
The competition heats up in the coming weeks for the Black Knights, beginning next Friday night at Monticello, but Louderback feels that this Charlottesville backfield has the tools to compete against the tough slate.
“Sabias, he’s an incredible running back; to me, I think he’s the best running back in the district,” said Louderback. “[Tre Durrett], he’s a great runner and he’s powerful. Rakeem, he’s got the speed and he can juke; he can do anything.”
