In Stanardsville Friday night, everything pointed to Josh Johnson.
Before kickoff, there were the memorials around the dragon sculpture’s neck and on the back of team t-shirts emblazoned with No. 32. A 32-second moment of silence before the national anthem. Johnson’s father ran from the tunnel holding his son’s helmet high.
After kickoff, it was one of his closest friends on the team, Daelan Powell-Jackson streaking down the right sideline to return the opening kickoff and the entire team breaking out Johnson’s trademark snow angel celebration that he broke out this spring after a long touchdown run.
But perhaps most poignantly, it was Johnson’s teammates like Shea Jeffers and Powell-Jackson and Troy Jones who pointed skyward after each touchdown as the Dragons reeled off 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull off a 34-21 come-from-behind win over Spotswood that also gave Mitchell Morris his first win as a head coach.
Even in the midst of all that madness, the Dragons were sure to recognize, thank and honor their teammate who tragically died this summer on a family vacation.
“It was real hard, I was kind of emotional at first but you try and think of the positive things,” Powell-Jackson said. “Knowing he’s down here, with us on every play, makes things a lot better.”
Josh Johnson’s father runs from the tunnel with his son’s helmet. Photo by Brian Mellott
It was a magic night for the Dragons including their coach, who’s first varsity game more than a decade ago was against Spotswood, providing some cosmic symmetry on a night that was seemingly packed with it.
“This has got to be number one,” Morris said. “This is incredible, it’s a night that’ll stick with me for the rest of my life, that’s what I just told the guys in the locker room.”
Monroe jumped out to a 7-0 lead on Powell-Jackson’s electric kick off return, setting off the tribute celebration that didn’t get penalized, but Monroe showed some sportsmanship when the Dragons knelt to lose a down on its next offensive possession.
“I called it before it happened, I knew I was going to score,” Powell-Jackson said. “It felt real good, the best feeling ever.”
The Dragons gave most of that advantage back after a long catch and run from Elliott Brown to Tre Holsapple, who got dragged down at the one before Donald Lubin powered in for the touchdown from a yard out. That left the Dragons up 7-6. With a big catch from Jeffers — he kept scoring drives alive seemingly all night with critical catches — Troy Jones took four straight carries inside the 11 before pounding it across to extend the Monroe lead to 14-6 early in the second quarter, a lead that held until halftime.
“He’s not just a possession receiver, he makes big plays for us,” Powell-Jackson said of Jeffers. “And he’s a great leader on and off the field.”
Spotswood couldn’t answer that score in the second quarter because they couldn’t block Thomas Mack. Early on they struggled with Josh Davis who had a third down sack in the first quarter. But in the second, Mack just went off, wreaking havoc all over the Spotswood backfield with a sack and two tackles for a loss.
That flipped in the third quarter when Spotswood seemingly changed identities at the break, switching exclusively to a classic Wing-T look. They methodically moved the ball and ate up half of the third quarter with their first drive, with Lubin scoring from seven yards out and Noah Burtner slipping in for two to tie it up at 14-14.
Shortly after that a mental error on a punt gave the Dragons a short field, compounded by a personal foul. Spotswood cashed in and took a 21-14 lead on a Burtner power run from nine yards out.
Monroe desperately needed to reset itself.
“We did a great job of sticking together and to do it on a night where we’re trying to honor Josh Johnson, it’s just huge,” Morris said.
The Dragons got going right when they had to. Powell-Jackson provided the equalizer, hauling in a throw from Davien Griffieth from 12 yards out to make it 21-21 just seconds into the fourth quarter. Then with 6:24 left, a few plays after Jeffers made another huge grab, Griffieth powered in for a touchdown and a 28-21 lead. The dagger came just a couple of plays later when Jones made a big-time pick, setting up his second rushing touchdown of the night and the 34-21 final tally.
“He’s just an athlete,” Powell-Jackson said. “You put him anywhere on the field he’s just going to make it happen for you.”
The Dragons will now try and keep that magic going with a road trip against Broadway next week.
