Monticello’s T.J. Tillery usually runs free off the edge on extra-point attempts by the opposition. But with 3:41 to play, Tillery didn’t just come free, he connected.
The sophomore smothered the Western Albemarle point after attempt and savored the moment for a second as he stood alone on the field. He had good reason to do just that.
“When I blocked that, (I thought) that’s a gamechanger,” Tillery said. “I was really excited I got that.”
The play made a huge difference just two minutes later when the Warriors were forced to attempt a two-point conversion to tie the ballgame. Monticello’s defense stuffed a quarterback draw attempt on the two-point and the Mustangs’ ground game found a way to melt the clock over the last minute and a half.
That wild, hectic sequence allowed the Mustangs to escape 42-40 in their Division 3, Region II quarterfinals. Monticello advances to take Liberty-Bealeton in the Region II semifinals.
Isaac Robinson led that clock-grinding ground game, rushing for a career-high 276 yards. While his 83-yard winding sprint of a touchdown was the flashiest, his 20-yard run on the opening play of Monticello’s final drive was the most critical. And a fierce block from an unlikely candidate, quarterback Jhalil Mosley, sprung him. Mosley got in front of Robinson when he cut back near the line of scrimmage and laid the solid block that forced Western to spend an extra timeout to try and get the ball back.
“That’s just a teammate helping out another teammate,” Robinson said. “I’m always blocking for him so it’s good for him to come out and block for me.”
Mosley also plunged forward for a 3-yard gain and a first down a few plays later to end the game as Western couldn’t stop the clock enough times to force a punt.
Mosley threw for 118 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 42 yards and a touchdown
“We’re playing him on defense now and I think he’s proven that he’s a football player — a guy that actually loves to play football,” said Monticello coach Rodney Redd after his first playoff victory as a head coach.
Robinson appeared to provide the dagger for Monticello with the 83-yard fourth quarter jaunt that put Monticello up 42-28 with 5:24 to play. It was the second straight long touchdown run in a row for the Mustangs, as Tillery broke lose for a 61-yard fullback dive on the Monticello possession before that.
“When I saw the hole I just hit it hard,” Tillery said. “And it was like there it goes, I was off for six.”
But Western refused to go away despite the two long runs as the offense answered both runs with scores of their own, both Kent Henry touchdown tosses to Austin Ellis first and Daniel Kuzjak on the second. That’s when Tillery blocked the point after and gave Monticello a chance to all but end it on the two-point conversion if Western managed to score again — which they did quickly after a Monticello punt gave the Warriors the ball back.
The Warriors took just two plays to score from near midfield when Henry hit Austin Ellis on a 56-yard throw that went down to the 2-yardline and Henry connected with Kuzjak for the score on the next play. With 1:41 to play Western trailed by two and needed the two-point conversion to tie it. Henry took off on a quarterback draw but met a combination of Thomas Wallace and Aaron Allen who stuffed the play, setting up Monticello to burn the clock.
“With the numbers we have and the size we have, with all that, for them to put up that kind of a fight like that against a good team…” said Western coach Ed Pierce. “…and against good teams throughout the season and put themselves in a playoff game when everybody predicted us to be last or next to last…it’s a credit to these kids and the fight they’ve got in them.”
Henry threw for an eye-popping 314 yards and four touchdowns in addition to rushing for another 63 yards as part of an incredible all-around performance that included a first quarter interception. Ellis finished with 134 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches.
“He’s just a great competitor,” Pierce said of Henry. “You don’t see many quarterbacks ever that have that kind of composure and he’s just a sophomore. You can’t say enough about that kid.”
Western finished with nearly 400 yards of total offense while Monticello came close to topping the 500-yard mark. The Mustangs did that largely without the services of road-paving tackle Matt Hunt who suffered a leg injury in the first half.
The game was a rematch of a 50-36 Monticello victory in the regular season, both teams again matched each other virtually score-for-score, though this time neither were able to establish anything remotely similar to the Mustangs’ 29-6 halftime advantage that opened the first meeting. The contest see-sawed back and forth and was deadlocked at 21-21 after Mosley connected with Nathan DiGregorio for an 8-yard touchdown and the two-point conversion just before the half. Sam Patterson also had a touchdown catch for the Mustangs, a 31-yarder in the first half.
