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Dazzling debut: Fields leads Monticello past Monroe in season opener

Photo: Ashley Thornton

What a difference a week makes. Offensively, Monticello was out of sync and simply did not look confident against a solid Goochland defense in its tuneup scrimmage last Friday. But once Malachi Fields got the Mustangs offense on the board in the first quarter against William Monroe in the season opener for both squads, Monticello started playing with a different swagger.

 

Fields’ 65-yard bomb to Trenton Johnson towards the end of the first quarter got the Mustangs on the board. It was the jumpin off point for the sophomore quarterback as he had himself a serious debut and in the process, Monticello heads into its bye week with a 30-12 win in its back pocket.

 

“It was phenomenal, just phenomenal for Malachi make that jump in just a week,” said Mustangs coach Jeff Lloyd. “Last week he had two pick-6’s and we talked about it this week about playing the position and not always trying to make the homerun play, but taking what a defense gives you. When you don’t have what you want, use your feet. We talked about making the reads and he just made great strides. I’m really proud of him.”

 

Fields drove Monticello into Monroe territory on his first drive and nearly set up a first down in the redzone on a fourth down run but the Dragons defense stopped him an inch short to earn a turnover on downs. The second drive proved more fruitful with Fields getting the ball towards midfield with his legs and then launching a deep pass to Johnson who was just fast enough to catch it mid stride to complete the 65-yard touchdown with 2:55 left in the first quarter.

 

“When we needed him to run, he did it,” Johnson said. “When we need a pass, he did it. He played a heck of a game for a first varsity game. On that touchdown, that wasn’t the way it was drawn up. I ran an out and then the play kept going so I ran a wheel and he put the ball right where it needed to be. I went after it and got it and scored. It was great for our momentum.”

 

On his next drive, Fields broke loose on a 56-yard run to set up first and goal and after he punched in a 1-yard keeper, the Mustangs had a 13-0 lead to work with.

 

“Bascially we just worked hard, kept our heads up and stayed determined,” said sophomore lineman Tayshaun Minor. “That’s all we have to do to win. That’s all we have to do.”

 

Monticello’s got a gift with 11 seconds left with a muffed punt at the Monroe 10-yard line and after the Dragons’ Sal Coyle broke up a pass in the endzone, Jack Culbreath delivered a 27-yard field goal to make it 16-0 going into the break.

 

In the second quarter, Monroe’s offense came to life. Dragons quarterback Alex Kinsey got things rolling in the start of the third quarter and a short pass to Jaekwon Wayne turned into a 44-yard touchdown reception when the senior receiver got the ball in space. That cut things to 16-6 with 9:40 left in the third.

 

“We have a lot to build on after this one and I thought Alex played really well and made good decisions,” said Monroe coach Jon Rocha. “He’s elusive and that’s awesome. You never know what to expect in the first game of the year and we’ve made strides in each scrimmage and made strides today in the second half. But the mistakes in coverage early put us in trouble down 16-0 at halftime. After that we score and things are going good but we made mistakes after that and there was just too many of them tonight for us to win.”

 

Fields, Benson Hawkins and the running game closed the third quarter with a long scoring drive to create some separation for Monticello. Fields punched in another keeper from the 1-yard line with just one second left in the third frame to make it a 23-6 lead.

 

“I’m just excited and depended on my team,” Fields said. “It felt way different (than in a scrimmage) it was faster. I just tried to make smart plays, make good reads.”

 

Monroe started the fourth with a strong drive that included Kinsey throwing across his body on a scramble to Dawson Morris who paid a dear price for a 22-yard touchdown reception that he somehow maintained after getting decked. Morris was able to pick himself up and walk off the field after a visit from the training staff.

 

With the Dragons getting things to 23-12 with 9:24 left, Monticello went to work on the clock. The death knell for Monroe came with 4:51 to play when Fields scrambled and put a dime on Johnson in double coverage. The senior came up with the catch and ran through the coverage for a 36-yard touchdown to ice things at 30-12.

 

Monroe drove all the way to the goalline in the last seconds of the game but Monticello’s secondary was able to hang tight and keep any more points off the board.

 

“I don’t have any real issue with what happened tonight, we made more mistakes but kids’ effort was there all night and they played down to the last second,” Rocha said. “We just have to eliminate the mistakes.”

 

Fields finished the night with 166 yards on 17 carries and two rushing touchdowns to go with 154 yards and two more touchdowns on 7-of-14 passing. He had no turnovers. Johnson had five catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

 

For Monroe, Kinsey had 13 carries for 78 yards and was 16-for-26 passing with 165 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Coyle had 71 yards on five catches. Wayne finished with seven catches for 50 yards. MOrris had two for 29.

 

The Dragons (0-1) will look to regroup with Spotswood at home next week. The Mustangs (1-0) get a bye week and will resume play on September 7 against Turner Ashby.

 

“Yeah a bye week is awful right here,” Lloyd said. “It’s like we have to start over but it’s a heck of lot better to do this with a win rather than a loss. So we’ll take a couple of days off and try and start over.”

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