Monticello played arguably its best game of its Jefferson District slate. The Mustangs defense came up with turnovers on downs in two redzone situations. Quarterback Kevin Jarrell and running back Jerrick Ayers put their team in a spot to win when the Mustangs took a 1-point lead in the fourth quarter. They nearly pulled off what would have been an impressive upset on the road.
“The kids did every single thing I asked them to do,” said Monticello coach Jeff Lloyd. “They played so hard and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
And while Albemarle struggled in the first half with penalties and as such, left points on the field, the Patriots responded in the second half with J’quan Anderson, Jamal Thompson and Lorenz Brown all coming up with big plays. Enough so that kicker Nick Martsolf was able to line up for an 18-yard game winning field goal as the clock expired to provide Albemarle with its fifth straight win, this one a 17-15 victory and the first for the Patriots over the Mustangs since 2013.
“We knew this was going to be a tough game so the way it ended wasn’t that surprising,” said Albemarle coach Brandon Isaiah. “We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half because we ran well but there were so many penalties. We went into the half counting our blessings only being down 7-0.”
It was a back and forth first half, but only Monticello got on the board. Jarrell had a big 36-yard run to set up a 6-yard touchdown rush to open up the second. Albemarle was able to move the ball into Mustangs territory late in the second but failed to convert on fourth and goal from the 4-yard line to send things to the half at 7-0 in Monticello’s favor.
Early in the third, Anderson broke off a big 46-yard run to put Albemarle in the redzone, but when his helmet came off on third down, Landon Alston was thrown into the fold on fourth down. The backup quarterback was unphased and hit a wide open Brown for a 23-yard touchdown on a post route to knot things up at 7-7.
“We caught them off-guard because there was nobody lined up on top of me,” Brown said. “He said when he saw that he just snapped the ball and threw it my way.”
It was the turning point in the game, and for Isaiah, an excellent teaching moment — a perfect example of asking for the next man up to make a play.
“That’s probably the best thing that happened all game,” Isaiah said. “For Alston we talk to him all the time about playing with confidence and not thinking about things, just pulling the trigger. He did exactly what we told him to do. I’m really proud of him.”
Brown and Anderson connected two drives later on a 46-yard TD pass and suddenly the Patriots had their first lead of the game.
“Obviously we had a bad first half and so coach Isaiah told us we had to come out and execute,” Brown said. “We came out, made fewer mistakes, executed and were determined to win this game.”
However that lead did not last long. The Mustangs responded early in the fourth quarter with Jarrell and Ayers taking command on the ground for a lengthy drive that Ayers capped with a 7-yard score on a rush around the left corner. An Albemarle penalty allowed the Mustangs to contemplate a 2-point convert and Ayers delivered with a 1-yard run to make it 15-14 with 7:28 left in the game.
“I had faith in these guys on the road going for two there,” Lloyd said. “It’s unfortunate that we came up just short because they worked hard. We’ve been out-manned these last three weeks but we keep staying in there. When your kids keep fighting? That’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
Albemarle fumbled the ensuing kickoff but the Patriots defense answered the call with Zykal Foster picking up his fourth tackle for a loss in the game, one where he had a pair of sacks. The Patriots got the ball with 4:14 left down by one. On fourth down deep in Albemarle territory, Anderson came up with a conversion on the ground to put the ball at just over midfield. Then he and Thompson worked deeper into Monticello territory. A first down conversion on a pass from Anderson to Brown gave Albemarle first and goal from the seven yard line.
Monticello’s defense, as it did all night in the red zone, dug in and came up with a pair of stops until Thompson was able to put the ball at the 1-yard line with 2.6 seconds left on the clock. That allowed Martsolf to set up for the game winning kick from 18-yards out, one that he drilled through the middle of the uprights to wrap up the come-from-behind win.
“I was just thinking about following through (on the kick),” Martsolf said. “It happened and it was just amazing. You’re feeling a lot of pressure but with all the fans, it was just… the hold was great, it felt great on the kick. It was just awesome.”
On the night, Thompson led Albemarle with 165 yards on 20 carries. Anderson threw in 119 yards on his 15 attempts. Brown finished with three receptions for 79 and two touchdowns.
For Monticello, Jarrell had 19 carries for 98 yards while Ayers finished with 97 yards on his 24 touches. Jarrell was 8-for-11 passing with 87 yards, most of that coming on a 52-yard pass to Reid Huffman.
Mustangs (3-6, 1-6 Jefferson) host Powhatan next week. The Patriots (7-2, 6-1) will finish up with another big rivalry game at home with Western Albemarle.
“We have a lot of momentum going into that one but we have to stay focused and continue to make plays and execute,” Brown said.
