STANDARDSVILLE — After letting an early lead slip away in its narrow loss to Fluvanna last week, William Monroe coach Mark Sanford told his Dragons team that it not only had to learn how to control its emotions, but also figure out how to use those emotions to finish games.
Unfortunately for the Dragons (3-4, 1-3 JD), they never had the opportunity to get started against a high-powered Orange County team bouncing back from its own tough loss, falling 56-21 to the gun-slinging Hornets.
“As we’ve shown over the past few games, we have trouble finishing, finding consistency,” Sanford said. “We are able to start games—we had the lead against Fluvanna and scored early here in this game—but we let games slip away from us.”
After the two teams traded touchdowns within the first three minutes of the game, Orange County (4-3, 3-1 JD) took over the game. The Hornets rattled off four straight touchdowns — all thrown from senior quarterback Cameron Hughes — and held the William Monroe offense in route to a 35-7 halftime lead. All four touchdown passes—which occurred on consecutive throws—were completions of at least 20 yards.
“Our offense was just clicking tonight—the O-line was blocking well, the receivers were great and we made plays,” Hughes said. “Once our defense held them and we had the opportunity to expand our lead, we just played how we can play.”
Orange County’s defense was equally stellar in the first half, forcing three turnovers — two fumbles and a crucial interception in the end zone — and two turnovers on downs. The Hornets’ defense continued its stingy play until it conceded a touchdown late in the third quarter on a play-action touchdown pass from senior quarterback Mitchell Morris to junior tight end Zach Duprey, which made the score 49-14 in favor of Orange County.
“Both aspects of our game were good tonight, especially our defense. We know our offense has the ability to score points, and we just made plays when we had to. We know we can be good, but our recent results haven’t been consistent,” Hornets coach John Kayajanian said. “We’re battling to become a playoff team, and to be one we have to be consistent. This may be the first step to getting there.”
Hughes ended the game with 11 completions on 14 attempts, racking up 230 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Tyler Seal and senior Amir Waller both caught two touchdowns, and senior Tyrone Ellis and freshman Isaiah Ferguson both ran for a touchdown.
“Our defense made plays… [and that put] our offense in positions to make plays and score. Our run game grinded and burst through at times and that created opportunities for our passing game. It just clicked, and this is what our team needs to become a playoff team,” Seal said.
Sanford bemoaned his team’s inability to focus and maintain its discipline. He noted that in a game featured many athletes—more on Orange County’s sideline—his players needed to step up and execute.
“It’s not just a lack of focus or discipline. Last week, we had similar issues,” Sanford said. “Obviously this game wasn’t as close as last week, but the problems persist. We felt like we were prepared in terms of a game plan, all the way up to the kickoff, but the score-line tells the story, that we missed assignments and failed to execute.”
William Monroe will need to compose itself for its next game at Western Albemarle, who upset Monticello 38-12 on Friday.
Orange County, on the other hand, will host a reeling Fluvanna County squad next Friday.
