Job Whalen’s mother couldn’t make it to see her son’s 2016 home debut, a 36-14 win over Courtland. Her battle with cancer kept her from being in the Jungle in Mineral to see Louisa County face its out-of-district rival. That didn’t stop the Lions from finding a way to give her a seat, nor a show that she’d be undoubtedly proud of. Early in the second quarter in a scoreless game, Job Whalen got three straight carries in the redzone, and from just a few yards out he put Lousia out in front, handed the ball to an official as per VHSL rules, and then the official gave it back to him and he was allowed to place it on an empty chair just behind the goal post.
“That moment is all for my mom,” Whalen said. “She was supposed to come to this game but she couldn’t. But the coaches told me if I scored, there would a chair there for me to lay the ball there for my mother, so that’s exactly what I did.”
It was symbolic. It was touching. And it was a classic example of two programs that respect each other coming together for something to connect football to real life off the field. Without that cooperation, the Lions are hit with a flag for unnecessary celebration. Thanks to the collaboration between coaches and officials, there was no such problem.
“Courtland coach J.C. Hall and I are like brothers,” said Louisa coach Mark Fischer. “We don’t talk the week before this game, but every other week, we talk a lot. It’s good and he’s somebody I love dearly so the last thing we wanted to do was something disrespectful.”
Louisa’s been through the ringer when it comes to fighting cancer whether it’s Whalen’s mother, Fischer’s own duel, or back in 2010 when alumnus Josh Campi was sidelined with leukemia — this is something near and understandably dear to the Lions hearts. So when Whalen scored, it was a poignant moment, and one that helped fuel the Lions first win over Courtland in four years.
It was more than just an exceptional individual performance though. The Lions got a total team effort in all three phases in win that was manufactured behind a defense that was on point as the starters did not surrender a touchdown, an offense that simply ground down the Cougars, and a special teams play that was impressive. With the Lions platooning to keep their offensive line, defensive line and the bulk of their playmakers on one side of the ball, on a hot night where a young Courtland squad didn’t have the same advantage, it showed beginning in the second quarter.
“I think it boiled down to execution,” Fischer said. “Our objective is to go as fast as we can with as many guys as we can. Our practices are 100 miles an hour so hopefully we play 100 miles an hour.”
Pick a side of the ball, and that was true. Whether it was Whalen’s big night or the defense with end Quinton Ragland leading a line that wreaked havoc on Courtland’s misdirection run game. The Lions had it together and after a slow start to the game, built up a 30-0 lead before throwing in their bench players to finish out the third and fourth quarters.
Courtland had a sustained drive to start the game, getting a little help on a roughing the kicker penalty at midfield to push into Lions territory. However, the Louisa defense responded and forced a turnover on downs.
“I think we’ve developed (as a defense) and obviously Quinton has become a man out there,” Fischer said. “That’s a lot handle when you’ve got him and Tony Thurston on the other side there. That frees up the linebackers to go out there and make tackles. That’s the way we want our defense to function and so far, we’ll take it.”
Early in the second, just their second drive of the game, Whalen was able to punch in that short touchdown to make it 6-0 with just over eight minutes until the break. The Lions defense found a groove in the second, and as such, so did the offense. On the next Louisa drive Jordan Cherry broke loose for a 22-yard run and then caught a 9-yard TD pass from quarterback Malik Bell. With Bell hammering home a 2-pt convert run, the Lions went up 14-0 with a little under four minutes until halftime.
The Louisa defense then forced a fumble at midfield and the Lions were able to get the ball to the 14-yard line with the clock ticking. As time expired on the half, kicker Ethan Fletcher hit a 31-yard field goal at it was 17-0.
On the opening possession of the second half, the Lions leaned on Whalen and Bell toting the ball and the former was able to finish off the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run. The following drive, he capped off another long drive with a 2-yard run for his third TD of the day and the Lions had a comfortable 30-0 lead late in the third.
“We feel great, we’re all healthy and the o-line was great,” Whalen said. “We did our thing but there’s still a lot we can work on.”
That allowed the Lions to work in their second stringers. Late in the fourth a 68-yard run from Zach Liddle set up a 2-yard TD run for himself to wrap up the Lions scoring.
Whalen led all rushers with his 21 carries for 184 yards. Bell finished with 70 yards on 12 touches. He also had 17 yards passing. Liddle had 78 yards on six rushing attempts. Raquan Jones had eight carries for 72 yards. Cherry had 30 yards on four catches. Ragland finished with six tackles and two for a loss.
Louisa (2-0) will host King George on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
