Louisa County’s football team had to come together and regroup after an extremely disappointing outing last week. They had to pick each other up and move on.
So it was fitting that by the end of Friday night’s gritty 26-12 win, coaches and teammates were literally carrying injured quarterback Malik Bell. First to the postgame team huddle and then off the field to the buses. Louisa was locked in Friday, determined even after a slow start in the first half to bounce back from the squad’s first loss of the season last week at Western Albemarle.
“We just had to fight through,” said Louisa lineman Anthony Thurston. “We just fought hard and did all we could do.”
The Lions got it done by scoring 19 unanswered points after Monticello (3-5) went up 12-7 in the first half, with the Louisa defense holding Monticello scoreless in the second half. Meanwhile, Lions running back Job Whalen rushed for 253 yards, with the bulk of it coming on two huge touchdown runs, an 80-yard sprint early in the second quarter and a 70-yard run that closed the door on Monticello’s hopes for a comeback with 4:32 to play.
“The line, they really stepped up in the second half,” Whalen said. “When our brother (Malik Bell) went down I talked to every last one of them and said we have to do it for Malik. They really stepped up. They gave me holes and I made a play.”
The damage came in large part over the right side of the line behind Quinton Ragland, who gave the Lions a physical presence on a banged-up offensive line.
“He’s that all-around player, he’s a senior, he steps up and he did what he had to do,” Whalen said. “We can put Quinton anywhere.”
With Thurston also playing two-way, ironman football, it was an inspiring performance in the trenches for Louisa with both clearing the way for the ground game while ramping up the pressure on Monticello’s offense.
“They did a great job, you’ve got to tip your hat to them,” said Louisa coach Mark Fischer. “(Ragland) we’ve held him out all week, just trying to get him healthy and (Thurston) doesn’t come off the field, he’s a heck of a football player. They played well.”
Bell also broke through with 147 yards on the ground including his 60-yard third quarter touchdown that put the Lions ahead for good. Bell suffered an injury in the fourth quarter where his ankle got rolled up and left the game, with capable backup Zachary Liddle filling in admirably as Louisa closed out the game.
“It stuck in the ground and won’t move and it’s one of the unfortunate parts of the game but we’ll look at him tonight and see how he’s doing,” Fischer said. “Zach is more than capable, Zach is a heck of a quarterback, they’re neck-and-neck every day.”
Those three big plays loomed large for Monticello as they essentially did the Mustangs in. Despite a sterling effort by Kevin Jarrell, who was stuck playing without running back Jerrick Ayers beside him, Monticello couldn’t find answers for Louisa’s pressure and pursuit in the second half.
“Their depth got to us, and their size,” said Monticello coach Jeff Lloyd. “We’re just not big and we really suffered in the run game without our top tailback, it was kind of running back by committee.”
Jarrell finished with a team-high 57 yards on the ground and threw for 260 yards and a touchdown on 17-for-32 passing and avoided any interceptions. Reid Huffman was his top target with 155 yards on nine catches while Austin Haverstrom snagged four balls for 59 yards and a touchdown.
“(Ayers being out) put a lot of pressure on Kevin and he was our leading rusher, and he threw for 260,” Lloyd said. “I can’t ask for more from the kid.”
It wasn’t enough to derail the Lions though, as Louisa answered a serious gut-check moment with a bounce back that takes them to 7-1 on the year.
“That’s just our kids, our kids aren’t going to give up and they didn’t give up last week and we couldn’t have played worse,” Fischer said. “We didn’t play great tonight but they stayed the course, there’s no quit in them.”
Louisa now jumps into rivalry week as the Lions take on Orange County next Friday while Monticello squares off with cross-county foe Albemarle on the road.
