A week after falling to Albemarle, Monticello found itself down once again, this time to Orange County.
This time they managed to climb out of the hole.
Trailing the struggling Hornets by eight at the break after committing five first half turnovers, the Mustangs reeled off five second half touchdowns to escape Orange County 42-25 and move to 8-1 on the season.
Orange took their halftime lead on the strength of a pair of Isaiah Ferguson touchdowns. The Hornets’ playmaker who has been banged up of late exploded for an 86-yard scoring sprint and a 10-yard jaunt, both in the second quarter. The shorter of the two came with just 39 seconds left in the half as part of a 167-yard night for the Hornets’ senior.
But after the break it was all Monticello, with T.J. Tillery pounding out a career-high 208 yards on 26 touches while the defense took things to another level. Jeonte Banks and Morgan Wilson each had fumble returns for touchdowns, with Banks scooping and scoring from 11 yards out late in the third quarter while Wilson sprinted in from 55 yards out to help ice it with four minutes left. The Mustangs actually trailed until Banks’ score with 1:01 left in the frame, and Orange’ struggled to provide a counterpunch, turning the ball over twice for those easy touchdowns.
Josh Malm finished the night with six catches for 105 yards for the Mustangs while Tillery accounted for nearly two third of the total offense.
While it wasn’t pretty for the Mustangs, Monticello moves on, and with just one regular season game left against Louisa County, the Mustangs can start tuning up for a potential postseason run. Monticello is currently seventh in the 3A West VHSL ratings. Orange, meanwhile, hosts Albemarle High at home in their season finale next week.
