For video highlights from this game, click here.
By Logan Riddick / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Monticello senior T.J. Tillery followed up his career-best rushing performance of last week by blowing past his mark on Friday night in the Jungle.
“Two hundred and thirty-six, wow,” said Tillery, who averaged nearly 12 yards on 20 carries and went for three touchdowns. “I didn’t even realize I had that many yards. It’s all because of my offensive line. If I didn’t have them, then none of it could have happened.”
Tillery propelled the fourth-ranked Mustangs to a 37-18 win over Louisa County in the regular-season finale, which was good enough to secure a home game in the first round of the 3A West playoffs. Louisa, meanwhile, finished just short of the last spot in 4A North.
“The game plan this week was featuring a different type of offense than what we’ve run in the past,” said Monticello coach Jeff Woody, whose team racked up 376 yards on the ground on a cold night in Mineral. “It was like an old-school, traditional pro offense. I felt like that was going to give us a great chance against the pretty solid 3-3 stack defense that Louisa was running. We were able to make some hay, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to completely abandon everything we had done in the past; it just makes us a more versatile offense [for the playoffs].”
The Lions opened strong in front of their home crowd, driving 72 yards in nine plays over 5:27 on the opening drive of the game. Senior running back Deion Johnson broke a 46-yard run near midfield, and junior quarterback Trey Cherry scored from three yards out on fourth and goal. Monticello aided the drive by jumping offside on fourth and four at Louisa’s own 34, and again in PAT formation. Louisa took advantage by having Cherry run in for two points and an 8-0 lead.
“Couldn’t have started any better; it’s hard to beat 8-0 on the opening drive,” said Louisa coach Jon Meeks. “We were just trying to grind that ball, play a little keep-away. Because they have such a high-powered offense, we definitely didn’t want them to have a 12, 13-possession game. ‘Eat the clock and move the chains’ was the game plan, and it was working early.”
Monticello drove the field on its first possession behind Tillery (5 rushes for 24 yards), Darian Bates (3 for 28) and Tyler Wagner (2 for 13); however, after Louisa held for fourth and goal at the 4, Woody opted for a 22-yard Josh Malm field goal.
Still down 8-3 on its first series of the second quarter, Monticello drove to the Lions’ 1, but the defense stuffed runs by Bates and James St. Hill on third and fourth and goal to force a turnover on downs. However, the Mustangs’ defense held for a three-and-out on the ensuing drive and a short punt gave the offense the ball at Louisa’s 27. Tillery covered the distance in one play, giving Monticello its first lead, 10-8, with 8:22 to play in the half.
After the teams exchanged turnovers, Louisa came back with a nine play, 83-yard drive. Monticello senior Zack Graves, back from an injury suffered earlier this year, disrupted the series by tackling Cherry for a four-yard loss on second and goal. The Lions settled for a 26-yard field goal by Timothy Harris, good to reclaim an 11-10 lead with 3:03 left. That was more than enough time for Monticello; four plays later, Tillery broke a 46-yard touchdown run.
“That kid is almost so good that you have to stop him before he gets going,” Meeks said. “You don’t give him a hole and let him get a 10-yard full head of steam. I think every team that plays him in the playoffs is going to find that out. They better stop him before he gets momentum. I think you saw some great running by him; some good vision, a couple cut backs.”
The visitors led 17-11 at the break, with Tillery racking up 120 yards on 11 touches before the break. With Monticello receiving the third quarter kickoff, he quickly added more by going for 39 and 29 yards on back-to-back runs, the second resulting in his third touchdown.
“Coming out, we knew we had to basically put the dagger in,” Tillery said
Still, Louisa hung tough and mounted a six play, 64-yard drive later in the quarter. On fourth and 7 at the Monticello 34, Louisa dialed up a rare pass play and Cherry hit a wide open Jay’von Jackson for a touchdown. The Lions pulled within 23-18 with 3:25 left in the third.
Monticello answered with a touchdown drive of eight rushes, capped by Bates from 14 yards out. After forcing a punt, the Mustangs added another touchdown on a 37-yard pass from St. Hill to Josh Malm at the 10:50 mark of the fourth quarter. Malm then intercepted Cherry on the second play of Louisa’s ensuing possession, and Monticello worked on the clock as reserves rotated in over the rest of the game.
Cherry led Louisa with a game-high 130 yards on 26 rushes. He added 45 yards through the air, completing 3 of 10 attempts. Deion Johnson posted 55 yards on four carries. Behind Tillery, Bates went for 90 yards on 12 attempts, and Tyler Wagner added 42 yards on 12 rushes. St. Hill finished 4 of 10 passing for 56 yards.
Monticello (9-1) hosts Rustburg (6-4) in the 6-11 game of the 3A West bracket next Friday night. The teams met in a preseason Benefit Game in August, which the Mustangs won 35-20.
“We’ve got to dial up a good offensive game plan, and hopefully we can continue rushing the ball as well as we did tonight,” Woody said. “We’ve got to quit making some mistakes, being so penalized, and when we get in the red zone, we’ve got to capitalize. We’ve overcome those to win games, but we’ve got to eliminate if we want to progress.”
