Call it an opportunity for both sides. For Monticello, the first half was a glimpse into what the Mustangs are capable of when their defense gets the job done up front and their elite running back gets the touches early with a lead. For Louisa County, the second half showed that this team can and will fight. The Lions came in on a roll but saw their hosts runaway in the first half. Thanks to those first 24 minutes Monticello was able to roll into the postseason with a head of steam and a 58-28 win.
“Tonight we played more efficiently than we’ve played all year,” said Mustangs coach Jeff Woody. “If we can play like that — eliminating the mistakes — we’re a good football team. We still have goals and aspirations.”
The first half was all about the Monticello defense, turnovers and what Kyree Koonce did with those opportunities on the other side of the ball offensively. Koonce had four first half touchdowns, but none as devastating as the school record 98-yard scamper he had after the Mustangs defense came up with a goal line stand already up 14-0. The field-long run put Monticello up 21-0 and when Koonce broke off a 32-yard touchdown run on his next touch after a Darian Bates interception, the Mustangs were well on to their way to win.
Louisa looked poised to make things interesting at the end of the first by driving down to Monticello’s goal line in the final minute of the second, but for the second time, the Mustangs defense again came up with a stand to make it 28-0 heading into the break.
“I think (tonight) shows that I’m back to where I was before last year with the serious injury,” Koonce said. “(The 98-yarder) it was just a magical play. I can’t even tell you how it happened, I just kept my feet moving and kept my eyes open. I saw the daylight and I hit it.”
Monticello made it 35-0 to start the third with Bryce McGlothin hauling in a 4-yard pass from Kevin Jarrell, but in all things were pretty even in the second half with the Lions finding some mojo offensively. Louisa got on the board with a Jordan Cherry 62-yard run. Four minutes later after a fumble, Deion Jackson capped a drive with a 2-yard TD rush to make it 35-14. That was as close as Louisa got.
“The kids didn’t give up but listen — some nights you’re the windshield and some nights you’re the bug,” said Louisa coach Mark Fischer. “Tonight we were the bug. They played great and we played as bad as we could play. They had a great gameplan and execution. But our kids didn’t quit. At the end we were just trying find something to hang our hat on. We’ll find something positive out of this and try and regroup for the next game. We’re not that bad of a football team, we just couldn’t find it with both hands tonight.”
Monticello traded a 3-yard touchdown sneak from Jarrell with a 51-yard run from Louisa’s Malik Bell. Jarrell had another QB sneak for a TD early in the fourth and the Mustangs adding a 40-yard field goal from Jeanluc Lapierre. The Lions responded immediately with a 45-yard rushing touchdown from Raquan Jones. Bradley Malm capped off the scoring with a 23-yard run for Monticello to wrap things up at 58-28.
On the night, Koonce had just 14 rushes but finished with 229 yards and four touchdowns. Jarrell was 7 of 13 passing with 116 yards and touchdown to go along with his two rushing TD’s. Monticello’s defense forced three turnover on downs and hauled in four interceptions.
“Defensively we’ve been knocked around a little bit (this season),” Woody said. “But the kids came into practice this week focused on the gameplan and were coachable all week. They came in here in the first half and hung tough in the trenches, more so than we’ve seen in the last two games.”
For Louisa, Cherry had 152 yards on 14 touches. Bell had 78 yards on six attempts. Quarterback Trey Cherry had 79 yards on 18 rushes.
Monticello (8-2) will host Tunstall on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Region 3A West playoffs while Louisa (7-3) will travel to Woodgrove.
“We can cash it in or we can say we got beat, get off the mat and comeback out swinging,” Fischer said. “The challenge is on us. It’s opportunity to grow up. It’s a life lesson — how are we going to respond.”
As for the Mustangs, it’s the other end of the spectrum — can they keep this momentum going after beating a quality opponent like the Lions.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Woody said. “But we still have to keep it going.”
