By the end of the night, the Monticello offense looked like it was ready for the regular season.
Playing at home in a scrimmage with Rustburg, the Mustangs needed two drives before they ironed out the wrinkles, but they scored on each and every drive after that until putting the second team in during the fourth quarter in a 26-21 win.
“Offensively, I feel really good about what we were able to do after that first drive,” said Monticello coach Rodney Redd. “We were able to get behind the big boys and decide we were going to run the ball and then our receivers were able to get out there and make some plays.”
Monticello’s first drive stalled, and a big play from quarterback Jhalil Mosley to receiver Sam Patterson went to waste during the second drive, but the third time was the charm.
After Denzel Terry interrupted Rustburg’s second drive with an interception, Mosley was able to piece together a 30-yard scamper which was capped with a 10-yard run from running back Isaac Robinson.
When Rustburg answered with a scoring drive of its own, Monticello swung back, starting with a bomb from Mosley to Terry. With his team on the doorstep of the redzone, Mosley came up with a critical third down conversion on the run to keep his offense from stalling. Robinson then punched in his second touchdown of the night with an 11-yard run.
Monticello’s defense was at its finest immediately following the score. The Mustangs forced Rustburg’s first punt of the night to give the offense a chance a 2-minute drill. It resulted in the team’s third touchdown of the first half.
Once again Mosley started the drive by going for the jugular as hit Terry for another big play down the sidelines to reverse field position. Then Patterson robbed the Rustburg secondary of an interception just in front of the goalline. Mosley then held on with a QB keeper to finish it off and make it 21-14 at the half.
“We’ve definitely got the weapons,” Redd said. “Now we’re just going to take these two weeks and get ready for that first game.”
Both offenses traded touchdowns in the third quarter with the Mustangs leaning more heavily on their ground game between Robinson and T.J. Tillery. Tillery, just a sophomore, put together a beautiful run to give Monticello’s its lone score of the second half.
In the fourth quarter with the second team players in, Rustburg caught up and make it a 6-point contest, and threatened to take the lead in the final seconds. However, the Mustangs replacements held fast and kept the visitors out of the endzone to end the scrimmage at 26-21 in the home team’s favor.
On defense, the Mustangs struggled in the back seven to tackle early on in the contest. Despite being in position to make plays, the linebacking corps and secondary watched runners slip by on occasion, but by the end of the night, looked much improved.
“What we did well defensively was adjusting to that option that they were running,” Redd said. “It took a little bit but we didn’t prepare for them with film. And the way they run it, you can’t prepare for the speed of it in practice.”
Rustburg kept the ball on the ground almost all game, but the when they were forced to pass, Monticello’s secondary showed that they will not be passed on, whether it was Terry on the edge at cornerback or Tillery over the top at safety.
The scrimmage took a somber note early in the third quarter when play had to be stopped and an ambulance called in. Rustburg’s Eric Cloudis took a nasty hit and laid motionless on the field. After being carted to the ambulance on a stretcher, Cloudis was able to lift his arms and put his thumb up, putting the Rustburg fans at ease after 15 tense minutes.
