Both Monticello and Goochland entered Thursday night’s Jefferson District opener coming off disappointing shutout losses to established contenders in their respective Class 3 regions. The Mustangs had additional time to stew over a bye week, which also offered an opportunity to get some players back healthy and add some new wrinkles to their playbook.
“We looked in the mirror and saw we left a lot of opportunities on the field against a really great team (Turner Ashby), and we can’t do that,” said Monticello coach Matt Hicks. “Our guys came [to practice] really focused and worked hard. We tried to dedicate ourselves to working on the basics. We spent a lot of time hammering fundamentals, and we were able to get the big plays [tonight] by doing the little stuff right.”
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, had to make a late-week quarterback change due to an injury in practice. After an even first quarter, Monticello’s defense adjusted to the visitors’ unexpected personnel while the offense finally got in gear after the break. Zeke Pour led a ground attack that amassed over 300 yards as the Mustangs won their homecoming game by a final of 34-14 over Goochland.
“We got a couple players back, but it was about building the momentum and team chemistry again after the bye week,” said Pour. “At halftime, we put it all together. I made a couple mistakes in the beginning, but the coaches told me to just keep going, zero-zero mindset.”
It was Pour’s muff of a bouncing punt amidst early-evening drizzle that led to the Bulldogs hanging the first points on the scoreboard. With the second phase of the opening drive starting in Mustang territory, senior quarterback Blayke Flaherty found Nafeese Summers to convert a fourth and 6. After a facemask penalty provided another chunk of yardage, Goochland ultimately faced fourth and 8 and the MHS 19. Flaherty pulled the ball down, rolled around the left end, and beat the pursuit to the pylon.
“To go out there with [Blayke] having not had that many reps and to execute somewhat, that’s exactly what you want,” said Goochland coach Alex Fruth.
Monticello answered with a five play, 72-yard drive mixing runs by Jaiden Walker and passes from senior quarterback Owen Engel. Walker, a sophomore back enjoying a breakout early season, picked up the last 14 yards.
“Jaiden started us off strong in the first half,” said Hicks. “We’re blessed with multiple threats in the ground game, and we’ve also got a couple other guys that we expect to start rotating in the backfield here soon. Having a ground game that can be consistent, we know that’s what you need to be able to anchor yourself in if you’re going to have a strong season.”
The score remained 7-7 over the next five series. Monticello reached the GHS 29 early in the second quarter but Engel’s fourth-down scramble came up two yards shy of a first down. The Bulldogs had a prime opportunity after a snap sailed over the punter’s head, setting up the offense at the MHS 24. After advancing to first and goal at the 1, Flahery’s sneak attempt was thwarted by a fumble, which defensive lineman Cyrus Smith recovered. Runs by Pour and Walker gave the Mustangs some breathing room before senior Kemari Walker took his only handoff of the night and raced 86 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown.
“Kemari has been primarily a defensive player for us, but we’ve got some heavy personnel packages where we use him as a fullback and we know he’s got the ability to really get downhill,” Hicks said.
The score remained 13-7 heading into the break after a series of penalties foiled Monticello’s final possession, starting with an invalid fair catch signal that nullified a long punt return into Bulldog territory. The offense then drew five flags.
“We had three guys coming back from extended injury who we wanted to get quickly involved in the offense, and we do a lot formationally and those little penalties are just guys learning along the way, ” Hicks said, as Monticello was penalized 11 times in the first half, costing 65 yards. “We’re going to use film on Monday to help clean it up, work on refining those details and make sure those new guys understand their role.”
Sophomore Ian Feggans set the tone for a better third quarter for MHS as he returned the kickoff 57 yards to the GHS 40. Pour and Jaiden Walker traded runs on the five-play drive, with Walker covering the last seven yards for his second score of the night and seventh of the season. Engel found senior tight end Tyberius Woodson on the two-point conversion to make it 21-7. That play foreshadowed the Mustangs’ next possession where Engel found Woodson wide open behind the secondary for a 32-yard score.
“Credit our defense, I thought we had a good gameplan,” said Fruth. “The things that hurt us were things we hadn’t seen until tonight. That fullback dive slash wedge play, they had two really long runs off of that. When teams run the ball, you fall asleep sometimes in the secondary and they snuck behind us on a couple of play-action passes.”
Meanwhile, Goochland did not move the chains on offense until the final play of the quarter.
“They started a quarterback that we really didn’t have any film on, a young man who’s a strong player, a really good runner, so it took us a minute to adjust what we were expecting,” said Hicks. “Once we were able to make adjustments, our guys responded really well. It’s a young group of linebackers, and we see them grow and take steps every week.”
In the fourth, Monticello wrapped its run of five straight touchdowns when Pour plunged in from a yard out two plays after breaking a 67-yard run down the right side.
“Oziel (Castillo) and Brayden (Rettig) just blocked for me and I saw the hole and went,” said Pour, who rushed 20 times for 181 yards, both game-highs.
With reserves seeing action in the closing minutes, Goochland put together a five play, 52-yard drive capped by Cole Browning’s 16-yard touchdown run. Browning led the team with 116 yards on 17 carries.
The Bulldogs’ 14 points matched their scoring output across their first three games. After battling a tough slate of Richmond-area public and private schools before opening district play as the Mustangs’ homecoming opponent, Goochland (0-4, 0-1) hosts Charlottesville (0-4, 0-1) next Friday.
“Having a whole week to prep [Blayke], we’re going to focus on fundamentals,” said Fruth. “We’ve got to protect the ball better, can’t fumble. We’ll step back and make the focus doing the little things really well, because that’s what we’ve got to be able to do to finish a game.”
Monticello (3-1, 1-0) heads east to The Jungle for a showdown with Louisa County (2-2, 1-0), winners of back-to-back contests including a shutout in Crozet to start their district schedule.
