Balanced attack has Monticello on track

By Liz Keller

| 978-7258

Monticello used its well-balanced offensive attack to dispatch John Handley for the Region II championship and advance to the Group AA, Division 3 semifinals this Saturday against James Monroe.

The Mustangs (11-1) got a big lift from running back Hines Banks and quarterback Michael Graham in the 27-14 win.

Banks surpassed the 100-yard mark for the second straight game, and finished with a career-high 123 yards on 21 carries behind the blocks of an offensive line that is coming together at the right time. In the semifinal against Briar Woods, Banks rushed for 108 yards.

The success on the ground opened up the passing game for Graham, who completed 14 of 26 passes. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.

“Hines had a really good game — he ran the ball really hard and the line played really well. They pulled and got their blocks and even Mike ran the ball pretty well,” said senior Jake Pelton. “We definitely did what we wanted on offense.”

Graham gets it done

Graham’s performance came just one week after being held to a season-low 64 yards. The quarterback more than made up for it on Saturday in Winchester, and did so in freezing temperatures.

Graham threw for 171 yards in the win, and now has 20 touchdown passes through 12 games. He has now thrown for 2,022 yards this season and 4,375 in his career. Graham is the only Monticello quarterback to record two 2,000-yard passing seasons. He is the program’s third straight starter to reach 4,000 passing yards. The other two were Joseph Sanford (now at Massachusetts) and Michael Brown (Liberty).

Pelton reaches new heights

Just as impressive as Graham’s performance was his favorite target on the day, Pelton. The senior hauled in a career-best nine catches for 130 yards. The cold weather didn’t affect him either, as he caught two touchdowns, one on a 21-yard strike to give the Mustangs a 20-0 lead at halftime. The other score was a five-yard reception in the fourth quarter, which helped seal Monticello’s win.

“I was in the zone, so I wasn’t really thinking about [the cold],” said Pelton after Saturday’s game. “Mike was throwing great balls to me, and everything worked for us in the passing game.”

Pelton’s longest catch was 39 yards, which gave the Mustangs momentum and set up their third score of the first half. On that same play, the Judges’ starting quarterback, Brian Tavenner, was injured while defending. He did not return to the game and was replaced in the second half by Geremi Long.

For the season, Pelton has 62 receptions for 926 yards — third all-time in the program behind Richard Nelson (90 catches for 1,627 yards in 2003) and Daniel Lieb (84 catches, 1,562 yards in 2007).

A stifling defense

Not to be outdone on Saturday was Monticello’s defense, which came up with two critical first-half fumble recoveries (by Nolan Thornton and Marvin Mills) as it shut out Handley in the first two quarters. In fact, the Mustangs allowed the Judges just two first downs in the first half and forced the Northwestern District champions to go three-and-out three times.

The front seven, led by Chris Coiner, Shawn Winfrey and Jace Brady, held Handley’s leading rusher, Jeremiah Wilson, to 50 yards on 18 carries.

“We knew they were going to pound it up the middle, and everyone had assignments,” said Pelton, who also came up with a second-half interception. “They were able to cut back on a couple of tosses and we were able to shut them down for the most part.”

Monticello’s defense is allowing 13.8 points per game.

In a familiar position

Monticello, the defending state champion, is experienced in the postseason. It is the Mustangs’ fifth playoff appearance in the school’s 11 seasons and they have won six straight playoff games overall. Even so, coach Brud Bicknell, who earned his 80th career victory on Saturday, doesn’t want to look too far into the future.

“We’re playing another week — that’s kind of our motto right now,” said Bicknell, who was chosen as the Region II, Division 3 coach of the year. “We get to play another week, we get to practice another week, we’re football players for another week, and that’s the most important part.”

Quick hitters

The Mustangs continued their string of fast starts on Saturday, jumping out to a 20-0 halftime lead. They have outscored their opponents 113-3 in the first quarter and 247-52 in the first half this season. ... Monticello has won nine consecutive games since Powhatan stopped the Mustangs’ school-record 10-game winning streak on Sept. 19. ... The Mustangs are 9-3 all-time in postseason games. ... Bicknell has compiled a record of 80-41 through 11 seasons. ... MHS will sell state semifinal tickets in the lobby of the school on Friday from 6-8 p.m. Tickets are $8 per person. Kickoff for Saturday’s game is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Maury Stadium in Fredericksburg.