Bulldogs thwart Flucos

PALMYRA — Although Friday night was the first time Goochland played Fluvanna County in a Jefferson District matchup, the Bulldogs are no stranger to the Flucos.

In fact, Goochland had won four straight against Fluvanna. Make it five.

The Bulldogs, powered by an explosive ground game and stingy defense, reeled off their third straight road win, dispatching the Flucos 21-7.

“Fluvanna came out and gave us everything we wanted and we had to go out and battle,” Goochland coach Joe Fowler said. “[Running the ball] is what we are, it’s what we do. I thought the offensive line, especially in the second half, came out and felt like we needed to be more physical — we needed to line up and hit them in the mouth because we weren’t getting anything outside. And our offensive line was able to give us the holes and the backs did a great job of running through them.”

Entering the third quarter with a 7-7 tie, Goochland (6-1, 3-1 JD) forced Fluvanna to go 3-and-out on its opening possession of the second half.

The visitors used a 13-play drive to take the lead as Dustin Plummer ran in for the score from five yards out. Plummer was one of three Goochland running backs to rush for at least 50 yards, finishing with 67 on the night.

The Bulldogs were able to contain the Flucos on the following drive, forcing them to punt again.

Goochland took advantage and controlled the clock, using another long drive to put the game out of reach. Sticking to their ground game, the Bulldogs made their way downfield and Plummer scored again on a six-yard TD run. In addition to Plummer, Willie Ezell and Desmond Athey were effective on the ground, finishing with 79 and 50 yards, respectively. The Bulldogs racked up 236 rushing yards in the game.

“We came out and we had the ball early in the third quarter and we made a couple of mistakes that killed that first drive,” said first-year Fluvanna coach Rodney Redd. “And they in turn did a great job of putting together a long drive, playing keep away from us and killing a bunch of clock in the process. At that point, it was us battling the clock for the rest of the game.”

On the ensuing drive, Fluvanna quarterback Ryan Foster helped his team march down field, connecting with YaYa Anderson and Tony Brown for gains of 25 and 15 yards. Then Foster ran for another eight yards before Goochland’s defense came up with a pair of consecutive sacks to thwart any comeback.

Goochland plays host to Louisa County next week, while Orange County visits Fluvanna County.