Hornets hitting their stride

Orange County’s postseason fate is unknown, but one thing is for sure — the Hornets came a step closer to reaching their goal Friday night.
Orange prevailed over Louisa County 41-26 to improve to 3-1 in the Jefferson District and 5-3 overall.
The win was critical as the Hornets only district loss so far has come against Monticello.
“We needed it. We lost to Monticello, we lost to James Monroe, played Chancellor close, and we needed a big win against a good football team,” said Orange coach John Kayajanian. “We don’t know if we can get in yet, but if we lose, we’re finished. So we just have to win. It was the same situation last year — we went 7-3 and didn’t get in, so we’re just going to try to keep winning and see what happens.”
Orange visits Western Albemarle this week and closes out the regular season at home against Fluvanna County.
Louisa, on the other hand, is likely out of the playoff picture, coach Mark Fischer said. The Lions were hoping for their first playoff berth since 2006, when they reached the state title game.
“That pretty much eliminated us,” Fischer said after Friday’s game. “Some crazy things have to happen for us to have a shot at making it.”
Hunter shines for Hornets
Quintin Hunter stepped up big when his team needed it the most against Louisa. He picked up a critical first down on a fourth-and-four play near the end of the game so the Hornets could keep the ball. Hunter, who is headed Virginia, led his team in rushing and passing.
Hunter, who threw for one touchdown and ran for two more, racked up 91 yards on 20 carries and completed 6 of 10 passes for 113 yards. In fact, he was 5 for 5 in the first half as Orange built a 28-0 lead. Hunter credited his offensive line with a strong performance after the game.
His longest completion was a 46-yard pass to Amir Waller. Waller finished with 89 yards on four receptions and ran six times for 32 yards and a touchdown.
The Hornets rounded out their well-balanced offensive attack with Dominique Walker and Darryus Gilliam, who each scored a touchdown. Walker had 30 yards on 10 carries, while Gilliam finished with 51 yards on seven carries.
Comeback kids
One of the reasons Louisa’s second-half rally against Orange was so impressive was that the Lions overcame a sloppy first half to cut the lead to eight points.
Louisa trailed 28-0 at halftime, in large part to its miscues. The Lions fumbled on their opening drive deep in their own territory, which set up the Hornets’ first score.
Things only got worse, as on Louisa’s following possession, there was a bad snap on second down. Quarterback Dillon Hollins managed to fall on the ball, but not before losing 12 yards on the play. The Lions were forced to go three-and-out on the drive. Louisa had two more bad snaps for losses as well as a punt that was partially blocked in the first half.
“They were doing what they wanted to with us, and we just wanted to know what we were made of,” Fischer said. “I just wanted to know were we going to go out there and play and show some character. To my kids’ credit, I think they went out there in the second half and poured their guts out for me and we just ran out of time.”
The Lions turned it around in the second half, scoring on their opening drive as Hollins connected with Kerry Wynn for a 15-yard touchdown. Louisa reached the end zone on its first four possessions of the second half and scored 19 unanswered points.
Hollins, a junior quarterback, was key in the comeback that fell short. The Lions were forced to go to the air, and Hollins connected on 11 of 27 passes for 209 yards. He passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in the loss.
Kendell Davidson, who caught a 50-yard pass from Hollins, led Louisa with four receptions for 103 yards. Demetrius Johnson caught a 55-yard TD, and Kerry Wynn hauled in five passes for 42 yards.
“That’s a good football team — they keep coming back,” Kayajanian said. “But we found enough guts to keep coming back with them. If you ask me if we were going to stop Louisa, I’d say we’ll slow them down. And we slowed them down enough to score more points.”
Inside the numbers of Monticello’s win
Any team with any pride is going to try and put together a monster effort against Monticello. The Mustangs are the defending state champs, and now at 7-1 and in the driver’s seat for another playoff run, the bull’s-eye is even bigger.
That seemed to be what happened in the Mustangs’ game against Fluvanna Friday. In front of their home crowd, the Flucos took advantage of three Mustang turnovers and controlled the clock to stay close with Monticello, but the visitors managed to take home a
28-13 victory. How? When Monticello did have the ball it was explosive, and the Mustangs’ defense locked down Fluvanna for the most part, allowing the Flucos just 175 yards of total offense.
Monticello’s offense piled up 345 yards while suffering from an 11-minute time of possession deficit. The three turnovers and over 100 yards in penalties didn’t help things, but the Mustangs were still very efficient on the ground (they averaged almost five yards per carry) and through the air (Michael Graham completed 10 of his 19 attempts).
Monticello’s defensive unit limited Fluvanna to just two field goals before surrendering a touchdown with less than three minutes to play. This group will almost certainly determine the Mustangs’ final postseason fate, as it appears to be the clear strength of the team.
Look for Monticello to put together a more decisive effort against Charlottesville this Friday.
Big night for Warriors’ secondary
Western Albemarle coach Ed Pierce has said time and time again that his team relies on the defense, and fans got a good idea why he’s put that kind of pressure on that unit — they’re up to it.
Western’s secondary hauled in four interceptions against Charlottesville, including picks returned for touchdowns by Christophe Drapanas and Cody Davis. The unit also held the Black Knights to just 20 yards through the air.
That secondary will be tested much more this Friday when Orange comes to Crozet. That’s when Western’s defensive backs will be charged with containing Hunter and Waller, not to mention the Hornets’ other weapons.
STAB stares down rivalry game with BRS
St. Anne’s-Belfield has a lot of story lines going into this week’s contest against archrival Blue Ridge.
STAB coach John Blake is just one win away from 100
career victories, and Alex Asher is less than 100 yards away from the Central Virginia career receiving record after a 111-yard outing against Christchurch.
Look for more on this matchup later in the week.
Gaskins eclipses 100 yards rushing (again)
Woodberry Forest senior K.G. Gaskins put together another impressive performance this past Saturday as the Tigers beat St. Christopher’s 35-13 to secure their fourth straight win.
Gaskins racked up 111 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns and caught another TD on a 71-yard pass from Chase Boyer.
The running back, used primarily on short-yardage situations in the team’s first two games, has since rushed for at least 100 yards in five straight games.
Gaskins rushed for a season-high 148 yards against a very good Collegiate team earlier this month. On the season, he has 585 yards and nine touchdowns to lead the Tigers.
Wilson an Iron Man
nominee
The Blue Ridge School’s Denzel Wilson is one of seven nominees for this week’s U.S. Army Iron Man award, which honors the best two-way high school football player in Virginia.
Wilson scored two touchdowns, including an 80-yard kickoff return, and recorded an interception at the goal line as Blue Ridge beat Nansemond-Suffolk last week.
Covenant’s Andy Colberg won the weekly award earlier this fall.
High school football fans from across the state can vote on the weekly winner. Check out the Preps Plus blog for more information.