No place quite like home

Monticello coach Brud Bicknell just assumed he was getting his leg pulled.
“I thought the kids were telling me a tale when they said he was coming back,” Bicknell said. “Then he came over during the summer.”
That’s when Jace Brady let Bicknell know that he was coming back to MHS after he’d spent a big chunk of the summer playing for another program over 2,000 miles away. In Utah.
After three years with the Mustangs, Brady and his family got together and decided that because he wanted to play college football out west, he’d be well-served by moving there. And if football didn’t pan out, he’d be in-state to one of his top college choices, the University of Utah.
So he headed for Utah to live with his grandparents and suit up for American Fork High just outside of Provo, the school his father, Lee, played for. Brady even played for the same coach his dad did. But after almost two months of working out with American Fork and even attending team camp with the Cavemen, Brady started to realize that Utah might not be the place for him.
“I didn’t like the whole lifestyle, it just wasn’t for me,” Brady said. “So I called my dad one day and said ‘I really, really want to come home.’”
So Brady moved back to Central Virginia, and shortly after his return,
headed over to his friend Brian Koonce’s house to hang out, but Koonce insisted they go find Bicknell.
“He said ‘let’s go tell coach Bicknell, let’s go tell coach Bicknell,’” Brady said. “So we went and knocked on his door and I said ‘My dad’s letting me come home.’”
Bicknell and the Mustangs were quick to welcome Brady back into the fold. They also revived a plan to move the
6-foot-1, 230-pound senior to fullback, a move that was discussed during the 2007 state championship season.
That year Brady was a big contributor along the offensive line before a
dislocated kneecap against Orange cut his season short. He came back to play in the playoffs, but eventually had to shut it down and get it operated on.
During the offseason, largely because Koonce got so much playing time up front during the state title run, Bicknell and his staff talked about moving Brady into the backfield. 
“It was a calculated risk — it was a situation where we needed somebody at fullback and Brian Koonce got a lot of playing time last year when Jace got hurt,” Bicknell said.
That got put on hold for Monticello with Brady’s move to Utah, but Brady went full speed ahead. At his brief stint at American Fork, Brady played in the backfield, developing his skills as a runner and blocker. When he got back to Charlottesville, he stayed at fullback — and the Mustangs’ quarterback couldn’t be more relieved about it.
“I know he’ll make any block that he has to make, I’m always safe with him back there,” said senior quarterback Michael Graham.
Brady’s move has given Monticello the option of running four wideouts with just the fullback back to pick up blitzers and penetration through the line. With Brady serving as Graham’s personal protector, Monticello can stretch the field a little more. 
He’s also heavily involved in the running game, largely as a lead blocker.
“I like being involved on every play — you don’t usually have the backside block, you’re usually the lead blocker, so you get to hit a lot of people,” Brady said.
He also gets to carry the ball occasionally. He’s rushed eight times over the Mustangs’ first three games for 49 yards, an
average of over six yards per carry.
“It was really exciting because I’ve never had the ball except when I’d jumped on a fumbled snap,” Brady said.
The move should help Brady’s pursuit of a college football career. At
6-foot-1, he’s a little undersized at offensive line, but he’s an almost perfect size for a blocking fullback at the next level.
If he continues to clear the way, that opportunity to play college football should come in some form.
As for being back at Monticello after what amounted to a sabbatical out west, Brady is almost as happy as the quarterback he’s been protecting.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Brady said.