OCHS defense meeting challenge

Last year, Orange County’s defense gave up 61 points and 626 yards of total offense as Monticello handed the Hornets their only Jefferson District loss of the season.
A year later, a stronger and more experienced defensive unit is bound and determined not to allow that many points again.
And through the first three games, Orange’s numbers have been solid. The Hornets (2-1) posted a shutout over Culpeper and have allowed just four touchdowns. Three of those came in a loss (21-7) against a very good Chancellor team, which is ranked No. 9 in the latest Group AA poll.
But the Hornets know they face a tough task against Monticello, the defending Group AA,
Division 3 champions.
“By no means are we overconfident because we’re going to play a good Monticello team again,” said Orange coach John Kayajanian. “We did well last year coming into that game defensively, we just didn’t do well that night.”
Monticello’s high-powered offense poses a number of challenges to Orange’s defense — first and foremost strong-armed, mobile quarterback, Michael Graham.
“We probably haven’t faced an offense as diverse as Monticello’s that can run and pass the ball,” said Orange defensive coordinator Rod Hawkins. “And that’s always a concern. After last year, our first goal is just to stop them.”
Orange will try to do that with a group of senior leaders, including Shane Oehmke, David Britten, Robert McBrayer and Lewis Daniel paving the way.
“We’re a little bit bigger and stronger up front,” Hawkins said. “The kids got serious in the weight room over the summer and we’re probably the strongest we’ve been in five or six years up front. And that’s made a difference.”
And according to Britten, a senior middle linebacker, the unit as a whole is more cohesive.
“As a team, we’re more united. We all seem to work a lot harder than in the past few years,” Britten said. “We play hard and it’s one of the most talented defenses we’ve had in a long time.”
The Hornets will have their work cut out for them against the Mustangs’
no-huddle offense.
“They are a quick team, so we’ve got to be ready at all times,” Daniel said. “We’ve just got to prepare ourselves a lot better than we did last year.”
Orange will undoubtedly use a variety of defensive schemes to try and stop Graham and company.
“It’s going to be tough for us to shuffle people in, but we’re still going to go with different schemes on defense,” Kayajanian said. “Because if you stay in one defense, Monticello will pick you apart — they’re just too good of an offensive team.”
Added Hawkins, who’s been coaching at Orange for 30 years: “We like to move it around and try to mess with the blocking schemes a little bit.”
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work. We’ll come at them with a lot of different fronts and a lot of different pass coverages.”
Another key for Orange’s defense? Getting Quintin Hunter involved. Hunter, who is headed to Virginia, was a first team All Region II selection as a defensive back last year and earned Jefferson District defensive player of the year honors.
“When we have Quintin on the field as a defensive back, it makes us a much stronger unit,” Hawkins said. “He’s played very little on defense so far, but that might change this week.”