Warriors, Flucos looking for edge

Western Albemarle travels to Fluvanna County tonight in a game that could be a turning point in the season for the winner.
The evenly-matched teams each have one Jefferson District win under their belts and are hoping to add to that total and build on it in the remainder of the season.
The Warriors (2-4,
1-1 JD) have gone through some growing pains with a young team this year. The Crozet team beat William Monroe handily before dropping a 21-14 decision to Louisa County two weeks ago.
Western knows it will have its hands full against a much-improved Fluvanna team that secured its first district win last week.
“We expect them to be a very good team. We saw them on film against Charlottesville and they’ve got some good athletes,” Western Albemarle coach Ed Pierce said. “They’re aggressive, seem to be playing well together right now and they’re well-coached.”
The Warriors will need to minimize their turnovers — something that has proven detrimental in recent games — against a stingy and hard-hitting Fluvanna defense.
“They play very aggressively, so it’s going to be important that we play tough up front, that our offensive linemen keep them out of our backfield,” Pierce said. “We’re going to have to attack their backs because they’re quick and they can get up field.”
The Warriors used their bye week last week to correct some of their mistakes and help get players who’ve been hampered by injuries healthy. Even with the week of rest, Pierce said there is a concern his team may not be rejuvenated.
“Teams tend to get flat when they’re not playing,” Pierce said. “I don’t know how it’s going to affect us, but we’ve had a good week of practice and I think we’ll be ready to play.”
Fluvanna, on the other hand, is coming off a win over Charlottesville in the squad’s district opener. Ryan Foster put together a big night, and coach Joel Gray’s squad seems to have taken advantage of the bye week to plug some holes that led to a few early
season losses. Gray has shown a great deal of resiliency as the Flucos head man, adjusting to what he has on the field.
“He never quits on us even though last year was a bad year and it was kind of iffy early this season,” said Fluvanna running back Felix Marte. “You’ve got to be happy about that.”
Gray and his staff have also taken the reins off the defense, and it’s paid dividends with an average of more than a takeaway per game. Tyler Denby leads the way with 52 tackles (more than 10 per contest) and two sacks.
“They’ve just turned us loose a little more — they’re letting us fly around and get after it,” Denby said.
Fluvanna seems to be on the cusp of making a major leap from last season’s winless campaign, but it’s going to take some major improvement and hard work the next few weeks, including tonight’s contest with the Warriors.
“Every week from here on out is huge for us,” Gray said. “We’ll be up for them, without a doubt.”