Contributed by Storm Hall and Diana Hall
If you were to mention seeing a football game at Fluvanna County High School, most people would assume you were at the field on a chilly Friday night supporting the high school team. What you may not know is that Fluvanna has a youth league featuring three teams, the Explorers age 5-7, the Founders age 8-9, and the Governors age 10-11. All are part of Fluvanna Youth Football which participates in JDYFL(Jefferson District Youth Football League). These young student athletes face-off with other teams around the Central Virginia area including Charlottesville, Western Albemarle, Augusta, Greene, Culpeper, Orange, Monticello, and Rockingham. They play a ten-week season with practices starting in August and games starting in September.
Sunday, Sept. 12, marked the first game of the Fall 2021 season for the Fluvanna Flucos Explorers against their opponent the Orange County Hornets. As the final seconds run off the game clock, the Flucos fall to the Hornets 35-14. During this game the Flucos fielded only six returning players from the previous season, but those six would prove to be invaluable with Jayce Hill, Forrest Watson, and Harrison McClanahan leading a high powered and fast offense, and Nathan Holdgreiwe, Cayden Hall, and Reid VanWitzenburg setting the tone for a strong and solid defense.
This first game would prove to be the Explorer’s only loss of the season, as they would tie the game 28-28 the next time they faced off with the Hornets. Following the week one loss, the Fluco coaches, led by John VanWitzenburg, had some time to figure things out and after some adjustments, the Flucos got back on track with a 35-14 win over Charlottesville, followed by an unprecedented 84-35 win over the Augusta Spartans. The Flucos would close out their regular season with a 5-1-1 standing and 2nd place seeding for the playoffs. On Nov. 14 Fluvanna hosted the Greene County Dragons in the semi- final round battling it out for a chance to go to the Championship Super Bowl. After four long quarters of play the Flucos emerged victorious, and set the stage for a third and final meeting with the Orange County Hornets.
Albemarle High School played host for all of the championship games on Nov. 21, the first of which would be the Explorers Division game between the Fluvanna Flucos and what seemed to be the unbeatable Orange County Hornets team. As if it were an old Western movie, noon marked the start of the showdown. The Orange offense started with the ball but ran into problems with the Fluvanna defense and had to turn the ball over to the Fluco offense. So the back and forth battle between these two teams continued through most of the second quarter with Orange holding a 13-12 lead and their offense on the field moving again. Things took a sudden turn for the Flucos when the pressure got to the Hornets quarterback forcing him to make a bad throw. That throw landed the ball in the hands of Flucos linebacker Cayden Ganz who took it all the way back for a touchdown. Fluvanna would hold the lead going into halftime 18-13, and the Flucos would start the second half with the ball and a chance to increase their lead. Rolling from halftime and into the 4th quarter the Flucos maintained the lead with a score of 24-19, but the Orange offense had the ball and was on the move pushing closer and closer to the endzone. With less than one minute left in the game the Hornets made their final push for the endzone, and the quarterback crossed the goal line with just 29 seconds left on the clock. Orange now had the lead 25-24, as the Fluvanna offense took the field at their own 35-yard line. After a couple of plays the Flucos found themselves at the Orange 45-yard line with 12 seconds left in the game. Fluvanna put the ball in the hands of quarterback Jayce Hill who broke to the left side of the field and stayed one step ahead of the defense as he crossed the goal line to put the Flucos back on top, on the following play the Flucos failed to get the extra point leaving the score 30-25. With 2.7 seconds on the clock the Fluvanna defense had to stand strong for one more play to end the game. The Orange quarterback received the snap and the world around him was suddenly all blue and gold as the Fluvanna defense overwhelmed the offensive line and brought him down for a loss on the play.
The final blow of the whistle ended the game and the unbeaten streak of the Orange County Hornets. Fluvanna had overcome the odds and had beaten an amazing team to bring home the District Championship.
Fluvanna Youth Football saw all three teams advance to the last weekend of play-offs, with the Explorers and Founders both making it to the Championship games. The Fluco Founders ended its regular season with a record of 6-1, going on to win the playoff and semifinal game to advance to the championship. The Fluco Governors ended their regular season with a record of 4-3. Registration for Fluvanna Youth Football typically opens in May with conditioning starting in late July and games beginning after Labor Day. You can find more information on the league, as well as registration information on their website at https://tshq.bluesombrero.com/fluvannava. Questions can be directed to Karen Snyder at flucofootballmom@gmail.com
