By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
Fluco junior running back Isaac Lewis electrified the crowd twice with kick returns for touchdowns, but the Knights from Spotsylvania displayed a running attack that the Flucos simply could not contain.
On the first possession of the game, the Knights marched 53 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was good and the Flucos trailed 7-0 with 9:25 remaining in the quarter. The Flucos were forced to punt on their first possession. The Knights made a couple of first downs, but fumbled at midfield and the Flucos recovered. The Flucos moved the ball into Spotsylvania territory but turned it over on an interception. Spotsylvania had a long run called back due to a penalty, but then ripped off another long run to the Fluco two-yard line. A plunge up the middle resulted in the Knights’ second touchdown. The extra point was good, and it was 14-0.
The Flucos made a couple of first downs behind the running of senior backs Jacob Morris and Clayton Cannady, both of whom are in the 200 pound range and are hard to bring down. Cannady then ran hard into the secondary, made a good cut back, broke a tackle and scored on a run of 31 yards.
The extra point try by junior kicker Cullen Long was good and the Flucos were down by a touchdown 14-7. After receiving the kick-off, the Knights fumbled the ball away to the Flucos on their third play. Unfortunately, the Flucos returned the favor by fumbling the ball back to the Knights on the Flucos’ first play.
On the Knights’ first play after recovering the Fluco fumble, a sweep was successful for a 31 yard touchdown run and the Knights were ahead 21-7 with 5:48 left in the first half. The Flucos were unable to generate offense and the half ended with the Knights up by two touchdowns.
Spotsylvania recovered a Fluco fumble on the kick-off to open the second half. On their fifth play from scrimmage, the Knights made another long touchdown run, this time from 32 yards out. The extra point was good for a score of 28-7 and it looked like the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt.
However, Lewis did provide some fireworks for the Flucos. The ensuing kick-off was taken by Lewis at around the 25. He shot up the middle straight through the oncoming Knights’ tacklers and was in the clear in no time for his second touchdown return of the season. The Knights now led 28-14, and that was the score at the end of the third quarter.
On the second play of the fourth quarter the Knights ran the ball in for their fifth touchdown of the night and a 35-14 lead. On this kick-off, the ball was bouncing around on the ground at around the thirty and it looked like that would be where the Flucos would start from. At the last second, Lewis dashed in and scooped up the ball. The Knights defenders were already down field at this point and Lewis quickly dashed past them. Once he is in the clear, there is little chance that anyone will run Lewis down. The junior scatback is listed on the program as 5’7” and 150 pounds. But, he can fly. Lewis now has three kick returns for touchdowns in two games.
The Knights added two more touchdowns in the latter part of the fourth quarter, the last one coming in the final ten seconds. The game was closer than the final score would indicate. After the game, Coach Michael Morris noted that his defense played strong, but that it had some troubles adjusting to the Knights backfield fakes, which resulted in some mistakes that cost big yardage. The Flucos will next travel to Brookville High on Sept. 9. They will host Louisa County on Sept. 16. After a bye, they will travel to Goochland on Sept. 30.
