By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
Helped by a daring play call, with only six seconds left in the half, the Fluco football team led the Louisa Lions 21-13 at halftime. With the ball at the Fluco 42, and the Flucos leading 15-13, Coach Mitchell Pace could have called on sophomore quarterback Will Lambert to take a knee, allowing the Flucos to go to the locker room with a two point lead over the powerhouse Lions. Instead, the Flucos went with unexpected razzle-dazzle. Lambert took the snap and immediately back passed to halfback Logan Wade. Wade found junior tight end Benny Denby wide open behind the Lions’ defenders. The pass was almost too long, but Denby made a finger-tip catch and beat the defenders to the end zone. The extra point attempt was no good but the Flucos went to the locker room leading 21-13.
Unfortunately for the Flucos, the Lions looked like a 6-1 team in the second half, and relying almost entirely on their running game, they pushed the ball down the field relentlessly, scoring four touchdowns after the break. The Flucos scored once in the second half for a final score of 38-27.
The game started with the Flucos going three and out and the Lions marching down field for a touchdown. The Flucos responded quickly. After two runs took the ball into Louisa territory, Lambert fired a long pass to the end zone and senior Chazz Barksdale-White out fought the Lions’ defender to make a touchdown catch. The extra point made it 7-7 and that was the score at the end of the first quarter.
After a weak punt by the Lions, the Flucos took the ball at their own 41 early in the second quarter. After a roughing the passer penalty, Lambert hit Denby to take the ball to the Lions’ 25. Senior running back Marcus Dickerson made a hard run to the eight, but two plays and a penalty made it third down and goal from the 15. Lambert hit Denby coming across the middle and he scored easily. The Flucos faked kicking the extra point and ran it in for a two-point conversion and a 15-7 lead.
The Lions responded quickly – a 28-yard run and a 32 yard pass play put them in the end zone. Dickerson, with help from other Fluco defenders, stopped the Lions’ try for a tying two point conversion, and the Flucos led 15-13. After a series of back and forths by the two teams that were highlighted mostly by penalty flags, the Flucos found themselves with the ball in their own territory and time running down. The above described half back pass took them to half time.
Louisa received the second half kick-off and started at their own 40. A sustained drive took them into the end zone and took five and a half minutes off the clock. The extra point attempt was no good and the Flucos led 21-19. Fluco sophomore running back Sam Loving made a strong kick return up the right sideline and the Flucos started at the Louisa 44. Unfortunately, three plays gained nothing and Loving launched an excellent punt forcing the Lions to start at their eight yard line. The Lions again marched the ball down field, mostly on the ground. They scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:10 left in the third quarter. The Flucos could do nothing after receiving the kick-off and tried a pass by the punter on fourth down in their own territory. It was unsuccessful and the Lions took over on downs.
A successful sweep by the Lions moved the ball and an unsportsman like conduct penalty on the Flucos put the Lions on the Fluco five-yard line. A run put them in the end zone and they led by 11, 32-21, with 11:26 left in the game. The Flucos did not fold. The Flucos moved the ball with the help of a 15-yard penalty on Louisa and a circus catch among three defenders by Wade. An 11-yard pass from Lambert to wide out Barksdale-White was the fourth Fluco touchdown, all in the air. The score was now 32-27 and the Flucos were still in the game. However, the Lions responded. Another drive of over five minutes resulted in the fourth Lions touchdown of the second half. The Flucos were unable to come back again in the remaining time and the final score was 38-27.
After the game, Pace was unhappy about the loss and not interested in this being the best performance by the Flucos against Louisa in quite a while. He was happy that his passing game seems to be in gear, even though Lambert is only a sophomore. He also conceded that Louisa does “run hard.”
The Flucos are now 5-3 with two regular season games remaining. They host Goochland County on Oct. 27 and travel to Monticello on Nov. 3.
