By Duncan Nixon
A large Fluvanna County High School crowd filled Charlottesville Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 22, to watch the Flucos take on the Charlottesville High School Black Knights.
The slaughter started on the first play. Jacob “Crumbs” Loving took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown for the Flucos. Dawson Raines added the first of his nine successful extra points, and the Flucos led 7-0.
The Black Knights went three-and-out on their first possession, and a flubbed punt gave the Flucos the ball at the C’ville 36-yard line. Jack Pace threw a 13-yard pass to Brody Shields on the Flucos’ first play from scrimmage. Running back Garrett Jordan led five runs to the Flucos’ second touchdown with 6:18 left in the first quarter.
On their second possession, the Black Knights lofted a long pass on third down, and Caleb Ray intercepted it, giving the Flucos the ball at their own 39. Three plays later, the Flucos were up by three touchdowns. Loving ran for 29, and Jordan ran for 24, putting the Flucos inside the 10. Jordan carried it in, and the extra point made it 21-0 with 3:51 left in the quarter.
This time the Black Knights’ offense responded. On their first play from their own 20, a 75-yard run put the ball on the Fluvanna five. In three running plays, C’ville had its first touchdown. The opening quarter ended with Fluvanna leading 21-6.
The Flucos added two touchdowns in the second quarter. Fullback Dhani Cooke scored the first with a short plunge over the middle. The second Fluvanna touchdown of the quarter came on a Pace-to-Shields pass with 19 seconds left in the half. This drive differed from most Fluvanna scoring drives, as it featured five successful pass plays.
Between the two Fluco touchdowns, the Black Knights got their second score, again on a long run. The Flucos led 35-13 at the half.
The third quarter started with two quick Fluvanna touchdowns. C’ville took the opening kickoff and went three-and-out with Flucos lineman Chris Moore blocking a third-down pass. Another flubbed punt by the Black Knights gave the Flucos the ball at the C’ville 32. Jordan promptly ran it in for another touchdown.
On the next C’ville possession, Cooke intercepted a long fourth-down pass and returned it to the C’ville seven-yard line. Pace threw a pass over the middle to tight end Jake McCall for the Flucos’ seventh touchdown and a 49-13 lead.
On the Flucos’ next possession, Cooke scored again on a short burst up the middle. The Black Knights returned the ensuing kickoff for their third touchdown. A successful two-point conversion made the score 56-21.
The fourth quarter started with the Flucos feeding the ball to running back Giovanni Pankau. He ran the ball on five of six plays to score the Flucos’ final touchdown with 8:44 left in the quarter. That ended the game’s scoring.
In all, Garrett Jordan scored three rushing touchdowns, Dhani Cooke added two, and Gio Pankau had one. Loving returned a kick for a touchdown, while Pace threw touchdown passes to Shields and McCall.
The Flucos are now 7-1. They play their Senior Night game on Oct. 30, hosting Goochland. Their final regular-season game will be at Albemarle High on Nov. 6. The playoff picture is uncertain.
