By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
It was not a happy night for the Fluvanna County High School football team on Friday, March 26. Orange County had six possessions in the first half and scored a touchdown on five of them. The Fluco offense was not bad as it scored twice in the first half, but the half time score was a one-sided 33-14. The Flucos scored first in the second half to cut the Hornets lead to 13. Unfortunately, Orange County scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter to take a devastating 52-20 lead. The fourth quarter was scoreless, as both coaches got to look at some of their reserves in action.
The game started badly for Fluvanna. Orange took the opening kick-off and quickly scored on a 39-yard quarterback keeper. The Flucos went three and out on their first possession and the snap to the punter sailed high over his head and the Hornets took over on downs at the 14. On the Hornets first play, Fluco senior defensive back A. J. Wyche intercepted at the two yard line. The Flucos recorded a first down on a strong run by sophomore Bradley Cox, but then had to punt. Unfortunately, the Hornets then went 59 yards in three plays for their second touchdown. A two-point PAT try was good and the Flucos trailed 15-0, with just under five minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Flucos moved the ball down the field and on the first play of the second quarter, a 36-yard field goal try by sophomore place kicker Will Davis was just short. On this possession. Orange took seven plays to put the ball into the end zone for a third touchdown. The PAT was blocked by the Flucos making the score 21-0 with 10:09 left in the half. On the Flucos second play, junior quarterback Kobe Edmonds threw a short sidelines pass to sophomore wide receiver Jaden Ferguson. Ferguson broke a tackle and avoided being knocked out of bounds, he then streaked down the sidelines for a 69-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion was good and the score was 21-8. The Flucos tried an on-side kick and almost got control, but instead Orange took over with a short field.
The Hornets quickly put up their fourth touchdown. A two-point PAT (points after touchdown) try was thwarted by the Flucos and the score was 27-8. On the Flucos’ next possession, senior running back Xavier Copland had two strong runs, one was for 34 yards. Senior running back Jamorris lewis also had a strong run and the Flucos scored on a quarterback sneak by Edmonds. A two-point conversion try was foiled and the score was 27-14 with seven minutes left in the half. Orange started at its own 30 and took the ball straight down the field for a fifth touchdown and a 33-14 half time lead.
The Flucos started the second half strong. They took the ball 55 yards for a touchdown, relying mainly on powerful runs by Copeland, one of which was for 31 yards. A two PAT try was no good and the score was back to a two-touchdown gap at 33-20. The Hornets, however, had a running back just as powerful as Copeland and he quickly ran it in for another Orange County touchdown. Edmonds was intercepted on a long pass on the Flucos ensuing possession and the Hornets quickly scored again to effectively end any hopes that the Flucos might have had. The Flucos are now 1-4 on the year, after losing three home games in a row. The Flucos next play at Monticello High on April 2.
