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Stay Hungry: Louisa rolls past Goochland to finish strong heading into playoffs

There was no letdown in The Jungle after last Friday’s Jefferson District game-of-the-year. After hanging a program-record 69 points on Albemarle, Louisa County kept its foot on the gas and amassed 435 yards of first-half offense en route to a 49-21 Senior Night victory over Goochland.

 

“This week, we didn’t have a really good practice, so I’m glad we came out here and did our thing,” said Louisa senior Qwenton Spellman. “This was for the [district] title and we weren’t sharing it this year; we wanted to win it. I’m glad I’ve got all those boys on offense, Savion (Hiter) and our o-line just putting it together.”

 

The Lions’ offense scored on six of its first seven possessions, and the defense covered for that one miss with a 50-yard pick-six by senior linebacker Cam Hawkins.

 

“You come off a huge win last week and you’ve got to stay hungry,” said Louisa coach Will Patrick. “That big pick-six set the tone early. Defensively, we can fly around, make plays, communicate, and we just enjoy playing football.”

 

Leading 49-0 at the break, Louisa’s reserves saw most of the action in the second half as the Bulldogs’ ground game churned out 130 yards and three touchdown drives, giving both squads film to dissect as regional playoffs begin next week.

 

“We had some looks that we wanted tonight, but when you turn the ball over and [Louisa] has a short field, it’s gonna get out of hand fast,” said Goochland coach Alex Fruth.

 

Goochland won the coin toss and opted to receive, but after one first down Hawkins’ pick-six put Louisa on the board first. The Bulldogs then went three-and-out, ushering in the Lions’ offense first appearance. Freshman Savion Hiter went right to work with a 56-yard run, setting the tone for a huge first half where he accounted for 315 total yards and four scores. Hiter capped the drive with a five-yard touchdown run and Austin Talley added the two-point conversion to make it 15-0.

 

Louisa senior quarterback Landon Wilson, playing in the defensive secondary, intercepted Goochland quarterback Blayke Flaherty on the next play, bringing the offense back out at midfield. After Wilson’s five-yard scramble moved the chains on fourth down, Hiter broke through the right side for a 40-yard touchdown. Louisa led 22-0 after one quarter.

 

The Bulldogs tried to respond and mounted their best drive of the half, picking up first downs on runs of 12 and 14 yards by Flaherty and Jamason Pryor, but stalled just shy of midfield. Tyler Black’s punt pinned Louisa at its own 14, but it took just eight plays to find the endzone again.

 

“We went trips [to the right] and all verticals and saw on film the go route was going to be open behind the linebackers,” said Wilson, who fired to junior Tyreke Coleman streaking down the middle for a 30-yard score to make it 29-0.

 

Goochland’s next two series were three-and-out while Wilson added two more passing touchdowns, both to Hiter. The first was a screen over the middle designed to move the chains on a third-and-eight, but Hiter juked a defender near midfield and outraced the rest of the Bulldog pursuit down the near sideline for a 69-yard score.

 

“Savion’s a playmaker,” said Wilson. “We’re gonna get the ball in his hands in space and he really made that one.”

 

On the second, Wilson found Hiter wide-open down the right hash for a 36-yarder that made it 42-0 for Louisa.

 

“We had a blitz and didn’t cover the back out of the backfield, and you can’t do that with somebody like him,” Fruth said.

 

The Lions capped their scoring with a two-minute drill that needed only three snaps. Wilson looked Hiter’s way on a wheel route and while a Goochland defensive back deflected the pass, Hiter still hauled it in and raced for a 72-yard pickup down to the 1. From there, Wilson had just the play in mind.

 

“I really wanted to get Qwenton a touchdown and I called a play for him to score,” said Wilson, who flipped a shovel pass to Spellman who barrelled in to make it 49-0.

 

“Coach Pat wanted to run something else, but Landon called that in the huddle,” said Spellman. “It’s always something crazy when a big dude scores, so it was fun.”

 

Wilson finished 6-of-11 for 236 yards and four touchdowns and enjoyed the rest of the game from the sideline along with Hiter, who tallied 138 yards and two scores on eight rushes. He added 177 yards and two more touchdowns on three receptions.

 

With a running clock in the second half, Goochland senior Mason Gregory led the way with eight carries for 60 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown. Flahery added two fourth-quarter scores on keepers of 4 and 15 yards.

 

“[Blayke]’s learning, he’s a sophomore,” said Fruth. “It’s really his second start. This will be a good learning experience and, more importantly, we’re going to get another week to keep moving on and learning.”

 

As the number-seven seed in Region 3B, Goochland (3-7, 3-4) hits the road for a quarterfinal at Skyline (5-5) from the Northwestern District on Thursday night. Aside from top-seed Brentsville (9-1), no one in the bracket finished above .500.

 

“To win six district championships in a row I think is an unbelievable feat,” said Patrick, as Louisa (10-0, 7-0) earned the number-two seed in Region 4D. “It’s the seventh undefeated team in school history and I’m very proud of my young men for showing up every week, working, and grinding.”

 

The Lions host a quarterfinal next Friday night in The Jungle against seven-seed Jefferson Forest (4-6) from the Seminole District.

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