Using its stingy defense and a well-balanced ground game, the Lions romped past the Flucos 42-3.

Riding the emotional high of an upset win over William Monroe in its regular-season finale, Louisa County got past Orange County 3-0 last night in a home quarterfinal match in the Jefferson District tournament.

That’s exactly what Orange County did on Friday night. With the game against Louisa County hanging in the balance, the Hornets turned to Quintin Hunter. And on fourth-and-4, the Virginia-bound quarterback delivered, running for the first down. Two plays later, Orange put the Lions away with a touchdown by Darryus Gilliam to secure the 41-26 win.

The Jefferson District’s scheduling draw wasn’t too kind to Monticello, with the Mustangs getting slated for back-to-back games against perhaps their stiffest district competition, Orange County and Louisa County. After a 24-14 win over Louisa, the Mustangs officially have escaped unscathed.

Last week at the Birdwood Golf course, Albemarle’s squad wrapped up its sixth consecutive district crown with a four-stroke victory over Colonial Forge.

In a wide-open Jefferson District, the William Monroe volleyball team is establishing themselves as one of the top programs this year.

The Lions rolled to a 28-0 home victory over the Knights (1-3) behind a swarming defense and their traditional grind-it-out rushing attack. It was the second straight shutout registered by a hard-hitting Louisa D.

Louisa’s non-district road tilt with Powhatan, originally scheduled for Friday night, has been moved up 24 hours due to Hurricane Hanna’s anticipated arrival in the Richmond area. The Lions (1-0) and the Indians will kick off at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Covenant dodged a bullet in the last minute in its opener against visiting Atlantic Shores, as the Eagles held on to a 28-26 victory.

In Gordonsville, Western Albemarle used a balanced effort to hold off Mikey Moyers and William Monroe in the Jefferson District Golf mini-match at Spring Creek Golf Club.

High school football practices got underway this week and area coaches are excited about the season’s prospects. Among them is first-year Charlottesville High coach Chris Fraser, who took over the program from longtime coach Garwin DeBerry.

Despite working as a principal in North Carolina for the past two years, Lee Downey was never out of touch with Louisa County, especially when it came to sports.

All it took was one bad inning. And unfortunately for Louisa County, it came in its biggest game of the year.

Just over a week ago, Fluvanna County’s baseball team beat Louisa County, handing the Lions their first loss in Jefferson District play.

If Louisa County was fazed by its first inning, no one showed it.  The Lions shook off a rocky start, got some timely hits and rode the arm of Gunnar Carroll to a Jefferson District semifinal win over Orange County Tuesday night.