TMQ: Flucos Gray steps down

By Bart Isley and Liz Keller Daily Progress sports
Published: November 17, 2008

Fluvanna County’s Joel Gray will no longer be the Flucos’ head football coach after he relinquished his post Friday.
The Flucos went 11-29 in the four years Gray was head coach. In 2007, expectations for the program were high, but the team went winless after losing 10 starters to injuries and off-the-field issues.
This season, Fluvanna posted a 3-7 record with wins over Prince Edward, Charlottesville and William Monroe. The Flucos also put together a strong effort against district champion Monticello.
“We are proud of the effort given by all of our players this season. This group had championship-caliber chemistry and played their hearts out for each other and this football staff,” said Gray in an email. “Week in and week out they went out and hit people for all they were worth. We couldn’t have asked for more effort.”
During the past four years, eight Flucos have gone on to play football at the college level.
Fluvanna will return five starters on offense — including quarterback Ryan Foster — and eight on defense for its 2009 campaign.
Pelton puts together
another big night
Once again, senior Jacob Pelton did a little bit of everything for Monticello this past Friday, helping the Mustangs beat Briar Woods and advance to the Group AA, Region II Division 3 final.
Pelton shined on both sides of the ball, especially defensively. The 6-foot, 175-pound defensive back recorded two sacks and was in on numerous other tackles, including several for losses.
Pelton also converted a 23-yard field goal to give Monticello the early lead. He was 3 for 4 on extra-point attempts and led the Mustangs in receiving with five catches for 38 yards.
“He had a monster game defensively, and he was just all over the place,” said Monticello coach Brud Bicknell. “There was a lot of other guys that were keeping people off him so he could make the tackles.”
Monticello will play at Handley in the region final on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Rough start for Monticello
Friday’s region semifinal game was certainly not the prettiest ever played — each team had a pair of turnovers. Monticello’s came early, and both resulted in Briar Woods touchdowns. The Mustangs had a muffed punt in the first quarter to give the Falcons good field position, and it took them just seven plays to score.
Later in the second quarter, the Briar Woods defense was able to get pressure on quarterback Michael Graham, who coughed up the ball while being sacked. Andrew Davidson picked up the loose ball and ran it 40 yards for the score, giving the visitors a 13-10 halftime lead.
But the Mustangs were able to put it behind them and forced a couple of turnovers of their own in the second half. Khiry Washington made a pair of big plays as he recovered a fumble and had a fourth-quarter interception.
More from the Mustangs
Monticello’s win on Friday marked its 20th straight at home. ... Senior Hines Banks recorded a career-high rushing performance against Briar Woods with 108 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. He is just the second Monticello player to rush for over 100 yards this season. ... Michael Graham’s 64 yards passing was a season low. He has thrown for 4,206 yards in his career at Monticello.
STAB, Atlantic Shores deal with soggy field
The field that St. Anne’s-Belfield and Atlantic Shores played on Friday night at First Colonial High in Virginia Beach wasn’t just wet and rainy — it was a bog.
It’s amazing anyone on either team was able to keep their footing, as the ground seemed to sink an inch on every step.
The soggy surface and a slippery ball contributed to at least six fumbles between the two teams and a STAB interception. It seemed every few plays there was a mad scramble for a loose ball with both teams’ backs struggling to hold onto things.
By the time St. Anne’s was forced to take to the air, the field was a quaqmire, making route running hard and throwing even harder.
Missing Aaron Clark?
In their regular season finale and the first round of the playoffs, St. Anne’s did a fantastic job of dealing with running back Aaron Clark’s absence due to an ankle injury.
But his injury may have finally caught up to the Saints against Atlantic Shores. Without Clark’s sure-handed explosiveness at tailback and with the talented Will McGhee never really getting a chance to breathe, Clark’s absence seemed to stand out more than it had.
Still, Clark may not have been able to have much of an impact if the Saints hadn’t found a way to contain Seahawks quarterback Josh Healey. The senior’s mastery of Atlantic Shores’ series of shotgun zone read plays devastated the Saints’ defense.