GAME SUMMARY
The Friday night contest between Louisa County and Monticello had major implications on who would be at the top of the Jefferson District come season’s end. The Lions went into this season with seven consecutive district championships with the intent to keep their streak alive in 2024.
After a slow start to the season for Louisa County, it appeared that the Mustangs who finished second in the district last fall had the inside track on taking the crown away from the Lions. The possibility still exists as we are only halfway through the 2024 season but the Lions made it well-known that they have no intent of falling by the wayside with a dominant 45-6 thrashing of Monticello in front of their home fans.
Class of 2026 prospect Savion Hiter led the way in the first half for the Lions scoring four touchdowns. Three of those came on the ground with Hiter recording 105 of his game-leading 163 rushing yards in the opening half and scored on a 63-yard pass from Caleb Brady with less than a minute remaining in the opening half to give Louisa a 35-0 lead at intermission.
The Lions' offense was full throttle from their first possession, covering 80 yards in eight plays in a drive that lasted 4:13. Hiter culminated the opening drive with a 36-yard rushing touchdown. The Lions' offense reached the endzone all five times they had possession in the opening half.
Similarly, Louisa County’s defense set the tone for Monticello’s opening offensive play. Mustangs running back Ezekiel Pour was dropped in the backfield almost immediately after receiving the handoff from his quarterback by senior defensive lineman Braden McIntire for a three-yard loss.
Unofficially, the Mustangs offense had a net total of 39 yards in the first half with Pour notching 24 of those in Monticello’s ground attack. Coming into the game with 898 total rushing yards through the first four games, it was apparent that Monticello wanted to establish the line of scrimmage early on but their opponent did not entertain the idea.
If the first half didn’t seal the outcome of the game, the opening series of the second half certainly did. Monticello received the opening kick and quickly moved down the field when Owen Engel completed a 75-yard pass play to Tyberius Woodson. A penalty moved the Mustangs' offense from a possible goal-to-go situation back to the 17 yard line.
Pour was dropped for a loss on the next play from scrimmage and Monticello decided to go back to the passing game. Engel’s first pass attempt was completed to Michael Zaney for seven yards. The quarterback attempted to pass on each of the next two plays, however, and both fell incomplete turning the ball over on downs.
With 89 yards ahead of the offense to reach the endzone, the Lions went back to the ground but not before a pair of penalties moved them back even further to their own seven-yard line. Hiter took two consecutive handoffs from Brady and Dyzier Carter followed, rushing for 21 yards to move the ball near mid-field. On the very next play, Hiter broke off a 41-yard run, and a defensive penalty set up first and goal for the Lions offense.
Lavartrell Creasy rushed to the four-yard line and Brady ran into the endzone to complete the drive for another Louisa touchdown, putting the Lions ahead 42-0 and essentially determining the fate for both teams while securing any questions that still existed following intermission.
SCORING SUMMARY
Monticello 0 0 0 6—6
Louisa County 14 21 7 3—45
FIRST QUARTER
LC—Savion Hiter, 36 run (George Albertson kick), 7:47
LC—Savion Hiter 13 run (George Albeertson kick), 2:40
SECOND QUARTER
LC—Jayden Seaberry 8 run (kick failed)
LC—Savion Hiter 9 run (Jayden Seaberry conversion), 6:39
LC—Savion Hiter 63 pass from Caleb Brady (George Albertson kick), 0:56
THIRD QUARTER
LC—Caleb Brady 1 run (George Albertson kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
LC—George Albertson 30 field goal
M—Ezekiel Pour 39 run (conversion failed)
STANDOUT PLAYERS
Savion Hiter, Louisa County…In the Lions victory, Hiter put on a clinic in the first half, accounting for four total touchdowns including a 63-yard receiving score midway through the second quarter. The Class of 2026 prospect now has 11 touchdowns through four games this season with the Lions after returning to the team in week two. Hiter has 536 rushing yards with an 11.2 yards per carry average. One of the top recruits in the nation with a top 5 of Penn State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan, and Georgia, the junior will continue to make an impact for his team regardless of the competition on the field.
Jayden Seaberry, Louisa County…While his aforementioned teammate may be doing the heavy lifting Seaberry certainly has superb abilities and is a great change of pace back for the team. Against Monticello, Seaberry had 72 yards rushing and caught a reception for 11 yards as well as added a touchdown in the first half of the contest. Seaberry has 319 yards rushing for the Lions this season with a seven-yard per carry average, both a compliment to his abilities as well as the Lions' offensive line.
Caleb Brady, Louisa County…The senior quarterback was efficient in the passing game, completing 8 of his 13 pass attempts. Brady also rushed for 20 yards on the ground including his touchdown in the third quarter. On the season, Brady has completed 59% of his passes and while they are not mind-blowing stats, the senior is managing an offense that has posted nearly 500 offensive yards in each of its last two outings and a team that has now won three straight games after starting the season 0-2.
TAKEAWAYS
THE LIONS ARE BACK ON TRACK
After an uncharacteristic 0-2 start to the season, Louisa County is now 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Jefferson District. The Lions have outscored their opponents 85-6 in the last two games and the team looks more efficient and cohesive as they look to the second half of the season schedule. The return of Savion Hiter and Dyzier Carter certainly add to the teams’ ability to be more dynamic on offense but Coach Will Patrick has to take a great deal of credit for helping his team manage a bit of adversity early on in the season. Based on their current situation, the Lions have a high probability of running the table in the last five weeks of the season and claiming another district title. The bigger question is how prepared they will be to compete with the elite in Class 5 when the postseason starts.
MONTICELLO HAS IMPROVED
While the outcome of the contest with Louisa may have some wondering about this takeaway, the Mustangs have posted victories in 10 of their last 12 outings against teams in Class 3. The Mustangs' 34-14 victory over Goochland last week was the smallest margin of victory for the team in their three victories in 2024. Two tough losses, one to Turner Ashby and Friday night’s loss show that the team still has room to improve to be considered among the elite but the Mustangs appear to be well on their way behind the tutelage of head coach Matthew Hicks and talented players such as Ezekiel Pour, Owen Engel, and Oziel Jara Castillo.
HOW STRONG IS THE JEFFERSON DISTRICT?
There are still five weeks left in the Virginia High School football schedule and district play is just getting started but the results of the first half of the season bring this question to the forefront. Based on the results of this game, Louisa County would be the clear frontrunner and Monticello would come in a distant second. Orange County has the opportunity to jump ahead of the Lions and Mustangs overall with a victory today against Western Albemarle but from there, it’s anybody’s guess. Fluvanna County advanced to 3-2 with a 15-7 win against a winless Albemarle squad. Goochland got their first win against a winless Charlottesville squad. So with three winless teams as of Saturday morning (10/5), three teams with three victories, and Goochland and Fluvanna County sandwiched in between, a typically tough Jefferson District would be ranked low in terms of districts overall. That may change in the weeks to come but things are not looking good at the moment.
WHAT’S NEXT
Louisa County will travel to face neighboring rival, Orange County, next week. It will be another game that will affect the final order of the district standings. The Fighting Hornets may be 4-1 if they should defeat Western Albemarle in the contest that was moved from Friday to Saturday due to field conditions. In their last meeting, the Lions defeated Orange County 35-22.
Monticello travels to Charlottesville City next week to take on the Black Knights who are 0-5 in 2024 following their 41-18 loss to Goochland Friday. The loss for Charlottesville was the 15th consecutive with the team’s last victory coming against the Mustangs to end the 2022 season. Monticello throttled the Black Knights 52-8 last season but Charlottesville has recorded victories in two of the last three head-to-head meetings between the squads.
Robert Edmonds has been contributing to Virginiapreps.com, part of the Rivals.com network, since 2013. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) @bigrob2523 and subscribe to his YouTube channel
for sports-related content. You can read his work in the Daily Progress
and occasionally in other journalism publications. He began working in the sports sector in 2006 and covers public and private schools throughout the state with a focus in the Central Virginia area. He currently lives in Keswick with his wife and has seven children and two grandchildren. To contact Robert, please email him at bigrob2523@gmail.com.
