On Friday night, William Monroe of the Northwestern District hosted Stuarts Draft of the Shenandoah District. In the second season of the Mitchell Morris era, the Green Dragons are looking to improve from a 2-7-1 2021 season record. Meanwhile, the Cougars who finished their season last fall with a loss in the Region 2B finals look to rebound after reaching the Class 2 State Finals in 2019 and the spring of 2021.

During last falls' season opener, the two teams battled to a 7-7 tie before their game was suspended due to lightning and was not able to be completed. It was apparent from the onset in this one that the young Stuarts Draft team wanted to physically dominate their opponent. They were able to do just that on both sides of the football as they charged ahead early and never looked back on their way to a 41-0 victory.

Here we’ll take a closer look at the action from yesterday.

KEYS TO VICTORY

PHYSICAL FOOTBALL

Monroe’s offense took the field to start the game and hoped to set the tone against an aggressive Stuarts Draft defense that allowed just 14 points per game last fall. The Dragons handed the ball off to junior Jackson Wood and senior Tanner Williams on each of their first two snaps but managed to net 0 yards. On third down, starting quarterback Davien Griffieth dropped back to pass for the Dragons but faced heavy pressure from the Cougars defensive line.

Griffieth’s pass was picked off by Cougars senior linebacker Troy Thompson who returned the ball inside the ten yard line of the Dragons. It only took one play for the Cougars offense to generate points from the turnover as sophomore Da’shea Smith took a handoff from quarterback Landon Graber and rumbled into the endzone behind solid blocking from the Stuarts Draft offensive line.

DOMINANT DEFENSE

The Cougars defense forced their opponents into three turnovers on the night and the team was able to convert the first two of those into touchdowns. The third, an interception by Ty Obaugh late in the game, eliminated any chance of the William Monroe offense from scoring in the contest.

In total, the Greene Dragons offense was held to just 33 total yards and reached midfield only twice on the night. The first came late in the opening half when Monroe’s offense converted their first of just two first downs in the game when Griffieth completed a pass to Nic Caruso. The Cougars defense would not allow another yard to the Greene Dragons offense on the drive. The unit then forced an incompletion by Wood on a fake punt attempt four plays later which resulted in a turnover on downs.

On the ensuing possession, the Cougars offense marched 55 yards on 13 plays to score their fourth touchdown in the first half with just fifteen seconds remaining in the second quarter. The special teams unit pinned Monroe deep in their own territory for their final possession before intermission on the following kickoff. The Cougars defense forced a fumble when Monroe's offense took over that Thompson scooped up and took to the endzone to extend their lead before intermission and create a running clock scenario for the second half.

THREE YARDS AND A CLOUD OF DUST

Just as their defense physically punished the Greene Dragons offense, the Cougars offensive line mirrored the toughness and grit when the unit was on the field. Stuarts Draft attempted just two pass attempts the entire game, relying on their rushing attack to carry the load.

Draft would score on each of their five offensive possessions in the opening half, four of those resulting in touchdowns. The three drives that resulted in touchdowns were on drives of eight, 11 and 13 plays. Smith crossed the goalline on each with one two-yard rushing score and two scores from the opponents one yard line. On the lone possession that did not result in a touchdown, junior kicker Ethan Cyr booted a 35 yard field goal through the uprights to add points to the scoreboard for the Cougars.

The Cougars offense wanted to control the box between the tackles and did that effectively while repeatedly handing the ball off to Smith in the first half. Sophomore Owen Trent became the feature back in the second half with Smith and many of the teams other starters on the sideline. Draft, however, did not stray from their physical approach and continued to move the ball against the Monroe defense. Smith and Owens combined for over 220 yards of rushing on a combined 34 attempts.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter

SD—Da’shea Smith 8 yard run (Ethan Cyr kick), 10:32

SD—Da’shea Smith 2 yard run (Ethan Cyr kick), 6:20

SD—Ethan Cyr 35 yard field goal, 0:56

2nd Quarter

SD—Da’shea Smith 1 yard run (Ethan Cyr kick), 7:37

SD—Da’shea Smith 1 yard run (Ethan Cyr kick), 0:15

SD—Troy Thompson 7 yard fumble return (Ethan Cyr kick), 0:00

3rd Quarter

SD—Ethan Cyr 20 yard field goal, 4:41

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Da’shea Smith, Stuarts Draft…In his first varsity start of the season, Smith rushed for 160 yards on the ground on 28 attempts for an average of 5.71 yards per attempt. The 5-foot-10, 180 pound sophomore also scored four touchdowns for his team and has head coach Nathan Floyd excited about the future for the young back who replaces standout Aaron Nice as the feature back for the program.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Cougars will host county rival Waynesboro next week in their home opener for the season. The Little Giants fell victim to Riverheads 61-14 on Friday night. Draft has won five straight against Waynesboro by an average margin of 32-10. Last fall, the Cougars were victorious 51-14 playing at Waynesboro. The Little Giants are led by hed coach Brandon Jarvis who is in his third year at the helm of the program and has notched more victories already than the three previous seasons combined before taking over the program.

William Monroe will go on the road in search of their first win of 2022 as they face Spotswood. The Trailblazers narrowly defeated East Rockingham 23-21 Friday night. The Greene Dragons have won just three of the last 16 meetings with the Trailblazers but found themselves on the winning side a year ago with a 34-21 victory. Spotswood is looking to return to playoff form after starting the coach Dale Shifflett era with four consecutive postseason appearances. The team has missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Robert lives in Charlottesville and has been contributing to VirginiaPreps.com since 2013. He began working in the sports media in 2006 and now covers public and private schools throughout Virginia with a focus in the Piedmont area. His goal is to tell the players stories and provide top notch coverage to the community for area teams.

If you have suggestions or comments, please let us know. Information can be emailed to bigrob2523@gmail.com and you can find him on twitter @bigrob2523.