GAME SUMMARY

The headline matchup in the area on Friday featured Monticello hosting Turner Ashby in a battle of unbeaten Class 3 heavyweights. The Knights advanced to the Region finals a year ago in head coach Scott Turner’s second season at the helm of the program. Monticello finished 8-2 last year, their best season since 2017, and had an opportunity to make a statement against their opponent in their final non-district battle of 2024 before the postseason.

Only one team managed to get on the scoreboard in a defensive slugfest during the first half but a third quarter that saw Turner Ashby reach the endzone three times was the difference in the 28-0 Knights victory. The win is the six consecutive time the Mustangs have been defeated by Turner Ashby in head-to-head competition.

In retrospect, even that score was assisted by a pair of defensive penalties that allowed Turner Ashby to keep their offense on the field and take advantage of a short field before eventually reaching the endzone on a Braylen Fields two-yard touchdown run to give the Knights a 7-0 advantage they took into the halftime break.

It was following the pause in action that the tide gradually shifted in the Knights favor. First, Turner Ashby received the opening kickoff and a special teams penalty forced them to start their offensive drive pinned near their goalline at the four-yard line. On second down, Class of 2025 prospect Beau Baylor broke off a 38-yard run that took the ball to the 43 and gave the Knights offense some breathing room.

Turner Ashby seemed poised to get their rushing attack in sync after they failed to do so consistently in the opening half against the Mustangs' defense. Fields and Baylor took turns taking handoffs from Knights quarterback Zachary Grove, each gaining yards in large chunks during the drive. With the team near midfield, Fields gained 21 yards and the Baylor ran for 19 setting up a three-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-0 following the extra point.

Monticello was forced to punt on their next offensive possession and Turner Ashby’s offense went back to the ground when they regained control of the pigskin at the Mustangs 39 yard line. It only took five plays with Fields ending the drive with his second rushing score of the night.

As the three touchdown deficit began deflating the excitement on the Monticello sidelines, a fumble on their first play from scrimmage after the Fields score was recovered by Turner Ashby on the Monticello 25 yard line. Four plays later, Baylor found the endzone for his second rushing score and knocked out the wind that was left in their opponent making the Knights advantage 28-0.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior finished the game with 224 yards on the ground on 24 attempts for the Knights. Ezekiel Pour was the leading rusher for Monticello, scoring 101 yards from scrimmage. Both teams totaled 390 rushing yards, which was just 49 passing yards in the game.

The victory moves the Knights to 3-0 on the season, the second consecutive season the Virginia Preps #5 team in Class 3 has finished non-district action without a loss.

SCORING SUMMARY

Turner Ashby—0 7 21 0 — 28

Monticello—0 0 0 0 — 0

SECOND QUARTER

TA—Braylen Fields 2 yard run (Solomon Kisembo kick), 11:49

THIRD QUARTER

TA—Beau Baylor 3 yard run (Gavin Knopp kick), 8:38

TA—Braylen Fields 9 yard run (Solomon Kisembo kick), 1:53

TA—Beau Baylor 2 yard run (Solomon Kisembo kick), 1:17

STANDOUT PLAYERS

Beau Baylor, Turner Ashby…The Knights running back displayed why he holds several offers at the collegiate level including Division I teams William & Mary and Maine University. Baylor’s physical running style and ability to turn upfield quickly and gain large bits of yards in a single attempt makes it difficult for opponents to keep him bottled up for an entire game. Against Monticello, the Class of 2025 prospect had 224 total rushing yards with 157 coming in the second half. While the Mustangs did a decent job of limiting Baylor in the opening half, their style of rushing and Turner Ashby’s offensive line wore on their opponent allowing the Knights running back to help his team break the game open in the third quarter and advance to 3-0.

Braylen Fields, Turner Ashby…With Virginia Tech commit Micah Matthews on the sideline, the Turner Ashby offense needed someone to step up and compliment the abilities of the Knights leading rusher. While his stat line for yardage may not look impressive on paper, the senior running back had several long runs and scored two touchdowns in the victory. The efforts of the 6-foot-0, 200-pounder were enough to keep the Mustangs' defense from focusing solely on Baylor while keeping the momentum of the Knights rushing attack solid, a compliment to the teams' offensive line as well.

Ezekiel Pour, Monticello…The Mustangs are a run first team and have several players that can rush the football. Despite the the team loss, the senior gained 101 yards on the ground bringing his season total to 284 rushing yards. That pace is nearly in line to put Pour over the century mark for the second straight season as Monticello’s lead rusher. With a pair of players expected to return to the field for Monticello who can gain yards on the ground along with sophomore Jaiden Walker showing he is more than capable in the backfield as well, one may expect Pour’s totals to take a hit. Alternatively, however, just like Monticello likes to use the run to set up the pass, having more players that can move the chains will likely allow Pour to show off his athleticism and rushing abilities even more as Monticello enters Jefferson District play.

TAKEAWAYS

TURNER ASHBY PLAYS PHYSICAL

Through three games to start the season, the Knights' defense has only allowed 14 points. In Friday night’s shutout against Monticello, the unit only allowed 128 total yards to a Mustangs squad that racked up 416 offensive yards in the second week of the season. Turner Ashby only gave up three completions and allowed four passing yards against Monticello quarterback Owen Engel who completed 14 passes and threw for three touchdowns in the week two victory. Offensively, Turner Ashby netted 266 of the teams’ 311 total yards on the ground. The unit maintained possession for nearly 35 of 48 minutes, ran the football 41 times, and gained 17 first downs on the ground. The Knights identity is to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football and they have been able to do so with little resistance thus far in 2024.

THE KNIGHTS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE A RUN

It remains to be seen how Turner Ashby will fare in Valley District play but if the start to the 2024 campaign is any indication, the Knights have a real possibility of running the table before postseason action begins in November. Running back Beau Baylor is a force and the team will only become more dynamic with Micah Matthews expected to rejoin the squad on the field. As a junior, the Virginia Tech commit had 1426 yards receiving and hauled in 86 receptions with 16 of those going for touchdowns. Matthews helps Turner Ashby add another dimension to their offense and with a stout defense, the Knights can compete at a high level not only in Region 3C but with some of the top Class 3 teams in the state such as Heritage-Lynchburg, Lord Botetourt, and Lafayette among others.

MONTICELLO IS BETTER THAN GOOD

The outcome for the Mustangs in this contest was not what they wanted it to be but Monticello made their presence known. Several times there were Monticello receivers over top of the Knights’ defense but failed pass attempts that fell harmlessly to the ground erased opportunities to swing the game in a different direction. Athlete Tre Early is expected to return to the field for Jefferson District play and Monticello has talented players abound in Ezekiel Pour, D’Rhon Jackson, and Juelz Christmas-Jackson. This season, the Mustangs have also had impressive play from newcomer Jaiden Walker quarterback Owen Engel and receiver Zayden Simpson have shown glimpses of stardom leading to the fact that opponents will no longer take the Mustangs lightly when they face them. It’s apparent that the Mustangs are striding in a positive direction on and off the field under head coach Matthew Hicks and others in the area should take note.

WHAT’S NEXT

Turner Ashby takes on Waynesboro who is now 0-3 after a 47-7 loss to Broadway on Friday night. Last year, the Knights defeated the Little Giants 50-6. This season, Waynesboro is the home team as Turner Ashby looks to extend their regular season win streak to four games before entering their bye week.

Monticello is idle before they face Goochland in week five to begin Jefferson District play. The week off allows Monticello to regroup from the loss and heal after a bout of physical games in their non-district schedule to begin the season. Mustangs coach Matthew Hicks squad went 6-1 in district play last season.

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.