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After a scoreless first quarter, the Mustangs (1-0) and the Patriots (0-1) exchanged scores in the second quarter.

Albemarle senior Zach Vrhovac opened the game’s scoring as he collected a reverse and sliced into the end zone on a 9-yard run. As was par for the course, the extra-point attempt missed.

Monticello answered – Mustangs’ quarterback Mike Graham, blessed with time to look down field, connected with Khiry Washington on a 35-yard touchdown reception. Washington ensured the 34-yard PAT would fail after he flipped into the end zone in celebration as he approached the right pylon.

AHS took the lead again in the third quarter. Once again, Vrhovac found the end zone. This time, however, the wideout took a pass from Jeremy Robinson and willed his way past defenders and into the end zone.

The Patriots were unable to add to their lead as the extra-point attempt was blocked by a Mustang defender who easily crashed through the middle of the protection.

Monticello mounted another rally. With 2:50 left in the third quarter, Graham forced his way into the left-corner of the end zone on a quarterback keeper. The game remained tied after the extra-point attempt rocketed off the kicking tee in the direction of an official underneath the right uprights.

As the rain continued to strengthen, footing became an obvious problem for both teams.
But the Mustangs’ offense would not be denied their game-winning drive. After rolling to his right, Graham fired a strike with 9:56 left in the game to wideout Jake Pelton for a 6-yard TD pass.

Pelton, a senior, managed to sneak both of his feet down just inside the right-corner of the end zone long enough to register the highly-contested score.

AHS managed to move the ball into Western territory in the game’s waning minutes, but a late interception hauled in by Pelton secured the Mustangs win.

For Monticello, Graham finished 8-of-18 passing for 182 yards. Despite obvious issues in the exchange with the signal-caller and his center, Graham also added 29 yards on the ground rushing.

Before leaving with an apparent ankle injury, Monticello tailback Hines Banks rushed three times for 16 yards, and Roosevelt Thomas added 40 yards on seven carries.
Pelton, a vocal leader on the team, led Monticello’s receiving corps, hauling in four passes for 113 yards.

“We worked hard all summer and [this win is] a tribute to everyone on this team,” Pelton said. “You couldn’t script it any better. We are going to take this momentum into the whole season and, hopefully, we make it back to [the state championship game at] Liberty.

“It’s a great rivalry and we are friends with these guys, but on the field it is really competitive. After the game we just shake hands.”

Albemarle hopes to shake hands following Friday night’s contest at Western Albemarle with a different feeling.

For now, the Patriots are forced to look for silver linings from the seven-point loss.

The Patriots did pass for 139 yards as Robinson connected with six different players. Vrhovac paced the team with 60 yards receiving on four receptions, and junior Jordan Hill finished with a game-best five catches, which accounted for 57 yards.

"I thought we played pretty well," AHS coach Rick Vrhovac said. "I told the kids, 'It's a battle.' There's a winner and loser in every battle, and we lost this battle but there were a lot of positives that come out of this battle.

"There are nine more games and we have Western Albemarle on Friday night. That's the only thing that we can be worried about."

Posted by Staff Report on September 6, 2008 11:32 AM | Permalink

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