Didn’t someone predict this game to be 42-20? Who was that clown, lol! The Chiefs nearly got to 42, if not for a failed PAT and two failed two-point conversions they would have had it. What I did not count on was the Jaguars being unable to find the endzone. Where did I go wrong? I guess it would be with one of the biggest factors and biggest keys to the success of the offense for the Jaguars this season, Cole Blackman. Unable to play due to foot injury, you could see Cole along the sidelines in a boot before the game started. That obviously was a sign there might be trouble for the Jaguars but I still did not think they would be blanked.
I also thought the game might be closer, more competitive early on as the Chiefs opened the game with 52-yard drive that went awry when the ball was fumbled away with Nick Bergman of the Jaguars recovering the loose ball. The tone on offense was set early for Glen Allen when the Jaguars were assessed two delay of game penalties and then had a third down pass from Alex Faniel dropped. On the Jaguars second possession of the night the ball was fumbled and that fumble gave the Chiefs the ball and they would capitalize on the field possession with their first score of the night. Whereas the Jaguars struggled on offense early, the Chiefs did not; able to run and pass on the Jaguars scoring on four consecutive possessions which started after that Jaguar turnover. That turnover really could be the turning point for the game itself even if it was early. The Chiefs might have scored again before overtime but their field goal try failed to leave the Chiefs with a 26-0 at halftime.
This is not to say there were not positives for Glen Allen in the first half but there was just not the consistency you would hope to see early on. The second half was a different story, the Jaguars got the ball first and were moving the ball with a balance of the run and pass game but when Tucker Larson caught a pass from Faniel and didn’t immediately get back up it felt as if the momentum Glen Allen had was slipping away. On the very next play, a 3rd & 4 Faniel was sacked by Justin Sanders for a loss of five yards. The Jaguars then attempted a 42-yard field goal but that was a bust as the kicker slipped and the ball was blocked and just like that, the momentum Glen Allen had was gone. Monacan’s defense kept up the pressure after the Chiefs next score, a 70-yard touchdown from Khalik Hamlin; his third of the night. Glen Allen’s defense continued to make plays as well and Nick Bergman nearly had a pickoff in the endzone but he could not hold onto it and that was a third down play; the Jaguars were spared another Chief touchdown when the fake field goal was foiled by Thomas Lowerre who brought backup quarterback Patrick Routsis down.
Glen Allen had perhaps their best drive of the night in the fourth quarter where they started from their own ten yard line. Everything was clicking on this drive from the run game to the pass; the biggest pass from Faniel to Najee Lawrence for a pickup of 35 yards to the 4… Xavier Brown however came through for the Chiefs when he brought Faniel down in the backfield for a loss of nine yards. After a six yard run the Jaguars were at the seven, faced with 3rd & 13 and they just went further back… Not because of the Chiefs defense but rather false start… twice! The Jaguars were pushed back to the 17 after being as close as 4 yards and on third down Faniel was sent scrambling around the field taking a hit in the backfield yet again for a loss of six yards courtesy of Deandre Williams. The Jaguars best chance at a score ended when Faniel’s pass fell incomplete and as had been the case many times before, the Chiefs would score with 2:01 to go in the game on the ensuing possession capping a 77-yard drive.
Glen Allen’s long night came to a close with just one yard gained on their possession of the night.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter-
3:33- Tony Miller 1-yard touchdown run, two-point conversion fails; Monacan 6-0.
2nd Quarter-
8:52- Tony Miller 5-yard touchdown run, PAT good; Monacan 13-0.
3:46- Khalik Hamlin 5-yard touchdown run, two-point conversion fails; Monacan 19-0.
1:12- Khalik Hamilin 32-yard touchdown run, PAT good; Monacan 26-0.
3rd Quarter-
6:30- Khalik Hamlin 70-yard touchdown run, PAT no good; Monacan 32-0.
4th Quarter-
2:01- Korey Bridey 11-yard touchdown run, PAT good; Monacan 39-0.
KEYS TO VICTORY
Plain and simple, two fundamentals to football were key to victory for the Chiefs in this one; running and defense. The Chiefs pounded the ball all night long challenging the Glen Allen defense to stop them. Sometimes the defense got the stop but in most cases the Chiefs were able to run and quite effectively. There were moments throughout the game where I thought the defense had Hamlin or Miller but no, next thing you knew they were popping out of a pile of Jaguars and picking up a few more yards. There were also moments where it seemed Hamlin and Miller both were pushing the Jaguar defense as they were running. Of course what the defense did speaks for itself with no points on the board for the Jaguars. The run game of Glen Allen had moments, particularly late in the game but it could never sustain there was no consistency and that goes for both the run and pass game. Some of that can be credited to that of the Chiefs defense but some of it can be attributed to a Jaguars offense that played its first game with a new quarterback and without Cole Blackman, their leading target. Couple these two things with several penalties, the yellow waved several times on this night that stunted several positive gains by Glen Allen and it just spelled a 39-0 win for the Chiefs and loss for the Jaguars.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
It’s hard to argue against Khalik Hamlin on this night. 15 carries for 205 yards and three touchdowns that came consecutively with the final two combining for 102 yards! As previously stated, Hamlin was also seen several times finding holes through a pile of Jaguars or in some cases pushing the defense as his legs kept churning. Hamlin will be trouble for opposing defenses in the Dominion District and will be fun to watch him through the season.
On the Jaguars side, even though it was a shutout and even though he didn’t have the game he had hoped for Alex Faniel still passed for over 100 yards at 110. Faniel was 7 of 16 but several of those misses were dropped balls. Faniel even under fire from the defense all night long never game up and kept pushing his offense.
EXTRA POINTS
Glen Allen was shutout for the first time since Oct. 18th, 2013.
Fifth straight game dating back to last season that Glen Allen gave up 39 or more points.
First season opening loss for Glen Allen since their first season of 2011.
Monacan’s 7th shutout since Coach Henderson arrived in 2013.
I also thought the game might be closer, more competitive early on as the Chiefs opened the game with 52-yard drive that went awry when the ball was fumbled away with Nick Bergman of the Jaguars recovering the loose ball. The tone on offense was set early for Glen Allen when the Jaguars were assessed two delay of game penalties and then had a third down pass from Alex Faniel dropped. On the Jaguars second possession of the night the ball was fumbled and that fumble gave the Chiefs the ball and they would capitalize on the field possession with their first score of the night. Whereas the Jaguars struggled on offense early, the Chiefs did not; able to run and pass on the Jaguars scoring on four consecutive possessions which started after that Jaguar turnover. That turnover really could be the turning point for the game itself even if it was early. The Chiefs might have scored again before overtime but their field goal try failed to leave the Chiefs with a 26-0 at halftime.
This is not to say there were not positives for Glen Allen in the first half but there was just not the consistency you would hope to see early on. The second half was a different story, the Jaguars got the ball first and were moving the ball with a balance of the run and pass game but when Tucker Larson caught a pass from Faniel and didn’t immediately get back up it felt as if the momentum Glen Allen had was slipping away. On the very next play, a 3rd & 4 Faniel was sacked by Justin Sanders for a loss of five yards. The Jaguars then attempted a 42-yard field goal but that was a bust as the kicker slipped and the ball was blocked and just like that, the momentum Glen Allen had was gone. Monacan’s defense kept up the pressure after the Chiefs next score, a 70-yard touchdown from Khalik Hamlin; his third of the night. Glen Allen’s defense continued to make plays as well and Nick Bergman nearly had a pickoff in the endzone but he could not hold onto it and that was a third down play; the Jaguars were spared another Chief touchdown when the fake field goal was foiled by Thomas Lowerre who brought backup quarterback Patrick Routsis down.
Glen Allen had perhaps their best drive of the night in the fourth quarter where they started from their own ten yard line. Everything was clicking on this drive from the run game to the pass; the biggest pass from Faniel to Najee Lawrence for a pickup of 35 yards to the 4… Xavier Brown however came through for the Chiefs when he brought Faniel down in the backfield for a loss of nine yards. After a six yard run the Jaguars were at the seven, faced with 3rd & 13 and they just went further back… Not because of the Chiefs defense but rather false start… twice! The Jaguars were pushed back to the 17 after being as close as 4 yards and on third down Faniel was sent scrambling around the field taking a hit in the backfield yet again for a loss of six yards courtesy of Deandre Williams. The Jaguars best chance at a score ended when Faniel’s pass fell incomplete and as had been the case many times before, the Chiefs would score with 2:01 to go in the game on the ensuing possession capping a 77-yard drive.
Glen Allen’s long night came to a close with just one yard gained on their possession of the night.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter-
3:33- Tony Miller 1-yard touchdown run, two-point conversion fails; Monacan 6-0.
2nd Quarter-
8:52- Tony Miller 5-yard touchdown run, PAT good; Monacan 13-0.
3:46- Khalik Hamlin 5-yard touchdown run, two-point conversion fails; Monacan 19-0.
1:12- Khalik Hamilin 32-yard touchdown run, PAT good; Monacan 26-0.
3rd Quarter-
6:30- Khalik Hamlin 70-yard touchdown run, PAT no good; Monacan 32-0.
4th Quarter-
2:01- Korey Bridey 11-yard touchdown run, PAT good; Monacan 39-0.
KEYS TO VICTORY
Plain and simple, two fundamentals to football were key to victory for the Chiefs in this one; running and defense. The Chiefs pounded the ball all night long challenging the Glen Allen defense to stop them. Sometimes the defense got the stop but in most cases the Chiefs were able to run and quite effectively. There were moments throughout the game where I thought the defense had Hamlin or Miller but no, next thing you knew they were popping out of a pile of Jaguars and picking up a few more yards. There were also moments where it seemed Hamlin and Miller both were pushing the Jaguar defense as they were running. Of course what the defense did speaks for itself with no points on the board for the Jaguars. The run game of Glen Allen had moments, particularly late in the game but it could never sustain there was no consistency and that goes for both the run and pass game. Some of that can be credited to that of the Chiefs defense but some of it can be attributed to a Jaguars offense that played its first game with a new quarterback and without Cole Blackman, their leading target. Couple these two things with several penalties, the yellow waved several times on this night that stunted several positive gains by Glen Allen and it just spelled a 39-0 win for the Chiefs and loss for the Jaguars.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
It’s hard to argue against Khalik Hamlin on this night. 15 carries for 205 yards and three touchdowns that came consecutively with the final two combining for 102 yards! As previously stated, Hamlin was also seen several times finding holes through a pile of Jaguars or in some cases pushing the defense as his legs kept churning. Hamlin will be trouble for opposing defenses in the Dominion District and will be fun to watch him through the season.
On the Jaguars side, even though it was a shutout and even though he didn’t have the game he had hoped for Alex Faniel still passed for over 100 yards at 110. Faniel was 7 of 16 but several of those misses were dropped balls. Faniel even under fire from the defense all night long never game up and kept pushing his offense.
EXTRA POINTS
Glen Allen was shutout for the first time since Oct. 18th, 2013.
Fifth straight game dating back to last season that Glen Allen gave up 39 or more points.
First season opening loss for Glen Allen since their first season of 2011.
Monacan’s 7th shutout since Coach Henderson arrived in 2013.
