Although we lost a linebacker for the season against King George (but have some depth at that position) and are dealing with minor nagging things, we are in much better shape than at this point last year. Our pass defense hasn't been tested yet, and Monticello will do that. That's the only real question I still have about this Lion defense. QB Jarrell threw for 275 yards and 3 TDs against WA, and is deceptively fast when he runs the zone read. Orange will test our pass defense too, QB Carter is pretty good. I'm not surprised about Monticello. IMO, they should've been this good two years ago. I'm not a fan of Coach Lloyd. Coach Woody would have them as state title contenders each of these last three seasons. They are very good, but haven't seen a defense as good as this Louisa team's over their whole career. The Lions haven't seen an offense that good this season, but Monticello's defense is still suspect.
As to our studs playing both ways, I feel that if they played both ways last year, and we had Bell and Cherry against Monacan, we'd probably be talking about Louisa's chances at a repeat state title right now. I think the defense is good enough that it doesn't really matter what the offense does, or does not, do, as long as they don't go overboard with turnovers or have quick 3-and-outs. There is a JV player or two that are good enough to immediately start on defense in the playoffs if needed. One is Clarke County Hall of Fame running back Bo Morgan's son.
I won't get specific, but I love what our offense has been running when they aren't in the single wing, as long as our OC doesn't get too cute with it. Keep it Simple, Stupid (as Fischer would say). Against Powhatan, we ran the least single wing I've ever seen Fischer run. They ran it in the second half just to grind the clock, and were able to get more reps with the backup linemen. Line depth will always be a concern, but they have held up pretty well so far.
