Canes Start Football Season On Right Foot
The Monticello Hurricanes kicked off the 2023 football season with a statement, traveling to AAAA Walnut Grove last Friday and coming away with an exhilarating 20-18 win. If you didn’t take your heart medicine before you went, you definitely made sure to when you got home.
This was a historical win for the Hurricanes, as this was the first win over an AAAA school in school history. This was also the first victory over the Walnut Grove Warriors who had defeated the Hurricanes in three previous meetings. It was the first season opening win since the Canes took down Monroe Area 46-40 in three overtimes in 2011.
Monticello won the toss, and was represented at midfield by captains for the game Seniors Kaidon Whidby, Josiah Cotterell, Junior Jalen Stewart, and Sophomore Cam Farley. Head Coach Ashley Henderson also recognized Freshman Nolan Dean and Junior Lucas Sprayberry for their performance on scout team for the week.
The Canes came out of the gate a little sluggish after receiving the opening kickoff, with quarterback Austin Young lofting up an interception on the third play of the game. The defense responded though, holding the Warriors after a big stop by Farley put them into a punting situation.
A running into the kicker call moved the ball up from what had been a fourth and 11 situation to a fourth and sixth from the Monticello 36. This prompted the Warriors to make an attempt to convert, where they came up a yard short, turning the ball over on downs, and recharging the Hurricane sideline. A penalty against Walnut Grove gave the Canes a first and five from their own 35, where Stewart took a handoff from quarterback Chevy Sands and raced 43-yards for a first down to the Warrior 22-yard line.
The Canes seized the momentum and pushed across for the score on the next play, a jaunt by Senior Whidby after an option pitch from Sands. Whidby made a man miss and coasted 22-yards into the end-zone untouched. The extra-point attempt was blocked, leaving the score at 6-0.
On the ensuing Warrior possession, a long kickoff return gave the Grove great field position, but the Hurricane defense held again, giving up only a first down before driving the Warriors back. An incomplete pass on fourth and 13 turned the ball over to the Canes, at their own 29, and they were on the way again.
Unfortunately, two short runs followed by an incomplete pass led to a punt with 54 seconds left in the first quarter. A run for no gain, followed by an incompletion brought up a third and 10, where Tyler Banks was able to get free and take down Walnut Grove quarterback Reid Fagan for a six-yard loss for one of his four sacks for the evening.
The second quarter began with a sustained drive which stalled around midfield, where Young’s punt for 46-yards was downed at the Walnut Grove 2-yard line where the Warriors took over. Three plays later, a fumble forced by Brandon Ridley was recovered by sophomore Farley on the 11-yard line going in. After a penalty was assessed for a false start, moving the ball back to the 21, Stewart lost a yard on an option pitch. On second and 16, Sands kept and ran through the arms of two would-be tacklers, scoring from 22-yards out to put the Canes up 12-0. On the two-point conversion, Sands was the man again, throwing a pass to Young t take them to 14-0.
Walnut Grove then drove for almost five minutes, chewing up clock and moving methodically down the field. The Hurricanes held, forcing a punt, but muffed the return and the Warriors recovered on the Monticello 13 but the defense held, with Ty’mir Thornton getting a huge sack on third and long to knock the Warriors out of field goal range.
Three plays later, a fumble gave Walnut Grove the ball back, again in Monticello territory, but a strong hit on the quarterback by Kamarion Owens forced a fumble that was recovered by Randy Williams, and the Hurricanes were in business. On the first play, Stewart burst outside for a big 16-yard run, giving the Hurricanes a first down at the Warrior 34. A five-yard penalty moved the Hurricanes up to the 39, where Sands took the snap, made a man miss, blazed downfield, ran between two would-be tacklers and cut back around the 35 to take it for a house call and the Canes last score of the game on the 61-yard burst.
Coach Henderson said, “Chevy is a good player and an even better young man. He has worked hard and been very unselfish in his role. We are playing two quarterbacks right now and they feed off of each other. He had three huge runs for us the other night but the way he commanded the offense was big.”
If you’ve read “A Tale of Two Cities,” you’re familiar with the opening line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Well, at the end of the game you could have said “it was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves” when talking about how the Hurricanes had to fight and claw to pick up the win. The Canes held on after the Warriors scored 18 points in the second half, but never sustaining a drive of more than 23-yards.
Although the offense was sputtering in the second half, the defense stepped up which began with Senior Banks coming alive in the second half, with three of his four sacks on the evening helping to put the Warriors in adverse situations that led to two punts and an interception to end drives in the third quarter.
Senior Cotterell racked up a big interception on a third and goal play from the 41 yard line that put the ball back in the hands of the Monticello offense, and Senior Whidby blocked an extra point attempt and came up with a game-sealing interception on the last Warrior drive.
Next week the Hurricanes host their home opener, welcoming the Pike County Pirates from Zebulon. The Pirates are coming to Monticello on the heels of a 57-6 throttling last Friday, and are looking to right the ship. Pike County holds a slim 5-4 advantage in head to head meetings with the Canes dating back to 1978. Last season, the Hurricanes won 18-6 in Zebulon and broke a 16 game losing streak.