Louisa vs Dinwiddie for Regional Championship
Anna G. Agee, staff writer
The Region 4B Final on Friday, Nov. 25 was a highly anticipated matchup between the Lions of Louisa and the Generals of Dinwiddie. Third ranked Louisa travelled South through Richmond and Petersburg to face off against #1 Dinwiddie. At 7 p.m., Thomas Henley for Louisa kicked off in front of an electric crowd. The Louisa fans packed not only the stands but their “LC” pride. The home stands were also packed with the locals cheering on their highly touted Generals, who were the stout favorite of the night.
Louisa, coming off an upset of #2 Monacan last Friday night, was prepared to go up against Dinwiddie as yet again the underdog. Dinwiddie was the state runner-up last season, and with linebacker K’Vaughan Pope, an Ohio State commit, leading the defense, who would not have placed their bets on the Generals.
Louisa won the coin toss and deferred. The Generals came up with nothing on their opening possession, and Louisa’s offense took the field. On the first run play, Senior QB Malik Bell ran through a Dinwiddie defender and took the ball 61 yards for a touchdown. Again, Louisa’s defense held Dinwiddie on their second possession. The Lions went up 14-0 with a 45 yard touchdown pass from Bell to Matthew West on their second offensive possession.
The Generals did not go away though. The momentum shifted quickly as K’ymon Pope threw consecutive touchdown passes of 48 and 49 yards to Jasiah Williams. The Louisa crowd was silenced; but only for a short stint. The two teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter to keep the score even at 21-21. A late field goal by Thomas Henley and a 6-yard touchdown pass from Bell to Raquan Jones with 20 seconds left in the half gave Louisa a 31-21 advantage going into halftime.
The story of the second half was Louisa’s clock management. Louisa’s opening drive ate up five minutes of the third quarter and ended in a touchdown. With the Lions up 37-21 Dinwiddie answered with a 26 yard touchdown pass from K’ymon Pope to Clatrey Reese. Dinwiddie then recovered an onside kick and had the short field advantage. Louisa’s defense came up big with a stop though. The Louisa offense ate up the clock with a 19 play drive where they eventually turned the ball over on downs at the Generals’ 3-yard line. With 1:21 left in the game, Dinwiddie needed to go 97 yards to score, but turned the ball over on downs. Louisa’s offense took the field one last time in victory formation and Louisa took the Region 4B Championship 37-28.
The Lions moved to 13-0 on the season and the Generals season ended with a record of 12-1. The game was full of big plays and big-time players. Bell finished with 187 yards rushing followed by Job Whalen with 87 yards. Dinwiddie held the advantage of passing yards with K’ymon Pope throwing for 241 yards and Bell throwing for 100 yards.
Louisa now moves on to Lafayette, who beat Kings Fork 17-7 in the Region 4A Final. Kings Fork will travel to Louisa on Saturday, Dec. 2 to take on the Lions in The Jungle. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. and tickets are on sale now for $10. Tickets will also be available at the ticket box Saturday.
