Football: Loudoun County High School Heartbreak! Raiders Fall 27-25 to James Wood

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Winchester (Nov. 14, 2009) - Heartbreak. That is the only way to describe the feeling for the Loudoun County High School football team and its fans as they watched their team gamely rally in the final seconds only to see a game-winning field goal attempt miss by inches as time expired in a 27-25 AA Region II Division 4 loss to James Wood in a game played at Handley High School.

It was a thrilling high school football game and the Raiders -- who didn't punt once on the afternoon and out-gained the Colonels by almost 100 yards -- certainly played their hearts out. The LC defense was nicked up and James Wood took advantage with Brock Lockhart rushing for 265 yards on 33 carries and three scores, including an 84-yard highlight reel run in the third quarter that changed the complexion of the game.

The Raiders countered with 160 yards on 21 carries and a score by senior Kevin Fitts and senior quarterback Austin Campbell went 22 of 34 for 250 yards. It was Campbell, with the Raiders taking over on their own 11 with just 100 seconds to go and one time out remaining, that calmly drove his team all the way down to the JW 15 for the 32-yard field goal which just missed the left upright.

Raider players and fans, at first thinking the kick was good, cheered, but then the cheers turned to groans, and James Wood stormed the turf field in a wild celebration as they had just captured the school's first playoff football win since 1975.

Check back for a box, photos, video of the finish and more details later.