Football: Championship Caliber Drive Directs Broad Run Into Second Straigth VHSL Division 4 State Title Game

By Carl Lukat
Times-Mirror Staff Writer
Special to VivaLoudoun.com

Powhatan (Dec. 6, 2009) - Championship teams produce championship-caliber drives when it matters most. And that's exactly what Broad Run did in a 20-7 victory over previously undefeated Powhatan in the Division 4 state semifinals on a wet, cold and windy Dec. 5 afternoon.

Clinging to a 12-7 lead, the Spartans (13-0) gained possession at their own 26-yard line with 9:18 remaining in regulation. Broad Run proceeded to run the ball on 16 consecutive plays, chewing up more than eight precious minutes off the game clock.


After a pair of penalties left the Spartans facing a third down and 14 on the 16th play of the drive, sophomore QB Connor Jessop faked a handoff to senior RB T.J. Peeler before rolling out to his right and finding an opening along the Indians' sideline for a 17-yard touchdown run that gave Broad Run an insurmountable 20-7 lead with 1:15 left.

"I think we ran counter at least 20 times on that drive and then we just did a fake counter," said Jessop with pieces of grass and mud still stuck to his face. "Coach [Michael Burnett] told me that if nobody's open just run it. There was somebody open, but I was just trying to get a first down or stay in bounds and waste the clock."

"We had run so much counter and we were in a situation where we felt they had to overcommit, they had to get a stop," Burnett said. "We felt like that was a good call for us and Connor made the play."

Burnett, who pumped his right fist in full approval after Jessop crossed the goal line, ranked the drive second only to a fourth-quarter drive that wrapped up the 2008 state championship during his four years at Broad Run.

"That was a painful drive. Three times we had penalties, once we had a touchdown called back," he said. "It was one of those drives where we felt like this could end the game but it seemed like it was never going to end. That was really a sigh of relief for me."

Peeler, a University of Pittsburgh commit, was once again the Spartans' work horse in the win. Peeler ran the ball 36 times -- including 14 on the decisive drive -- to carry Broad Run back to the state final. Running behind an offensive line that Burnett said "really shined", Peeler finished with 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

"I'm a senior and I know my role on this team ...," Peeler said. "Coach told me I was going to get the ball and he really meant it."

Defensively, the Spartans turned in another sparkling effort. Broad Run held a Powhatan team that averaged 45 points per game in its first 12 contests to just seven points, shutting them out for the final 34-plus minutes of play.

After Powhatan scored the game's first touchdown early in the second quarter, the Spartans fumbled the ensuing kickoff to set the Indians up with good field position. Two plays later, Broad Run senior David Weaver intercepted a pass and returned it nearly 60 yards to sway the momentum back to the Spartans' side.

The Spartans also blocked a punt and recovered two Indian fumbles in the first half. Powhatan did not advance the ball past Broad Run's 35-yard line in the second half.

"Our defense always carry us," Burnett said. "They really do, especially when we are struggling. And we were. We were having a very hard time offensively in the first half and the defense got the stops we needed them to."

The victory was the 27th in a row for Broad Run. The Spartans will face Amherst (13-0) in the Division 5 state title game for a second straight year on Dec. 12, 4:30 p.m. at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium in Blacksburg.

Broad Run defeated Amherst 13-0 in the 2008 state title game.

"We're going to states," Jessop said matter-of-factly when asked the importance of Saturday's semifinal win.

Jessop will have a chance to lead Broad Run to a state title in his first season as the varsity quarterback after watching his older brother Chris Jessop quarterback the Spartans to the 2008 state championship.