Football: Broad Run(s) to 33rd Straight Victory with 42-21 Win Over Park View

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Sterling (Sept. 25, 2010) - Broad Run High School showed Park View Friday night that the Spartans could score the easy way or the hard way.

In the first half Broad Run opened with a spirit-sapping 16-play, all-run 71-yard scoring drive that chewed up more than seven minutes and in the second half the Spartans opened by scoring twice on three snaps. Either way they got to the end zone the final result was a 42-21 win for Broad Run to open Dulles District play and extend the school's winning streak to 33 games.

"Offense, defense, special teams ... you put a smile on my face," first-year Broad Run coach Matt Griffis told his team after the dominating win on the road.

The game wasn't as close as the final score indicates as Broad Run (1-0, 5-0) led 42-7 in the contest before emptying their bench and Park View (0-1, 1-3) was held to just nine total yards rushing on 20 plays.

"You have to bounce back. Keep your heads up," Park View first-year coach Ferris Eways implored his players.

Both teams face tough tests on the road next Friday with Broad Run at Ashburn neighbor Briar Woods (1-0, 3-2) and Park View going to Leesburg to take on Loudoun County (0-0, 2-2).


The Spartans single wing attack amassed 385 total yards on 62 plays including 275 yards on 55 carries while the Patriots were held to 138 yards on 37 plays.

Broad Run junior Derril Thomas rushed for 116 yards on 13 carries including a 60-yard TD run on the second snap of the second half that basically put the game away by increasing the Spartans lead to 28-7. Another junior, Markas Anderson, rushed for 59 yards on 13 carries and caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from junior Michael Stratton, who tossed two scores while sharing time with junior Jack Sistare at quarterback. Starter, junior Connor Jessop, is out until at least the playoffs after a collarbone injury in the Sept. 3 win over Heritage.

Stratton and Sistare combined for an efficient 5 of 7 for 110 yards.

Park View got a pair of touchdowns late, including a 50-yard fumble return by senior Ben Pick. Junior Ryan McCarter, an all-district basketball player, caught two jump balls in the end zone, the first at the end of the first half with Broad Run up 21-0 and the second in the final minutes after the Patriots had blocked a Spartan punt in the Red Zone.

After the Spartan defense, which has allowed a touchdown or less in three of the five games this season, forced a punt on Park View's opening drive, the Broad Run offense went to work with Anderson and Thomas combining for 11 carries on the 16-play drive.

The biggest plays on the march were a pair of inside reverses to senior wingback Steven Fields which each netted 10 yards. Thomas finished the drive wtih a 1-yard plunge with 2:11 left in the first quarter. Junior Ryan Donnelly made the first of his six extra point tries.

After forcing another Park View punt, the Spartans picked up with the run attack, reeling off seven straight runs to move the ball 37 yards to the PV 38. Stratton then came in and on Broad Run's first pass attempt of the night he found Fields wide open down the right sidelines for the 38-yard score with 8:46 left in the first half.

The Spartans defense ratcheted up the pressure and threw the Patriots for three losses on three plays, forcing Park View to punt from their own end zone. That gave BR great field position at the Park View 40 and nine plays later the Spartans were again in the end zone, this time it was freshman Da'Qwan Earl scoring from nine yards out. Earl is the brother of Broad Run graduate Breon Earl, who led the Spartans to the first of the school's back-to-back AA Division 4 state titles two years ago.

With just 2:01 left in the half and trailing 21-0, the Patriots showed some spark as junior quarterback Alec Dombkowski found junior Dante Absher for 18 yards to move the ball into Spartan territory and on 3rd-and-10 and running for his life from a heavy rush, Dombkowski reversed his field near the Patriot bench and ran all the way back across towards the Spartan bench before finding Pick uncovered and he went 33 yards to take the ball to the Spartan 4.

A Broad Run pass interference penalty and then a Park View holding penalty left the ball at the 12 where Dombkowski hooked up with McCarter on a fade pattern in the back of the end zone with 18.8 seconds left in the half. Junior Wilfredo Avila's extra point made it 21-7.

Any hope of Park View fighting back into the contest evaporated quickly in the third quarter as Thomas broke free on the second play for a 60-yard sprint to the end zone. On the next series Park View couldn't move the ball and facing 4th-and-16 from theier own 41, the Pats tried an ill-advised fake punt which netted just three yards. Stratton then took the next snap and hit Anderson who race along the left sidelines for a score to make it 35-7 with 9:02 still left in the third quarter.

The Spartans final touchdown drive was another long march, this time 11 plays for 63 yards that took more than five minutes. Sistare did a nice drive to keep the drive alive by drawing the Pats offside with a hard count on 4th-and-3 from the PV 20. Three plays later, on 3rd-and-2, senior Michel Nicholas exploited a seam in the defense and snuck into the end zone to make it 42-7 with 1:28 left in the third.

The 35-point lead started a running clock. Park View moved into the Spartans end with Dombkowski making a nice 22-yard pass to senior Salman Gill but Field ended the drive with an interception on the Spartan 16.

Pick made a nice defensive play by scooping up a snap that hit the leg of a pulling lineman and quick-stepping 50 yards for a score with 4:36 left in the game. After a Spartan punt misfired in the Red Zone, McCarter caught his second TD pass of the night with 2:17 left to make the final score 42-21.

Broad Run 7 14 21 0 - 42
Park View 0 7 0 14 - 21

Scoring
1: BR - Thomas 1 run (Donnelly kick) 2:11 (drive: 16 plays, 71 yards, 7:02)
2: BR - Fields 38 pass from Stratton (Donnelly kick) 8:46 (8 plays, 82 yards, 3:39)
2: BR - Earl 9 run (Donnelly kick) 2:01 (9 plays, 40 yards, 4:33)
2: PV - McCarter 9 pass from Dombokowski (Avila kick))0:18.8 (7 plays, 55 yards, 1:43)
3: BR - Thomas 60 run (Donnelly kick) 11:20 (2 plays, 65 yards, 0:40)
3: BR - Anderson 45 pass from Stratton (Donnelly kick) 9:02 (1 play, 45 yards, 0:12)
3: BR - Nicholas 7 run (Donnelly kick) 1:28 (11 plays, 63 yards, 5:10)
4: PV - Pick 50 fumble return (Avila kick) 4:36
4: PV - McCarter 14 pass from Dombkowski (Avila kick) 2:24 (1 play, 14 yards, 0:07)

Rushing
Broad Run: Thomas 13-116, Anderson 13-59, Fields 5-22, Earl 4-22, Nicholas 4-21, Taggart 2-14, Nget 3-11, Sistare 2-8, #48 4-8, Preziotti 1-3, Burrel 2-(-2), team 2-(-7). Total: 55-275
Park View: Absher 1-17, Holland 6-5, Smith 1-5, Plowman 1-3, Jeffries 1-0, McCarter 1-(-1), Wooten 4-(-3), Dombkowski 5-(-17). Total: 20-9

Passing
Broad Run: Stratton 2-2-0 83 yards, Sistare 3-5-0 27 yards. Total 5-7-0 110 yards.
Park View: Dombkowski 12-17-1 129.

Receiving
Broad Run: Anderson 1-45, Fields 1-38, Barnes 2-21, Stratton 1-6.
Park View: Pick 5-54, Gill 2-30, McCarter 2-26, Absher 2-20, Holland 1-(-1).