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Heritage High School student journalist
Purcellville (Nov. 13, 2010) - The last time Loudoun Valley High School won a playoff football game the current players weren't even born, but that all changed Friday night as the Vikings, behind a bullish running game and opportunistic defense that forced five turnovers, defeated Stafford, 27-9, in the Northwest Region Division 5 quarterfinals.
The win earned Loudoun Valley (8-3) a repeat date with undefeated Osbourn (10-0), a team that ruined the Vikings Homecoming this season with a 53-14 win but that won't dampen Valley's pride at their first playoff win since 1990 and it comes in a year when enrollment has shrunk by almost 1,000 students with the opening of Woodgrove in Purcellville.
"We’re just going to continue to put in the level of work we’ve being doing this whole season, hard work always pays off,” said Vikings third-year coach Danny McGrath when asked about next week's matchup with the Eagles.
Loudoun Valley came into last night’s contest looking for a playoff win that would extend their solid regular season record of 7-3 towards the hopes of a regional championship. The Stafford Indians (5-5) arrived in Purcellville fiery, bringing in an Indian war chant to prepare themselves for a tough Viking opponent.
This attitude would hold strong until 3:06 left in the first quarter when Valley running back Kevin Wiley was able to punch it in with a 10-yard touchdown run. The senior running back rushed for 117 yards in the win on 23 carries. He now has 889 yards on the season on 129 carries and 13 rushing TDs.
Wiley's touchdown was set up by a 30-yard pass from senior quarterback Andrew Taylor to WR Harrison Jackson, a pass that pierced the Stafford secondary.
If any point could be taken away from the game it would be that North-South running would dominate the outside running game on this night. Besides some success by Stafford running back Nehemiah Jones running on the outside, the game was dominated by the crushing running attack of Wiley and junior running back Donald Devine.
Wiley was especially successful running the ball off tackle, gaining most of his yards and both of his touchdowns this way. Devine was also a major factor gaining 78 yards off of 16 rushes, including a late touchdown.
Following Wiley’s first quarter touchdown the ball moved back and forth between the two opponents with limited success on either side. An interception by Loudoun Valley linebacker Jacob Trump ended a promising drive by Stafford early in the second quarter. However, fumbles hurt the Vikings on two drives, but they were able to stop the Indians deep in Viking territory.
This bend but not break mentality was part of the reason that the Vikings were able to hold the Indians to only 9 points in the game. Strength in the defense translated into motivation for the Viking offense as they pushed down the field on the back of Wiley, who capitalized a long drive by scoring another touchdown off a 12-yard run.
Stafford was able to respond at the end of the second quarter, first with a Jones TD run to cut the lead to 14-7 with 2:34 to go in the half and then with a promising drive that was limited by clock management.
Having used all their timeouts earlier in the half Stafford was forced to spike the ball with 5.7 seconds left. Despite the pressure Indian kicker Cody Beacorn was able to connect on a 38 yard field goal, allowing the Indians to come into the locker room at halftime only down 5 points, 14-9.
Despite the late second quarter push by the Indians, the Vikings were able to take control of the game in the second half. Controlling the clock during the majority of the third quarter, Valley was finally able to punch the ball in with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to Jackson one minute into the final quarter. This spelled the end of the Indians as Valley then scored a late touchdown on an 11-yard run by Devine to cap it off.
Besides the Trump pick, Valley had three other interceptions, two by R.J. Allison, who is always around the ball, and one by Wiley.
Following the 27-9 win, McGrath was proud of the hard work put in by his team up to this point. Recognizing the fact that this was the first playoff berth for Loudoun Valley football since its 2005 and first playoff win since 1990, Valley fans were overjoyed.
Loudoun Valley 27, Stafford 91: LV Wiley 10 run (kick good) 3:06
2: LV Wiley 12 run (kick good) 9:06
2: S Jones 9 run (kick failed) 2:34
2: S Beacorn 38 FG 0:05
4: LV Jackson 15 pass from Taylor (kick good) 11:18
4: LV Devine 11 run (kick failed) 1:10
LV Passing:
Andrew Taylor 4 for 8 for 74 Yards and 1 TD
Receiving Leaders:
David Mellstrom 1 Reception for 5 Yards
Harrison Jackson 3 Receptions for 69 Yards and 1 TD
Rushing Leaders:
Kevin Wiley 23 Rushes for 117 Yards and 2 TD's
Donald Devine 16 Rushes for 78 Yards 1 TD
Interceptions by LB Jacob Trump (1), LB Kevin Wiley (1), RJ Allison (2)
LV Defense Cuased 5 Turnovers and Held Stafford to 154 Total Yards of Offense
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