VivaLoudoun High School Sports Year in Review: Fall 2010

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

(June 28, 2011) - Good-naturally called the “Backyard Brawl” the football rivalry between Ashburn neighbors Briar Woods and Broad Run was the hardest ticket in town as a standing room only crowd saw the two teams tangle twice at Briar Woods in the fall – with the Falcons stopping the visiting Spartans 33-game winning streak with a 20-13 win in the regular season and then a thrilling 24-21 win in the Region II Division 4 finals.

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For Broad Run (11-2) it was the Spartans only two losses of the season under first-year coach Matt Griffis, who left powerhouse Stone Bridge as offensive coordinator to take over the Broad Run reigns after Mike Burnett departed on the heels of back-to-back state titles to start the new Tuscarora program in Leesburg.


Briar Woods (13-2) was an unlikely pick to win coach Charlie Pierce his first state title after the Falcons lost senior running back Michael Brownlee to a broken foot on the first carry of the season and had to rely on freshman quarterback Trace McSorley. Broad Run was facing its own adversity as junior quarterback Connor Jessop went out prior to the Dulles District season.

The good news for football fans is that Brownlee and Jessop were both healthy by the postseason and Jessop and McSorley hooked up in an entertaining duel in the regional finals, combining for 532 passing yards and five TDs.

Briar Woods had advanced to the regional finals after a tense 7-0 win the week before on an electrifying 65-yard catch-and-run by junior Alex Carter in the fourth quarter. Carter and Brownlee would be key in the state finals as Briar Woods had to rally from a 14-0 deficit against Harrisonburg at Liberty University.

McSorley found Carter for a 77-yard TD on a leaping catch to jumpstart the Falcons and then the defense locked down Harrisonburg behind defensive AA State Player of the Year Scott Rolin and Brownlee, with fresh legs after missing most of the regular season, ran wild, gaining 183 yards and scoring four TDs on just 14 attempts in the 41-21 comeback win.

Stone Bridge (14-1) attempted to make it two state titles for Loudoun on the same day but the Bulldogs ran into a familiar roadblock as they fell to Phoebus for the third straight year in the postseason and for the second straight time in the Division 5 state finals.

Led by the senior trio of Spenser Rositano, Kyle Gouveia and Marcus Harris, Stone Bridge rolled to a fourth straight Northern Region title and sixth straight Liberty District title under coach Mickey Thompson, who started the Bulldogs program in 2000.

In the title game, the Bulldogs scored 17 straight points in the second quarter to take a 17-13 lead over Phoebus but the Phantoms came back in the second half for the 36-17 win.

There were other firsts in football as Freedom, under second-year coach Mick Mullins, won its first ever district contest with a 26-19 victory over Potomac Falls to stop a 23-game skid.

Tuscarora and Woodgrove opened with full varsity schedules on the county’s first two synthetic turf fields. For Woodgrove and Loudoun Valley a new rivalry was born as 4,000 fans turned out in Purcellville to watch the western end battle. That game was captured by Valley, 51-0, and the
Vikings not only returned to the Division 5 playoffs under third-year coach Danny McGrath but beat Stafford, 27-9, in the first round for the school’s first playoff win in 20 years.

Another first came when Dominion, led by senior running back Deandre Reaves, qualified for the playoffs for the first time in school history. The Titans fell just short, losing a 29-26 heartbreaker at Warren County, a team that would knock Park View, which won a playoff game under first-year coach Ferris Eways, out of the playoffs the next week.

While the six Loudoun teams making the football playoffs was a record, it couldn’t match the record seven volleyball teams that made the regional playoffs.

Loudoun County (28-1), behind the play of the top AA player in the state junior Jenna Strange, beame the first school to win four straight VHSL state volleyball titles with an no-sweat victory over Grafton in the finals at Richmond. With seniors Kathleen Horvath, Rachel Arigo and Sammy Dormio collecting their third state title rings, it was the culmination of a 5-year Raider run that started with a state runner-up finish in 2006.

During the five years of dominance the Loudoun County girls under coach Jenica Matthias and her assistant and brother, Jarod Brown, have posted an incredible 137-8 record including a 43-2 postseason mark.

While Loudoun took home both in the AA and AAA state titles in 2009 with Loudoun County and Loudoun Valley completing the sweep it was almost a repeat in 2010 with Stone Bridge (28-2) just missing out by falling to Kellam in the AAA finals.

For the Bulldogs, led by seniors setter Amanda Miller, Libero Amy Christensen and big hitter Christine Beckham, it was the school’s best season ever.

It was almost two Loudoun AAA schools in the Final Four as Heritage (23-3), behind junior setter Stephanie Yokoyama, captured both the Cedar Run and Northwestern Region titles in thrilling 5-set matches and then fell in the state quarterfinals.

Another school to emerge in 2010 was Freedom (17-11) under first-year coach Jim Clark as the Eagles knocked off Dulles District runner-up Broad Run in the regional semifinals and qualified for States for the first time.

In competitive cheer Briar Woods, under third-year coach Kristen Develli saved the best for last as the Falcons defended their AA state title with a 282 point performance in their final routine of the year. The Falcons, led by seniors Amanda Swindle, Kierra Chinn, Amanda Huntly and Lauren Hancox, had earlier swept to district and regional banners.

Broad Run took fourth in the AA state finals and Stone Bridge was 10th in the AAA finals.

In cross country some things didn’t change as the Potomac Falls boys, led by Connor Wilson and Juan Campos, won a 10th straight Dulles District meet title. The Panthers have taken every title since the district was formed in 2001.

On the girls side, however, Freedom behind a surprising 1-2 finish by freshman Callie O’Connell and Siobhan O’Toole, won their first ever Dulles title, ending runner-up Potomac Falls’ 3-year run.

Loudoun County senior Thomas Curtin made the most of his final outdoor campaign as he took first in both the Dulles District and Region II meets before crossing third in the AA state meet at Great Meadows.

Curtin’s Raiders and the Panthers finished 3-4 in the team race. Freedom junior Thorpe Lichtenberg took 8th individually.

On the girls side at States, Freedom was fifth and Potomac Falls senior Rachel Hagen had the best local finish at 17th.

In golf, two teams that have dominated the past four years continued their winning ways as Loudoun Valley, in coach Gary McKay’s final season after retiring from the school system after 34 years of teaching and coaching, made it fourth straight trip to the AAA state tournament, finishing fifth. Viking senior Scott Davidson ended his great 4-year career by firing a 68 on the final day of the 2-day meet to score 139 total and tie for fourth.

The Vikings had earlier defended their Northwest Region title, their third in the 4-year run. Davidson was the low medalists at the regional tournament with a 73 at the Gauntlet. At the Cedar Run District meet, Valley senior Tanner Welsh edged out Davidson for low medalist.

In AA, Loudoun County advanced to its third straight state tournament behind senior Brantley Kushner. The Raiders took fourth in the state and individually Briar Woods’ Adam Ochs had the best finish.

County and Kushner defended their titles at the Dulles District meet with the Raiders winning for a third straight year and Kushner shooting 72 at the 1757 Club for his second straight title. The one surprise at the meet was a runner-up finish by Freedom – a team 4-4 in the dual meet district season -- to advance to regionals

In the VHSL girls open state tournament, Dominion senior Shelby Shote went out on a high note with a ninth place finish.

Coming Wednesday: Winter 2010-11