Football: Heritage Breaks .500 Mark for First Time Since 2008 with 42-24 Win at Dominion

Sterling (Sept. 12, 2011) - The Heritage High School football team opened the Dulles District season Saturday night with a convincing, 42-14, win at Dominion to put the Pride over .500 for the first time since 2008.

"We keep talking to the team about momentum. We want to keep things flowing in the right direction," said Heritage head coach Steve Williams after his team improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in district.

The Pride were a combined 3-17 the previous two seasons playing in the AAA Cedar Run District, but move down to the AA Dulles District season with a lower enrollment after the opening of Tuscarora High School a year ago. They will look to keep the momentum going this Friday when they host Potomac Falls, a team that is also 1-0 in district after a surprise, 28-13, win Friday at Woodgrove.

Dominion (0-1, 0-2) has it work cut out as the Titans host defending Division 4 champion Briar Woods Friday with the Falcons coming off a 53-3 win over Park View Saturday.


With the heavy rains last week, Saturday's game in Sterling was one of the few games played on the weekend on natural grass. The Pride were able to pile up 407 total yards in a balanced attack that featured senior Austin Nelson throwing for 209 yards, including two TD passes to senior Marcus Finney, and Heritage's running game saw 10 players combine for 198 yards on 36 carries as Williams emptied the bench out in the second half.

"It felt good putting our JV in, instead of going up against their JV," said senior lineman Alex Ewing.

Dominion started the game with an impressive touchdown drive that spanned eight plays and 67 yards. Everyone of those plays was a running play with senior Dashaun Wesley getting six of the calls for 58 yards. Unfortunately for the Titans, Wesley went out injured after the series and only saw a limited return late in the game. Without Wesley in the backfield, the Titans were only able to gain 48 yards rushing the rest of the night on 29 attempts.

Titan junior running back Garrett Robinson bulled in from the 5 to give Dominion a 6-0 lead with 8:32 left in the first. The point after, however, failed and on Heritage's very first play from scrimmage, Nelson found the speedy Finney behind the Titan secondary for a 65-yard touchdown.

"We have put a lot of work in this year. We just need to keep winning and to stay healthy," said Nelson.

Heritage's defense settled down on Dominion's second offense series and came up with a big sack on 3rd-and-13 from the Titan 36. It was one of seven times in the game that Heritage trapped the Titans quarterbacks behind the line of scrimmage.

Back on offense, Heritage had great field position after partially deflecting the Titan punt, taking over at the Dominion 38. Pride senior running back Juan Narvaez sparked the bench with a determined 16-yard run and then Nelson found Finney again, on a great leaping catch, to score from 20 yards out to make it 14-6 with 3:28 left in the first.

Dominion was able to move the ball on its next possession but the drive stalled at the Pride 36 as botched snap on 4th-and-1 turned the ball over. Heritage continued its quick strike mentality, needing just two plays to score as Nelson found senior Brady Gerling along the right sideline and he streaked 60 yards before being pulled down at the 3. Narvaez took it into the end zone on the next play for the first of two TDs for him on the night.

Heritage took that 21-6 lead into the lockerroom as the Pride defense stopped another Dominion drive late in the second quarter with junior Chris Aguemon coming up with a sack on 3rd-and-11 from the Pride 25. That forced a 47-yard field goal attempt which fell short.

The Pride then put the contest away in the third quarter as junior Victor Leonard picked up a pass to give Heritage the ball at their own 31. Nelson scrambled for nine yards to keep the drive alive and then he found Gerling, this time for 38 yards as the Pride WR was stopped once again at the 3. And again it was Narvaez doing the honors to make it 28-6 with 6:07 left in the third.

Any hope of a Titan comeback was squelched several minutes later when Leonard sprung loose for a 68-yard run to but the ball at the Dominion 2. Williams rewarded the back with the call on the next play and he scored to make it 35-6 with 2:26 left in the quarter as Kevin Pyszka continued his perfect night on point after kicks.

Dominion gave their fans something to cheer about in the fourth quarter as junior linebacker Matthew Valenzuela broke into the backfield and intercepted an option toss in midair and raced 48 yards for the touchdown. Wesley's run for two points made it 35-14 with 8:35 left in the game.

Heritage's back-up offense put together a 9-play, 47-yard drive for the final score of the night with sophomore Justin Bethea making several nice carries, senior Ricky Davis actually running over a defender to score, only to have helmet-to-helmet contact called on him to nullify the TD, and finally freshman Daniel Adigun scoring from the 1.

One win away from matching the combined win total of the previous two seasons, the Pride now face a problem they haven't had in years: "We can't get cocky," said Ewing.

Heritage 14 7 14 7 - 42
Dominion 6 0 0 8 - 14

1: D Robinson 5 run (kick failed) 8:32
1: H Finney 65 pass from Nelson (Pyszka kick) 8:12
1: H Finney 20 pass from Nelson (Pyszka kick) 3:28
2: H Narvaez 3 run (Pyszka kick) 10:36
3: H Narvaez 3 run (Pyszka kick) 6:07
3: H Leonard 2 run (Pyszka kick) 2:26
4: D Valenzuela 48 fumble return (Wesley run) 8:35
4: H Adigun 1 run (Pyszka kick) 3:10

Rushing
Heritage: Leonard 4-77, Narvaez 11-46, Bethea 6-38, Davis 4-16, Nelson 5-8, Williams 1-7, Johnson 1-3, Adigun 1-1, Galvan 1-1, Westbrook 2-1. Totals 36-198.
Dominion: Carlson 13-57, Wesley 7-55, Robinson 6-23, Retes 2-10, Green 3-(-13), Gasser 6-(-17). Totals 37-115

Passing
Heritage: Nelson 6-9-0, 209 yards
Dominion: Green 5-15-1, 52 yards; Gasser 3-9-1 33 yards. Totals 8-24-2, 85 yards

Receiving
Heritage: Gerling 3-114, Finney 2-85, Galvan 1-10.
Dominion: Robinson 3-50, Sill 2-16, Carlson 1-11, Gricoscki 2-8.