Football: Tuesday Afternoon Quarterback - Week 3

(Sept. 15, 2011) - Since it took a full four days for the last Friday's high school football schedule to get  completed, we feel pretty good about being only 48 hours late on Tuesday Afternoon Quarterback.

The wet conditions spread the schedule out with two games on Friday, five games on Saturday and a final game on Monday afternoon. VivaLoudoun editor Dan Sousa was able to take in five of those eight games to see seven of the 12 Loudoun teams in action and here are his thoughts:

*Loudoun County has something building with some tremendous speed, depth at RB and a fan base truly energized. They packed Tuscarora on Friday in the largest Raiders crowd I have seen in the seven years of coverage.
*You realized the impact of Woodgrove opening on Loudoun Valley -- Valley is about half the size of what is was two years ago -- when you look the number of players and size of players on the Vikings bench. I'm used to a Valley team full of kids that look they could pick up the bus and turn it around if they needed to get out of a tight spot.
*Turf. Turf. Turf. Every school should have turf!
*Broad Run's defense looked shaky on the first series of the season vs. Park View and has been basically lights out since!
*Spartan QB Connor Jessop can fly around the pocket, directing blockers, motioning to WRs, giving team managers the answers to their homework and asking out a cheerleader to Homecoming all at the same time.
*More football games should be played on Saturday's during the day!
*Stone Bridge DL Jonathan Allen gets held (or tackled) by opposing offensive linemen on just about every play -- we are talking, it's a sack, holding penalty or a no call.
*South Lakes coaches were on hand to see Chantilly beat Stone Bridge and they think that the Chargers have stirred up an angry hornet's nest for them this Friday when they travel to Ashburn for a Liberty District opener.
*I don't condone Chantilly's fans semi-storming the field after the game but I admire their passion (all purple body paint in Fairfax must have sold out!) and wish that more Stone Bridge students had made the trip to Westfield to support their team. Come on, its too early in the semester for homework!
*Heritage's head football coach Steve Williams and defensive coordinator Choppy Burke would make the great leads to a reality TV show! (I need a cameo!)
*Spotted on the sidelines at the Dominion-Heritage game ... two long-time Loudoun football coaches: Wes Driskill ( Potomac Falls and Heritage) and Jerry Smith (Broad Run).
*Somebody at the game called me "Carl Lukat" ... as in Loudoun Times-Mirror sports editor Carl Lukat ... I took it as a compliment!
*Freedom's band can rock a Beyonce song like nobody's business ... at least according to the Gar-Field sideline
*After the lightning delay at Freedom, the (cranky) head official was complaining that the volunteer chain crew was running too slow up and down the sidelines ... the Eagles fathers took it in stride ... now if I had been on the sticks I would have told the officials they could .... er ... stick ... wait, is this still a family website ... never mind!


Tuesday Afternoon Quarterback - Week 3
Loudoun County 32, Loudoun Valley 19
The Skinny: Click here for the scoop!


Up Next: Loudoun County travels to Sherando for a huge non-district match-up between Region II Division 4 title contenders. Loudoun Valley will host Tuscarora as the Huskies open Dulles District play at 2-0 overall


Potomac Falls 28, Woodgrove 13
The Skinny: Click here for the scoop!


Up Next: Are the Panthers for real? They can prove it Friday at Heritage. Woodgrove regroups and travels to Park View.


Broad Run 32, Woodbridge 0
The Skinny: Spartans defense has strung together 11 straight scoreless quarters. Derril Thomas rushed for 93 yards on 16 carries and scored two TD runs. Kevin Taggart added a rushing TD and 15-yard TD reception. Connor Jessop threw for 187 yards on 13 of 20 passing and now is No. 3 in the Washington Post leaders chart for the DC area with 568 yards in just three games.


Bonus: Read WashPo's Preston Williams (Mr. Prince William) account of the game -- he might even throw in a Lil' Wayne reference for ya!


Up Next: Definition of a trap game: When you travel to Forest Park at 3-0 and the following game is against Stone Bridge. The Spartans will look to avoid that trap on their trip to Prince William County.


Chantilly 22, Stone Bridge 14
The Skinny: After a score in the third quarter put Stone Bridge up 14-3 it appeared the Bulldogs would safely improve to 2-0 ... heck, their defense had given up just three points in 6+ quarters at that point. Only the SB offense went on to give up a safety, and a multitude of interceptions that set up two Chargers TDs as Chantilly came back with 19 unanswered points for the shocking final. 


The Bulldog defense gave up on 151 total yards in the loss including just 42 on the ground on 39 attempts but Stone Bridge's five interceptions were too much to overcome. The Bulldogs also had four fumbles on the day, none of them lost, but that stalled the offense as well. 


Stone Bridge had a chance to pad a 7-3 lead right before half after an interception by Kevin Bradshaw but the Bulldogs went for the end zone on third down with 10 seconds left in the half instead of kicking a field goal and on the play, SB appeared to maybe sneak a toe in to secure the TD but it was ruled out of bounds and to add insult the officials let the game clock run out even though there appeared to be a second or two left.


The Bulldogs single-wing has yet to get untracked this season with just 86 yards Saturday on 40 attempts. Junior QB Ryan Burns found Stan Johnson for a 15-yard TD pass in the first quarter and hooked up with Johnson (151 yards on 5 receptions) on the third quarter TD drive but the Bulldog passing game was just 8 of 26 in the loss.


Bulldog coach Mickey Thompson told the media in August that his team's defense would be ahead of the offense, which lost almost all starters except for Johnson, and that it might take the O while to get going but with district starting this week and Broad Run looming in two weeks ... there can't be a lot of patience to around in the Farm.


Bonus: Read Paul Tenorio of the Washington Post's game report ... Tenorio spent so much time at Westfield over the weekend, he is now receiving his mail at the school!


Up Next: Stone Bridge opens Liberty District play at home against South Lakes. Expect the offense to bust out big time after a slow start


Briar Woods 53, Park View 3
The Skinny: The Falcons were shut out in their season opener by Broad Run and took it out on the Patriots Saturday night in a game played at Tuscarora. Sophomore QB Trace McSorely hooked up with Stanford-bound Alex Carter for an 80-yard TD pass on the first play of the game and the Falcons never looked back as McSorley added a 14-yard TD run of his own and an 18-yard TD pass to Matt Rolin. 


Also for BW Cory Colder had TD runs of 65 and 12 yards, both in the first quarter as BWoods led 23-0 after the first and 39-3 at the half. Colder finished with 117 yards rushing on 13 carries and McSorley finished with 274 yards on 16 of 22 with one interception. Cam Serigne hauled in five catches for 97 yards and Carter finished with 93 yards on three receptions.


BWoods was able to get carries to eight backs and seven receivers caught passes. 


The Falcon defense, which limited BR to just two scores, not only held the Pats to three points but scored 10r points on their own with a pair of safeties -- Joe Rizzardi with sacks in the end zone on back-to-back possessions for Park View -- and a pick six by Darryll Gadsen.


BWoods back-up QB Tristan Miller found Melvin Holland for a 16-yard score for the final TD.


Park View got a 31-yard FG from Wilfredo Avila.  With the sacks counting as rushing yards in prep football, Park View finished the night with -40 yards on 26 attempts with QB Alec Dombkowski at minus-49 on eight plays. Dombkowski threw for 77 yards on 12 of 21 with the lone pick. Ryan McCarter caught five balls for 39 yards.


Up Next: Briar Woods travels to Dominion while Park View hosts Woodgrove.


Tuscarora 52, Brentsville 8
The Skinny: Huskies coach Mike Burnett came to Broad Run and turned a program around quickly, taking them to the playoffs in year two and then back-to-back state titles. Now he is trying to rework that script at 2nd-year Tuscarora. 


Tuscarora had five different players find the end zone against the Tigers Saturday with Cameron Molina scoring three times, on runs of 11 and 48 yards and on a 54-yard punt return. Molina's punt return wasn't the only special teams score as Mali Barker returned a kickoff 84 yards for a score.


The Huskies added two TD passes with sophomore Chad Carerra hooking up with Alden Carpenter on a 45-yard strike and senior Tyler Dietrich hitting Fitzgerald for a 30-yard score. Adrien Stinger added a 11-yard TD run.


Molina ended the night with 125 yards on eight carries as the Huskies rushed for 168 yards total on 22 attempts. Carrera threw for 122 yards on just 5 of 6 and Dietrich's TD was his only attempt. Edwin Mends caught three passes for 60 yards.


Up Next: Tuscarora travels to Loudoun Valley to open Dulles District play.


Heritage 42, Dominion 14
The Skinny: Click for the scoop!


Up Next: Heritage can match the win total of the past two years with a third victory against Potomac Falls Friday. Dominion has a tall task with Briar Woods coming down Route 7.


Gar-Field 34, Freedom 7
The Skinny: Freedom scored for the first time on the season but Gar-Field had too much size and speed for the South Riding crew. The TD came from brother-to-brother as sophomore QB Trent Gilmore found brother Mitch, a senior, for a late TD. The game was delayed for about an hour by lightning at halftime.


Up Next: Ol' schedule maker ... why, oh, why! Eagles looking for first win are at powerhouse Hylton.