Football: Tuscarora Holds Off Late Surge by Raiders to Win Battle of the Burg

By Owen Gotimer
Heritage High School student journalist

Leesburg (Sept. 23, 2011) - While Stone Bridge High School was packed for the highly anticipated Broad Run versus Bulldog match-up in Ashburn, the Tuscarora Huskies and Loudoun County Raiders met in Leesburg for what turned out to be a colossal Dulles District game. In the season'’s first "Battle of the Burg", Second-year Tuscarora took the victory over Loudoun County, 16-9.


The Huskies (2-0 in district, 4-0 overall) struck first as senior Cameron Molina carried the ball 21 yards to the house.

On the following drive, Loudoun County (1-1, 3-1) was forced to punt on their second straight possession and Tuscarora took over at their own 21 with a 44 seconds left in the first quarter.

An illegal procedure pushed the Huskies back to their own 16, but they quickly recovered and with two ticks remaining in the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Chad Carrera dropped back and hit senior receiver Alden Carpenter for an 84-yard touchdown strike. Kicker Will Prendergast drilled the PAT and the Huskies added to their early lead, 13-0, to end the first.

The Raiders needed to shift the momentum early on in the second quarter and junior quarterback Jake Lokey did just that as he tossed the ball 55 yards down field to Brad Szoka to put Loudoun County in the red zone for the first time in the game.

Raider senior running back Antonio Rutherford pounded the ball to the 1-yard line before Lokey rammed the football into the end zone on the keeper. Tuscarora’s Drew Davidson ripped through the offensive line and blocked Caleb Hilgartner'’s extra point attempt to make the score, 13-6 in the favor of Tuscarora.

With all the energy shifted towards Loudoun County, the Raiders forced a Huskies punt. However, momentum swing back to the Huskies as first Davidson registered a sack and then the Raiders turned the ball over on downs with 3:01 left in the half.

Taking over at their own 49, Tuscarora marched down to the Raider 6 before Prendergast connected on a 23-yard field goal to end the half with the Huskies up 16-6.

Receiving the kickoff to start the second half, Tuscarora looked to keep the offense going against the previously undefeated Raiders. Loudoun County, however, had different plans in mind and, following an enormous combo sack by junior Nick Anthony and senior Zach Ballinger, the Huskies faced a 4th-and-11.

Tuscarora elected to punt and Lokey has another opportunity early in the third to march his team down the field.

Two clutch third and long passes,– one to Szoka for 25 yards and one to senior Cabot Phillips for 31 yards, put Loudoun County in business. A face mask following the Phillips’ catch positioned the Raiders on the Huskies 2. A Tuscarora’s goal line stand, however, forced the Raiders to send the field goal unit on to the field. Hilgartner sailed the 20-yard field goal through the uprights, to put the Raiders to within a touchdown, down 16-9.

Loudoun County started with the ball in the fourth quarter and were pushed quickly pushed back 13 yards from the initial line of scrimmage by two consecutive sacks; the first by junior Ryan Abate and the second by junior Louis Werts. An extremely successful punt by senior Ben Messina left the Huskies at their own 21.

Tuscarora needed to run some time off the clock and did so on the drive. taking about three minutes before being forced to punt for a fourth consecutive drive in the second half.

With almost seven minutes left in the game, the Raiders seemed to have plenty of time left for another scoring drive. Yet, the defensive battle of the second half continued and Loudoun County turned the ball over after an incomplete pass on 4th-and-16.

The Raiders defense continued to shut down the Huskies offense and forced Tuscarora to turn the ball over on downs again, with the Huskies fourth down gamble not paying off and giving Loudoun County the ball at the Tuscarora 41.

Lokey went right to work, completing his first pass to senior Marcus Crews to pick up 10 yards. The The junior then completed his next pass, but Tuscarora’s John Johnson rocked the Raider receiver and forced a fumble that was recovered by the Huskies with just 1:45 left in the game.

Tuscarora needed only two first downs to wrap up the victory. Molina cut that number in half as he rumbled down the field picking up 20 yards – plus an additional 15 on the horse collar penalty that brought him down.

That was all the Huskies would get though and with 1:07 remaining Tuscarora turned the ball over, giving the Raiders one final shot at the end zone.

Running out of options and out of time, Loudoun County drew up a Hail Mary pass and Lokey threw it deep, but it was picked off by Carpenter to end the threat.