Football: Rizzardi Leads Stingy Briar Woods Defense

Special to VivaLoudoun
By George Khalsa
Ashburn (Oct. 28, 2011) - In eight football games this season the 7-1 Briar Woods High School defense, led by senior outside linebaker Joe Rizzardi, has surrendered a total of 59 points.

After a 14-0 season-opening loss to Broad Run, a team now competing at the AAA level, the AA defending Division 4 state champion Falcons have demolished six Dulles District rivals, plus a non-district matchup with nearby AAA Freedom by a combined score of 296-45.


The Falcon offense has been very good and getting better week by week, though in the words of offensive coordinator Jared Develli: “We still have some room for improvement.”

Theoretically, the defense also has room for improvement.

“The defense works every day in practice to recognize where a play is going and react faster,” said head coach and defensive coordinator Charlie Pierce. “But I’m pretty pleased with the way our guys are playing.”

Of the crew that goes out on the field when the other team has the ball, nobody is having a better season than senior OLB Joe Rizzardi.

Pierce tweaked the defensive game plan after the Broad Run loss in part to put Rizzardi in a better position to blitz the quarterback.

 “I had an idea he would thrive in this alignment,” said Pierce and he was correct!

Rizzardi leads the team this season with 53 tackles including 10 sacks. Another 5.5 of his tackles have resulted in losses for the opposition.

What makes this number especially impressive is that for all intents and purposes, Rizzardi has not played a full 48 minute game after the opener. In each of the last seven contests the Falcons have been out in front of the opposition by 35 or more points in the third quarter.

Between running time (Virginia rules mandate a running clock with leads of 35 or more after halftime) and getting every player in uniform on to the playing field a total of 34 Falcons have at least one tackle to their credit this season.

At 5-11, 175 pounds Rizzardi may appear to you to look more like a baseball player than a football player.

You wouldn’t be far off with that observation because he will be the captain of the 2012 Falcon baseball team where he will roam center field. Last year he hit .345 batting average.

A center fielder has to have a finely tuned sense of where the ball is going off the bat; that skill has translated to the football field where Rizzardi has a knack for putting himself directly into the path of where the ball is moving.

He first came to the attention of the coaching staff on special teams. “

With Victor [Rizzardi] being so good, they gave me a chance when I was a sophomore," said Joe of his older brother Victor.

Victor Rizzardi, now a freshman starter at the Coast Guard Academy was himself an excellent special teams performer. Joe has maintained the tradition, leading the team in special teams tackles in very game of the 2010 state championship season.

By the end of that season Joe was a starter at strong safety and this year he is taking full advantage of his experience. Develli has also found some opportunities for Rizzardi to carry the ball out of the single wing with excellent results. In eight carries Joe has amassed 53 yards and one touchdown.

Not surprisingly the Coast Guard Academy has shown interest in getting another Rizzardi on the football team as well wanting him to play baseball. Joe is also interested in the Naval Academy as well as the other military academies.

The themes of leadership and team are very important to Rizzardi: “No other sport has the camaraderie of football. I really like that aspect. And if I didn’t play football I’d have too much free time.”

How does this future leader regard his coaches?

“[Assistant coach] Chris Brown knows everything about anything football,” he commented. “Coach Pierce is our emotional leader and he is also a football genius. For every Plan A, we have a Plan B ready to go if A doesn’t work out.”

Rizzardi is not big… for a football player… but he is fast with an officially timed 4.56 time in the 40-yard dash and is very quick to adjust to where the play is moving. Speed and size notwithstanding, what he brings to a football team is “invaluable” according to his head coach.

“He has a feel for the game. He’s a competitor. Those are things you can’t teach. As a leader on this team, I’m glad we have him and we will miss him when he graduates,” Pierce commented.