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Lynchburg (Dec. 10, 2011) - The Briar Woods High School senior class found their football legs at the end of their sophomore season when the Falcons missed the playoffs but stared clicking with three straight wins to end that year. Since then, Briar Woods has won 27 out of 30 contests including back-to-back Dulles District and Region II titles and now back-to-back VHSL Division 4 state titles after Saturday's exciting 28-26 win over Christiansburg at Liberty University's Williams Stadium.
Stanford-bound DB/WR Alex Carter and JMU-bound lineman Justin Baker and the other 13 seniors finished their high school careers with wins as Briar Woods (14-1) held on to a furious Christiansburg (13-2) comeback in the final minutes led by Virginia Tech-bound QB/DB Brendon Motley.
While the seniors were celebrating the emotional end to their prep careers, it was a host of Briar Wooods younger players with big games including junior running back Cory Colder with 186 yards rushing, sophomore Trace McSorley with two TD passes, junior WR Darryll Gadsden with some clutch catches and junior strong safety Mike Barta who intercepted Motley's 2-point pass attempt to preserve the win with 2:04 left in the game.
"I was so worried before that 2-point conversion. We thought they were going to run it," said Barta. "I saw a receiver cross my face and then the quarterback threw it right to me ... I was so excited. It was unreal."
Christiansburg, which scored twice in the final 3:42 of the game, attempted an onsides kick after the 2-point conversion failed but junior tight end/linebacker Matt Rolin was in the right spot on the "good hands team". He was waylaid as soon as he caught the ball but he held on.
"When that ball came towards me I was scared. My eyes got so big ... then I got rocked," said Rolin, who led the Falcons with seven tackles in the contest.
Briar Woods needed one first down to run out the clock and what better player than the bull-in-a-china-shop-running back Colder who broke a tackle and rambled for 13 yards on third down to ice the game. Colder emerged as the Falcons top running back in the second half of the season-opening 14-0 loss to Broad Run and he got better and better as the season went along. He carried it 27 times Saturday for 186 yards including a 34-yard score in the third quarter that gave Briar Woods some breathing room after a 14-13 halftime lead.
"We were just waiting for (Colder) to step up and assume that role," said Briar Woods coach Charlie Pierce about his junior RB's emergence.
A lot of credit for Colder's big game goes to the Falcons offensive line, led by junior center Brian McKelvey, were opening up big holes all night. Pierce said the offensive line has had the best communication of any O-Line in his coaching career.
Pierce started the Falcons program in 2005 and Briar Woods has had a varsity team for six seasons. Last year's title was special as it was the program's first and Pierce coached his son Zach, a senior on the team. But Pierce was proud after the game of his senior class and their 2-year run to the top of the state.
"The bulls-eye was on these young men's back the entire year ... this is a sweet state championship," said Pierce. "It's rare to win it once but to win it twice is doubly special."
Baker called it a bittersweet moment as he finished up his Falcon career. He even admitted to crying during the final practice of his Briar Woods playing days.
"When I lined up on offense (at practice) I started crying," said Baker.
Much as they did in 2010 when the Falcons had to rally against Harrisonburg, Briar Woods came from behind Saturday after falling down 6-0. Since they were down 14-0 in 2010, this was no problem.
"There was no doubt in my mind that we were coming back," said McSorley who just midway through a 4-year varsity career is now 27-3 as a starter. In 2010, it was long McSorley-to-Carter pass that jumpstarted the Falcons comeback and on Saturday it was McSorley hooking up with Carter on a nice 16-yard post play for the go-ahead score that came after Briar Woods had a TD by Colder erased on a penalty.
Sure-footed senior David Clements, who just missed a 42-yard field goal in the first half, put Briar Woods ahead, 7-6, with the PAT.
The first half ended on a wild sequence as Christiansburg chose to go for it on fourth down at the Briar Woods 35 instead of punting with 2:38 left in the half. The Falcons took advantage and McSorley moved the team down the field and found J.T. Logan in the right flat for a 2-yard score with just eight seconds left. Clements kick made it 14-6 and it appeared that would be the halftime lead ... but .... Christiansburg scored with some questionable clock management by the game officials.
After covering a squib kick which took two seconds off the clock, Motley rolled left and heaved the ball almost 50 yards down the field where the pass was broken up ... and somehow 2 seconds remained on the clock which meant the Blue Demon receiver was able to cover 50 yards in less than 4 seconds. With the two seconds left, Christiansburg took full advantage as Motley again heaved one up and this time, it was Carter who was in position to pick it off only he was hit as he fielded the jump ball pass and the ball popped up in the air and into the hands of a streaking Blue Demon receiver Kevin Thompson who high-stepped it into the end zone to the shock of Briar Woods to make it 14-13.
Briar Woods, however, regrouped at the half as they have all year and the third quarter was all theirs.
A 6-play, 74-yard drive was capped by Colder's nifty 34-yard touchdown run which came after he had exited in the second quarter after a hard hit by Motley had forced a fumble inside the Blue Demon 10. Up 21-13, Briar Woods used a short field after a defensive stand to score another TD, with Logan plunging in from the 1, to make it 28-13 with 3:48 left in the third.
That lead appeared comfortable with the Falcons defense playing lights out until Motley took the Blue Demons on a time-consuming 16 play drive in the fourth quarater, with Zach Snell scoring from 4 yards to make it 28-20 with 3:42 left.
Briar Woods needed to run out the clock but Motley had other ideas as he picked off McSorley just over midfield and brought the ball all the way back to the Falcon 17. Two plays later, Joey Augustin sped around the left side and scored from 11 yards out.
The way Christiansburg had run the ball into the end zone, it figured that they would try it again on the 2-point conversion and Briar Woods put in a package that put basically eight defenders in the box and left two corners and Barta at strong safety to cover a pass.
As Motley rolled out to make the pass, Baker had sniffed the play out already and he put some heavy pressure on the 6-foot-4 quarterback, making him throw it on the run and into Barta's waiting arms.
Baker, with blood covering his uniform, epitomized the Falcons defensive attitude this season.
"Pain doesn't really bother me," said Baker. "We knew at halftime that we had done some stupid things to keep them in the game. Our blocking was a lot better in the second half and defensively we were just making plays. That is what championship teams do."
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