By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun.com Editor
Lynchburg (Dec. 11, 2010) - Briar Woods High School running back Michael Brownlee started his senior year by breaking his leg on the first carry of the season, but oh what a finish, as Brownlee took the final rush of his season and career and rambled 34 yards to put the exclamation point on the Falcons' 41-21 victory over Harrisonburg in the VHSL Division 4 state title game at Liberty University.
"It feels good to be the No. 1 team in Ashburn right now ... and the No. 1 team in the state," said Briar Woods coach Charlie Pierce.
The state title is the first for Briar Woods, which opened in 2005, and the fourth straight for Ashburn as Stone Bridge won in 2007 and Broad Run won in 2008 and 2009.
"Pretty amazing ... this is something special, something I will always remember and never forget," said Pierce, whose son Zach, a senior, played a major role in the championship run as a two-way starter.
The Falcons (13-2) fell quickly behind previously unbeaten Harrisonburg (14-1) -- playing to win in legendary coach Tim Sarver's final game leading the Blue Streaks for 25 seasons -- 14-0 in the first quarter, but freshman quarterback Trace McSorley (9-16-1, 192 yards) sparked Briar Woods with a 77-yard touchdown pass to Alex Carter and then Brownlee took over, rushing for four scores, three in the second half, and 183 yards on just 14 attempts.
"We have got to make a big play," said Brownlee about the mindset after falling behind 14-0 midway through the first quarter. "We needed to get the ball to our playmakers."
It was the injury to Brownlee at the start of the season that changed the Falcons direction as Pierce and offensive coordinator Jared Develli developed Briar Woods' passing attack under the young McSorley. Despite an interception that gave the Blue Streaks the ball at the Falcons 13 and led to Harrisonburg's second TD, Briar Woods came back with a big pass play call on the next series that changed the complexion of the game as the athletic Carter leaped into the air to grab a deep ball from McSorley down the right sidelines and then sprinted into the end zone after the defensive back slipped on the turf field.
"I believe in throwing them back into the fire," said Develli about the play call.
For Carter, the catch, was part of a huge title game as the junior led the Falcons, along with senior linebacker DeVontae O'Bannion, with 12 tackles and was part of the Falcons team speed that bothered the Blue Streaks.
"Honestly, I thought their speed was probably what did us in," said Sarver.
Brownlee, called into duty on defense as the Falcons made some changes on the fly after the 14-0 deficit, did not carry the ball much at the start of the game -- which was dominated by the power running of Harrisonburg senior Michael Holmes, who scored twice in the quick opening, and had 166 yards rushing on 37 attempts behind the Blue Streaks mountain of an offensive line that included a pair of 320-pound blockers. By the end of the night it was the 5-foot-7, 190-pound Brownlee, not the highly-touted recruit Holmes that had taken over the game.
"That Briar Woods kid ran about as good against us as anybody did all year," said Sarver.
For Pierce the comeback was all about what he had been preaching to the team all season: Believe ... Courage ... Strength. Perhaps no player exemplified those tenets that Brownlee, who after missing most of the regular season, returned a bit tentative at first and then with a 200+ rushing performance in the final regular season game against Dominion, bowled his way into the postseason, knocking over would-be tacklers, especially in the fourth quarter of playoff games as he seemed to pick up strength as others tired.
In all Brownlee finished his shortened senior season with 979 yards rushing on just 146 carries and 14 touchdowns, including scores of 37, 1, 44 and 34 in the win Saturday. Pierce said Brownlee's early injury was a blessing in disguise in that it developed the offense into a more balanced attack.
"We have been more dangerous with out passing game and running game," said Pierce.
Briar Woods amassed 456 total yards despite holding the ball for half as long as Harrisonburg as the Blue Streak had a 28:50 to 19:10 time of possession advantage.
The Falcons defense, the trademark of the team for most of the season, came up big after the quick start of Harrisonburg, limiting the Blue Streaks to one score the rest of the way. Besides Carter and O'Bannion, the brothers Rolin -- senior Scott and sophomore Matt -- were flying around the field, combining for 20 tackles and bringing a real swagger to the Falcon defense. Up front, junior Justin Baker had 11 tackles and senior Gabe Sosa had seven tackles.
The Blue Streaks big game from Holmes could have been bigger as he had a 90-yard kickoff return for a score called back on a penalty. Harrisonburg also had a 50-yard screen pass for a score wiped out by a penalty in the loss.
Briar Woods scored 20 straight points after trailing 20-0 with the McSorley-to-Carter hook-up, cutting the lead to 14-7 with 4:33 left in the first.
Brownlee broke free for his first TD run with 4:05 left in the half to knot up the score at 14-14 at the break. That TD run was set up by a 3rd-and-7 Jamal Hill catch from McSorley.
Both teams had long TD drives in the third quarter but the Falcons missed their extra point so Briar Woods found themselves down a point, 21-20, heading into the final quarter. The Briar Woods 77-yard scoring drive to start the half took nine plays and just over four minutes.
Just as the Falcons came out of the locker room in their 24-21 regional title win over rival Broad Run with a big pass play to Scott Rolin, the Falcons did it again, with McSorley hitting Rolin for a 46-yard gain to the Harrisonburg 31 on the first play of the third quarter. McSorley on 3rd-and-14 calmly weaved his way for 16 yards on what looked like a designed keeper.
That put the ball on the 9 and McSorley hit Victor Rizzardi for a pass to the 1. Rizzardi, who was very active on defense with key pass deflections, took a hard hit on the reception but in what could have been a metaphor for the Falcons on the season and in the game ... bounced right back up.
After McSorley was stopped short on a sneak, Brownlee burrowed in to make it 20-14 Briar Woods. Harrisonburg then came back with their own 9-play drive, covering 80 yards, to go ahead 21-20 with 4:12 left in the third.
It was during a 69-yard scoring drive that started at the end of the third quarter, that Brownlee started taking over, running almost angry as he bowled over defenders and teammates alike, chewing up yardage. Just after the two teams changed ends, McSorley's 1-yard plunge with 11:19 left put the Falcons up for good, as they led 26-21 after a 2-point conversion attempt failed.
It was after this score that Holmes appeared to give Harrisonburg back the lead but a flag on a block at the Blue Streak 45 brought the ball back and Briar Woods' defense took over. On first downs Harrisonburg's quarterback Jake Johnson (5-14-0, 16 yards) was sacked for a 12-yard loss by Sosa and Pierce. Then after an incompletion, Alex Carter sniffed out a screen pass and threw the receiver down for a 4-yard loss.
That forced a punt and Briar Woods needed just two plays to go up by two scores as Carter (38 yards rushing, 77 receiving) took an inside handoff for 20 yards and on the next snap, Brownlee broke free again and picked up speed as he motored to the end zone for a 44-yard score. There was no stopping him as he then converted a two-point run with 8:55 left.
And after another defensive stop, Brownlee scored with less than two minutes to play as the Briar Woods cheerleaders, band, students, parents and fans all counted down to their first ever state title.
"Amazing ... phenomenal," was all an exhausted McSorley could utter with a big smile on his face as he rested against a wall outside of the Falcons locker room. McSorley finished his freshman season with 2,2182 yards passing and 19 touchdowns on 157 of 269.
The coaching staff reported to the players that one of their buses had a flat tire and there would be a delay on exiting Lynchburg but there was no deflating the celebratory mood for Briar Woods.
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