Girls Volleyball: Loudoun County JR Maggie Phillips Named Region II Player of the Year; Raiders Brown Takes Coaching Honors

Maggie Phillips
Region II Player of the Year

(Nov. 13, 2012) - Loudoun County High School junior Maggie Phillips has been named the Region II girls volleyball Player of the Year in a vote of coaches, becoming the fourth straight Raider to take the honor and fifth in six years.

Loudoun County coach Jenica Brown, who led the Raiders to their seventh straight Region II title on Saturday and a 25-1 record going into tonight's VHSL AA state quarterfinal against New Kent (7 p.m. in Leesburg), has been named the Coach of the Year for the third straight time and fourth time since 2006. Brown's brother, Jarod, a Raider assistant coach during the long run, also took the honors in 2009 when he was acting head coach.

Region II Girls Vollyeball 2012 Selections
1st Team
Maggie Phillips, Jr. - Loudoun County
Katie Houser, So. - James Wood
Kayla Carlton, Sr. - Potomac Falls
Janey Goodman, Sr. - Powhatan
Taylor Huewe, Sr. - Loudoun County
Sydney Busa, Jr. - Heritage

2nd Team
Hannah Miller, Sr. - Fluvanna
Eileen Fauteux, Sr. - Potomac Falls
Melvina Brown, Jr. - Kettle Run
Morgan Hammer, Sr. - Loudoun Valley
Ana Ribeiro, Jr. - Handley
Justina Augustine, Sr. - Fauquier

Player of the Year 
Maggie Phillips, Jr. - Loudoun County

Coach of the Year
Jenica Brown - Loudoun County

Football: Briar Woods 34, Powhatan 7 (Box)

(Nov. 10, 2012) - The final score may look like yet another lopsided Briar Woods High School football playoff victory but the two-time defending VHSL Division 4 state champion Falcons were within six seconds Friday of trailing No. 8 seed Powhatan, 7-0, at the half.

Briar Woods junior quarterback Trace McSorley, however, connected with senior Cam Serigne for a 2-yard touchdown pass that gave the Falcons momentum and McSorley tossed three more touchdown passes in the third quarter, including a 54-yarder to Serigne and TDs of 3 and 76 yards to senior Devin Ramos, as the Falcons extended the state's longest winning streak to 25 games. (see McSorley's game-by-game career stats; 38-3 as a starter!)

One concern for the Falcons, who will host Liberty in the Region II semifinals next week, is that University of South Carolina super recruit, senior linebacker Matt Rolin, missed the second half after a first half injury. Serigne and the rest of the defensive picked up the slack including a 30-yard pick six for Serigne for the final score of the night.

Briar Woods 34, Powhatan 7 (Box)

Girls Basketball: Loudoun County Headed Back to States for Third Time in Four Seasons

View more photos from this game by Richard Kirby

(Feb. 24, 2012) - The Loudoun County High School girls basketball team, the defending Division 4 state runner-up, is headed back to the state tournament for the third time in four seasons after the Raider beat Powhatan on the road Thursday night, 49-49, in the Region II semifinals.

Loudoun County (21-7) faces a tough task in the Region II Division 4 finals Saturday  at 7 p.m. as they travel to face two-time defending state champion Millbrook (the Pioneers won the previous two years in Division 3 before moving up to D4 this season). The Pioneers have won 76 straight games including a 93-23 win over Sherando Thursday in the semifinals. The Pioneers last loss was to Freedom in the 2010 state semifinals.

In Thursday's win over Powhatan the Raiders had a balanced scoring attack with Alex Lapple (11), Katrina Kirby (10), Erica Linnemann (9) and Kelly Maxey (9) leading the way.

Loudoun County will "host" a state quarterfinal game at Robinson High School if Fairfax County if they win on Saturday. If they lose to Millbrook, then Loudoun County will hit the road again. The Region I runner-up (either Courtland or Grafton) will travel to Robinson and the Region I champion will host the Region II runner-up, either at VCU's Siegel Center (if Courtland wins) or at William and Mary (Grafton).

Football: Back-to-Back Regional Titles for Briar Woods as Falcons Beat Powhatan, 21-7, in Division 4 Finals

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor
Ashburn (Nov. 25, 2011) - A stifling Briar Woods High School defense, highlighted by a fourth quarter Red Zone stand that protected a 7-point lead, led the Falcons to a 21-7 win over Powhatan Friday evening in the Region II Division 4 football title game. For the defending state champion Falcons it was a 12th straight win and back-to-back regional titles.

"Championships are based on defense," Briar Woods coach Charlie Pierce told his players as they gathered after the regional title win.

Briar Woods (12-1) travels Saturday to face Region I champion Grafton in the state semifinals. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at York High School's Bailey Field.

"Let's keep it rolling!," said Briar Woods senior Alex Carter who had a key catch on the Falcons' go-ahead touchdown drive just before the end of the first half and had the game-clinching long TD run in the fourth quarter.

Softball: VHSL State Tournament Bracket

Virginia High School League
2011 AA Softball State Tournament


Tues. June 7
Quarterfinals at high seed
Briar Woods (Region II runner-up) at Powhatan (Region I champ), 6
Broadway (Region III runner-up) at Cave Spring (Region IV champ, 5
York (Region I runner-up) at Woodgrove (Region II champ), 6
Abingdon (Region IV runner-up) at Northside (Region III chmap), 6

Fri. June 10
Semifinals at Radford, 10 a.m. and 1

Sat. June 11
Finals at Radford, 1

Photo Gallery: Volleyball - AA State Quarterfinal - Powhatan vs. Loudoun County by Richard Kirby

(Nov. 18, 2010) - Click on the photo below to view the entire gallery shot by Richard Kirby from Loudoun County High School's girls volleyball win over Powhatan Tuesday in the VHSL AA state quarterfinals.

Volleyball: Loudoun County Breezes Into State Semifinals - Again!

By Jason S. Rufner
Special to VivaLoudoun via Loudoun Tims-Mirror

Leesburg (Nov. 16, 2010) -  Loudoun County High School girls volleyball coach Jenica Matthias and her staff had done their part. They'd turned in their homework on opposing Powhatan prior to their meeting in the Virginia AA quarterfinal and now it was up to the Raider players to do their part, to utilize that scouting to their advantage on the court.

The Raiders did so, slamming past the visiting Powhatan Indians (24-2, runners-up from Region I) in straight sets with scores of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-16.

Softball: Briar Woods and Loudoun Valley Have Seasons End in State Quarterfinals

(June 9, 2010) - The Briar Woods High School and Loudoun Valley High School softball seasons came to an end Tuesday with both teams falling in the state quarterfinals, the Falcons at Powhatan, 4-0, in AA and the Vikings at Madison, 6-1, in AAA.

For Briar Woods (21-4) the loss ended the Falcons best ever season as the school captured its first Dulles District regular-season title and repeated as district tournament champs before finishing runner-up in Region II.

For Loudoun Valley (17-7) the loss ended the Vikings chances of returning to the state title game. Madison's Sam Brady pitched a 3-hitter for the win over Valley with 10 strikeouts.

Baseball: Potomac Falls Has More "Pow" than Powhatan, Punches Return Ticket to State Semifinals

Click the photo above to view the complete gallery with almost 300 photos from the game by Scott Shepherd.

Sterling (June 9, 2010) - The Potomac Falls High School baseball team once again broke out their big bats, scoring nine runs in the third inning Tuesday night, to blast their way to the AA state semifinals with an 11-6 win over Powhatan. Jackson Rogers went the distance for the Panthers against the Region I runners-ups.


Potomac Falls faces Jefferson Forest (winners over Tunstall) on Friday at 10 a.m. at Calfee Park in Pulaski.

Potomac Falls got on the board in the first inning on consecutive hits by Thomas Rea and Ryan Mahoney. Ryan Miller then hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Rea and give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Powhatan came back in the third, scoring three runs, as Rogers started to have some control problems. After giving up a single to Doug Jamerson and walking Jake Bowlin, Tyler Allen and Luke Scherzer came through with clutch singles to give Powhatan the 2-1 lead. Rogers then walked the next two batters forcing in the third run of the inning in before recording the last out.

The Panthers then responded in their half of the third ... in a big way.

Ben Sweger started the inning with a single up the middle. Rea followed with his second hit of the game and Mahoney then hit an RBI single to left. With runners on the corners, Miller hit a 2-run double to right to give the Panthers the 4-3 lead.

The Panthers were just getting started as Sam Bass then hit a single up the middle to score Miller before Rogers reached on an error. Matt Hoover then hit an RBI single to right. Tyler Caldwell followed with a walk to load the bases before Sweger stroked his second hit of the inning up the middle to score Rogers. Rea then followed with his third hit of the game -- and second hit of the inning -- scoring Caldwell and Sweger, giving the Panthers a 10-3 lead.

Given such a huge cushion Rogers settled down and began working the batters to his advantage. He cruised through the fourth inning before surrending two runs in the fifth on a two-out triple to center by Cole Phillips that just eluded the diving attempt of Mahoney.

Potomac Falls tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning on a double by Dulles District Player of the Year Michael Lascomb and an RBI single by Colin Deely.

Powhatan got a leadoff home run from Tyler Allen in the seventh before Rogers retired the side for the 11-6 victory.

Football: Championship Caliber Drive Directs Broad Run Into Second Straigth VHSL Division 4 State Title Game

By Carl Lukat
Times-Mirror Staff Writer
Special to VivaLoudoun.com

Powhatan (Dec. 6, 2009) - Championship teams produce championship-caliber drives when it matters most. And that's exactly what Broad Run did in a 20-7 victory over previously undefeated Powhatan in the Division 4 state semifinals on a wet, cold and windy Dec. 5 afternoon.

Clinging to a 12-7 lead, the Spartans (13-0) gained possession at their own 26-yard line with 9:18 remaining in regulation. Broad Run proceeded to run the ball on 16 consecutive plays, chewing up more than eight precious minutes off the game clock.

Football Box: Broad Run 20, Powhatan 7 (VHSL D4 State Semifinal)

game played Dec. 5, 2009 at Powhatan

Box courtesy of Carl "rain gear" Lukat of the Loudoun Times-Mirror

Scoring

Second Quarter
P: Berry 2 run (Moore kick) 10:23
BR: Peeler 1 run (pass failed) 0:42

Third Quarter
BR: Peeler 20 run (pass failed) 1:58

Fourth Quarter
BR: Jessop 17 run (Peeler run) 1:15


Rushing
BR-Peeler (36 for 173 yards, 2 TD) Jessop (3 for 7 yards, TD), Fleming (1 for
4 yards), Nelson (1 for 2 yards)
P-Minor (9 for 63 yards), Kingery (7 for 45 yards), Berry (15 for 31 yards, TD), Bradley (4 for 23 yards)

Passing
BR-Jessop (4 of 9 for 24 yards)
P-Minor (5 of 10 for 27 yards, Int.)

Receiving
BR-Lindsey (2 for 13 yards), Quigg (1 for 6 yards), Evans (1 for 5 yards) P-Ingram (1 for 10 yards), Morris (1 for 9 yards), Taylor (1 for 9 yards), Berry (2 for minus-1 yard)

Football: Broad Run Headed to D4 State Title Game Again with Comeback Win Over Powhatan

Powhatan (Dec. 5, 2009) - Broad Run High School fell behind 7-0 Saturday but the Spartans rallied to score 20 unanswered points to advance to the VHSL Division 4 state title game for the second straight season.

Broad Run (13-0) rode the back of senior running back T.J. Peeler in a game played in poor conditions. The Spartans score just before the half to trail 7-6 and then added a 20-yard Peeler touchdown late in the third quarter to go ahead, 12-7.

The Spartans with great ball control in the second half finally put the game out of reach with a Connor Jessop 18-yard TD run with less than two minutes left.

Broad Run plays the winner of Sunday's Amherst County vs. Christiansburg game. The Spartans beat Amherst in last year's state title game for the school's first ever state football title.

Some running play-by-play

4th quarter: Connor Jessop rolls out and keeps the ball and rolls all the way to the end zone with a great scramble by the BR QB! 1:15 to go. Broad Run scores 2-point conversion on Peeler run. Spartans heading to state title again ... up 20-7!

Football: Big Challenge Awaits Broad Run

Broad Run (12-0) at Powhatan (12-0)
What: Division 4 state semifinals
When: Dec. 5, 1:30 p.m.
Region finals: Broad Run 36, Sherando 13; Powhatan 34, Chancellor 18
Points scored: Powhatan 545, Broad Run 430
Points allowed: Powhatan 65, Broad Run 125

By Carl Lukat

Times-Mirror Staff Writer

Special to VivaLoudoun.com

Ashburn (Dec. 3, 2009) - Broad Run High School has grown accustomed to the friendly confines of its home field in Ashburn during its perfect run through the last two football playoff seasons.

The Spartans hosted five games and played one neutral site game on their way to winning the 2008 Division 4 state championship and advancing to this year's Division 4 state semifinals.

That changes Saturday as Broad Run will make a nearly 150-mile trip to play the Powhatan Indians. Powhatan is about 30 miles west of Richmond. 

"We are excited. We have been very fortunate to play at lot of important games at home the last few years," Spartans coach Mike Burnett said. "We are trying to embrace this opportunity to go somewhere else and play a big game."

Broad Run (12-0) will not only play on the road, but will also face a very accomplished team. Powhatan (12-0) won all of its regular-season games by 25 or more points.

The Indians defeated Chancellor 34-18 in the Region I championship game, avenging a loss to Chancellor in the 2008 regional final.

Powhatan features a massive offenisve line that averages 280 pounds per lineman. Senior QB Shawn Minor is a playmaker with his arm and his legs. Minor passed for 200 yards and rushed for 135 more in the win over Chancellor.

The Spartans -- winners of 26 straight games -- counter Powhatan's size up front with team speed. Broad Run is stocked with playmakers, including Division I commits RB T.J. Peeler (Pittsburgh) and WR Adrian Flemming (Syracuse).

"We believe in athleticism and explosiveness," Burnett said. "We kind of hope that will give us an advantage."

Amherst hosts Christiansburg in Saturday's other Division 4 semifinal. The two winners will square off for the Division 4 state championship at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium in Blacksburg Dec. 12 at 4:30.

Broad Run defeated Amherst 13-0 in last year's state title game. The Spartans are two wins away from repeating as state champions.

"Every game, we play for each other and to be the best we can be," Burnett said. "Our first goal was to win our district and we did that. We then focused on regionals and we were able to accomplish that goal. Now, we are at our last goal of winning states. It's coming down to the end of the road."

Editor's Note: VivaLoudoun and the Loudoun Times-Mirror are teaming up this week with two football teams in the state semifinals. LTM editor Carl "crazy legs" Lukat is covering Broad Run and Dan "Single Zing" Sousa is covering Stone Bridge. We hope to be doing the same thing next week at UVa and Tech!