Munro, King Lead the Way for Briar Woods

By Matt Tobin

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Briar Woods committed plenty of penalties Friday night, but the Falcons were able to overcome them thanks to quarterback Alex Munro and wide receiver Tim King.

Briar Woods had nine penalties for 78 yards but Munro's two touchdown passes to King and Munro's rushing touchdown were enough to get the Falcons past Potomac Falls, 21-13.

"An ugly win is better than no win at all," Falcons Coach Charlie Pierce said.

And for Briar Woods, the first two drives of the game were indeed ugly.

After moving the ball 45 yards down the field to the Panthers' 25-yard line on their first possession, the Falcons had a holding penalty and a false-start penalty that effectively ended their drive. The Panthers then took possession, and with the aid of a personal foul and offsides penalties by the Falcons, they capped the drive with a three-yard scoring run by running back Michael Baker , putting them ahead 7-0.

Then the Falcons (6-3, 3-3 AA Dulles) responded in the second quarter with big plays.

On a third-down play from the Briar Woods 13, Munro found King open for an 87-yard score.

"That's a play we work on everyday in practice," King said. "It works every week for us, it never lets us down."

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Potomac Falls at Briar Woods

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Briar Woods senior John Maghamez carries a flag onto the field before Friday night's football game against Potomac Falls. (Kyle Hansen)

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Falcon wide receiver Jeremy Gray runs with the ball during the first quarter. (Kyle Hansen)

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Panther No. 21 Michael Baker tries to get past the Falcons during their Friday night game at Briar Woods. (Kyle Hansen)

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Briar Woods defensive tackle John Maghamez tries to stop Potomac Falls running back Michael Baker. (Kyle Hansen)

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Briar Woods receiver Tim King runs the ball during the second quarter of Friday night's game against Potomac Falls. (Kyle Hansen)

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Young girls perform with the Briar Woods varsity cheerleaders during the halftime show of Friday night's football game. (Kyle Hansen)

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A member of the Briar Woods marching band performs during halftime of Friday night's game. (Kyle Hansen)

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The Briar Woods Falcon marching band performs during halftime of Friday night's football game against Potomac Falls. (Kyle Hansen)

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Members of the Briar Woods marching band perform during Friday night's football game. (Kyle Hansen)

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The Briar Woods drumline wore Zoro masks and hats during its performance during Friday night's football game. (Kyle Hansen)

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Potomac Falls' No. 20 Chad McMichael jumps for the ball while Briar Woods' No. 20 J.T. Bailey stands by. (Kyle Hansen)

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Panther Ryan Mehalic tackles Falcon Devin Barber during the third quarter of Friday's game. (Kyle Hansen)

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Potomac Falls head coach Scott Woodlief watches his team play Briar Woods Friday night. (Kyle Hansen)

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Briar Woods' No. 20 J.T. Bailey, No. 48 Bryan Mahoney and No. 81 Gavin Scherer try to stop Potomac Falls' No. 24 from advancing the ball. (Kyle Hansen)

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Potomac Falls' Mason Mehalic falls backward on quarterback Greg Woodlief, who jumped on the ball after fumbling during the snap. (Kyle Hansen)

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Falcon running back J.T. Bailey tries to slip past the Panthers during the third quarter of Friday's game. (Kyle Hansen)

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Potomac Falls' William Wilke grabs Briar Woods quarterback Alex Munro just after Munro threw the ball. (Kyle Hansen)

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Briar Woods' Vince Atanasov kicks a field goal during the fourth quarter of Friday's win over Potomac Falls. (Kyle Hansen)

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Potomac Falls quarterback Greg Woodlief runs the ball into the endzone for a fourth-quarter touchdown. (Kyle Hansen)

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The Briar Woods football team and cheerleaders celebrate the team's 21-13 win over Potomac Falls. (Kyle Hansen)

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After an extra point from kicker Vince Atanasov , the score was tied at 7. Then on the kickoff, Atanasov sprung an onside kick that Briar Woods recovered. Nine plays later they were in the end zone again, this time on a one-yard run by Munro.

"It was just a great team effort today," Munro said. He finished the day completing 15 of 25 passes with 283 yards.

Penalties appeared to haunt the Falcons in the fourth quarter when wide receiver Devin Barber ran down the field to score a 36-yard touchdown, only to have the play called back on a holding penalty.

But Munro responded with a 46-yard touchdown pass to King. With pressure in his face, Munro threw the ball across the middle to an open King. A split second later, Munro was on his back after a hard hit from a Panthers defender, but by that time, King was well on his way to another touchdown.

King finished the game with 182 yards on five catches, but earlier in the week it wasn't certain how effective King's play would be after suffering what he called "a minor separation" in his shoulder.

"It was sore," King said, "but I fought through it. [It] wasn't too bad."

Potomac Falls (2-7, 2-4) looked to make the game competitive again. Quarterback Gregory Woodlief ran the ball in for a three-yard touchdown. A blocked extra-point and a failed onside kick, though, put the game out of reach for the Panthers.

Next week, Briar Woods hosts winless Freedom. After losing to the Eagles last year, Pierce hopes that history doesn't repeat itself.

"We've got to be ready to play," Pierce said.

The Falcons also hope that a win next week will translate to a home game in the first round of the playoffs. The mood at next week's game, Munro said, will be electric.

"The atmosphere's gonna be crazy," he said. "We have a pep rally. Everyone's going to be out here, so we've just got to come out, play football and hopefully we can better our record so we can get a home game for the playoffs."

The Panthers will also have a home game next week as they take on Dominion.

Tagged: high school sports

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