Broad Run Now 10-0 Behind Its Juniors

Earl, Jessop Star in Win Over Park View

By Paul Tenorio

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Following the lead of two of its junior leaders, running back Breon Earl and quarterback Chris Jessop, Broad Run captured its first district championship since 1991 with a 21-14 win over No. 13 Park View on Friday night.

Earl passed for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown and hauled in the key reception on the winning drive for Broad Run, but perhaps most important, he took over on the Spartans’ final drive of the game to run out the clock and secure the victory.

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Undefeated Broad Run Earns District Title

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Park View's No. 5 Josh Jones runs into a wall of Broad Run defense with 1:37 remaining in the second quarter. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Broad Run's No. 23 Breon Earl is stopped by Park View's No. 6 Michael Devaney with 5:34 left on the clock in the second quarter. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Chris Jessop, facing Park View last November, will assume starting quarterback duties this season with the graduation of Cole Shain. Jessop, who was an All-State selection at cornerback last year, had one touchdown pass and two rushing touchdowns in 2007. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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The Broad Run football team gets ready for its game against Park View. In this photo is No. 52 Shawn Lewis. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Broad Run's No. 80 Kevin Sandersen runs the ball with 4:48 left on the clock in the second quarter. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Broad Run's No. 23 Breon Earl breaks out with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Broad Run's No. 80 Kevin Sandersen is lifted by No. 32 Kenny McAdow after Sandersen scored a touchdown with 1:44 remaining in the second quarter. Also jumping onto the group is No. 21 Eric Madigan. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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The junior back carried the ball seven straight times, including a one-yard gain on fourth-and-1, a 12-yard gain on third-and-12 and a seven-yard gain on third-and-4, to keep the drive alive and the clock ticking.

“I’ll be honest with you, Breon called the plays,” Broad Run Coach Mike Burnett said. “I went into the huddle and said, ‘Breon what do you want?’ and he said, ‘Give me the toss.’ He wanted the ball.”

Earl, who was born the year Broad Run last won a district title, finished with 29 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown, two receptions for 42 yards and one 15-yard touchdown pass on a halfback-option play.

“I was ready all week,” Earl said. “We’ve been practicing hard, and I said I’ll do anything for this team.”

The Spartans (10-0, 7-0 AA Dulles) fell behind in the second quarter when Park View put together a systematic 96-yard drive that was capped off with running back Eric Johnston’s one-yard touchdown run. But Earl’s option pass to Kevin Sandersen tied the score, and the two teams went into halftime deadlocked.

In the second half, Jessop made his first big play of the night when he intercepted Patriot quarterback C.J. Leizear’s first pass attempt on the opening drive to give the Spartans the ball. They capitalized on the turnover, moving 58 yards on 11 plays, and Earl gave Broad Run the lead on a two-yard run.

The Patriots (9-1, 6-1) did not quit, moving right back down the field and tied the score at 14 when Leizear followed a devastating block from defensive tackle Thomas Mulabah, who had lined up in the backfield in a single-wing formation.

But once again Jessop stepped up with a big play, pulling up on a reverse and finding Earl on a 40-yard pass down the left sideline to spark the winning touchdown run from running back Kenny McAdow.

The Spartans used that exact same play in nearly the exact same part of the field against Heritage on Oct. 5 to set up the winning touchdown. Coincidentally, McAdow also had the winning score in that game.

“We set it up earlier in the game by running a fake reverse pass and we picked up a lot of yards on it and that kind of set it up,” Jessop said. “And later we got the exact same result as Heritage.”

Broad Run and Park View now face the possibility of squaring off again Friday in Ashburn in a Region II, Division 4 playoff game, depending on the result of yesterday’s Brentsville-Handley game.

“It’ll be the exact same [preparation],” Jessop said. “But we’ll have a lot more confidence because we’ve seen we can beat them.”

Tagged: high school sports

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