Broad Run Pounds Wakefield, 31-6

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Friday, August 29, 2008

For Broad Run, the 2008 high school football season kicked off with a bang – or more of a crunch – as the Spartans visited Wakefield on an unseasonably crisp Thursday night in Arlington.

On the opening kickoff, Spartans' senior Kenny McAdow drilled Wakefield kick returner Romeo Goffney after a modest gain, setting the tone for a game of big plays and hard hitting for the reigning Virginia AA Dulles District champions. With stifling defense and several long passing and rushing plays, the Spartans easily dispatched their hosts, 31-6.

Broad Run senior quarterback Chris Jessop got the offense rolling with a 49-yard pass to junior David Weaver on the Spartans' first offensive play. With the ball on the one-yard line, Jessop rushed it in two plays later to give his team the lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter.

"We're going to be a team that's going to rip off big plays this year," Jessop said.

Jessop was inconsistent on Broad Run's next two possessions, but later strung together consecutive completions of 18, 15 and 15 yards, setting up a four-yard touchdown run by senior Breon Earl just before the half. After Weaver, who plays defensive back as well as receiver, forced the Spartans' first of two safeties with just 52.9 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Jessop connected with junior wide receiver Adrian Flemming on a 38-yard bomb to the left corner of the end zone on the final play of the first half. Broad Run entered the locker room with a 22-0 advantage.

"It's definitely more fun to quarterback in this offense," Jessop said of the new spread formation Coach Mike Burnett has installed this year. "With the personnel we have we're going to do a lot of run-and-gun and spread it around and use what we've got to our advantage, and that’s a lot of athletes."

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Broad Run Beats Wakefield

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Broad Run quarterback Chris Jessop warms up before the game. The senior had one touchdown pass and ran for another score, all in the first half. (Paul Tenorio)

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Broad Run takes the field for its season opener against Wakefield. (Paul Tenorio)

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Some of the Broad Run faithful show their true colors in enemy territory during Thursday's game. (Paul Tenorio)

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Broad Run assistant coach Adam Fortune huddles up with the defense during Thursday's game. "We will look at the stats and obviously we'll be pretty excited. But we can't be satisfied with it," Fortune said of the Spartans' defensive performance. (Paul Tenorio)

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Broad Run Coach Mike Burnett with junior running back/defensive back T.J. Peeler. (Paul Tenorio)

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The scoreboard says it all as the Broad Run football team listens to postgame remarks from Coach Mike Burnett. (Paul Tenorio)

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While the offense was churning out big plays – the Spartans had six plays of 20 or more yards – the defense was stuffing Wakefield's rushing attack in the backfield. Six Warriors combined for minus-50 yards on the ground for the game

"I thought all along our defense was going to be the key to this team," Burnett said. "We have a lot of athletic kids, but they're pretty good on defense. Our linebackers are pretty special and I think it showed tonight. That was the brightest part of the night."

The Spartans (1-0) also stymied Wakefield's two-pronged passing attack, holding the senior duo of Andre Allen and Johnathan Ford to 127 yards on 15 of 30 passing. The Warriors didn’t break through on the scoreboard until the majority of Broad Run's starters were off the field as Allen connected with Ford for a 24-yard touchdown pass with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

The Spartans added to their lead late in the third quarter when junior running back T.J. Peeler broke a 50-yard run for a touchdown down the left sideline, showcasing his speed and power running ability. Peeler finished with 60 yards on five carries while Earl led Broad Run with 87 yards on six carries, most coming on toss plays with Jessop rolling out of the pocket.

"I like being out in the slot because of my size," Earl said. "And not to be cocky, but I'm quicker than most defensive players that try to cover me. If you run us out of the pocket we're just going to try and make plays and that's what we did tonight."

One of the few bright spots for the Warriors (0-1) was the play of their linebacking corps, which brought pressure all night, sacking Jessop once and forcing him out of the pocket on multiple occasions. Senior linebacker Boubacar Diallo was everywhere for Wakefield, breaking through the line, chasing Jessop to the outside and making the senior signal-caller make decisions on the run. But the pressure failed to rattle Jessop and he finished the night with 174 yards on 10-of-19 passing. He had one touchdown pass and one interception and added a rushing touchdown.

"The good thing about tonight was I think we saw what we're going to see," Burnett said. "People are going to bring linebackers – they were brining six, seven people, and I would too. The great thing about us is I think we have the ability to avoid the rush and that’s what we're really trying to do. We've got to do a better job of picking up those linebackers, but we're kind of designed to let Chris move. A lot of that is by design, because he's pretty good on the run. I think what we need to work on is finding receivers when we're moving. Once he started scrambling he had some trouble making that decision of should I throw or should I run, and as the season goes on I think he'll get better at that."

Despite the lopsided victory, the Spartans know they have plenty of room for improvement. Broad Run committed three turnovers, missed a field goal and was spotty on special teams, muffing two punt returns. After another week of practice, the Spartans will look to be sharper next Friday when they host Ballou – a team they blanked, 40-0, last season – in their home opener.

"I'm pretty sure Ballou is going to come hard next week because of the way we did them last year," Earl said. "So I wouldn't be surprised if they come out with a bang. We just have to come out with our heads high, practice hard next week and just get at 'em."

Tagged: Broad Run High School, football, high school sports

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