by Simon Brown
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Potomac Falls had all the ingredients for an easy victory in its season opener, but that was far from the case in the Panthers' 39-30 home win over Martinsburg (W.Va.) High School Friday night.
Potomac Falls quarterback Gregory Woodlief passed for 157 yards and two touchdowns; running back Michael Baker rushed for three touchdowns and 205 yards; wide receiver Chad McMichael had two catches for 51 yards.
Despite those impressive individual performances, and though the Panthers didn't trail in the second half, the game's outcome was still in doubt with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But thanks to a Bulldog penalty and tightened Panther defense, Potomac Falls held on for the win.
After a third quarter in which there was a score on every possession (30 total points), Potomac Falls led 33-30. Both offenses stalled to begin the fourth quarter, the Panthers going three-and-out on their opening possession; the Bulldogs wasting a five-minute drive that yielded no points.
With 4:56 remaining, Potomac Falls was set to punt from its own 30 after going three-and-out again. But a roughing the kicker penalty kept the drive going, and on the next play from scrimmage Baker ran for 38 yards to set up his own two-yard touchdown run that would put the game away with just 50 seconds remaining.
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"You could put this up there with one of the biggest wins in school history," Potomac Falls Coach Scott Woodlief said. "This is one of the premier teams in West Virginia and our kids gave everything they've got to beat them."
For its part, Martinsburg gave quite a bit as well: running back Ryan Rowland ran for 183 yards and three touchdowns, including an 81-yard touchdown run.
While Coach Woodlief would like to put up 39 points every week, he admits that could be a tall order.
"We have some special players," he said. "You never know week to week what you'll do, and I would love to maintain that level of play. But a lot of things have to go right for that to happen."
Freedom-South Riding Loses Opener to Broadway, 48-7
Freedom-South Riding remains without a victory since joining the Virginia AA Dulles District last year. The Eagles lost their opener, 48-7, Friday night to the Broadway Gobblers.
Freedom began the night by throwing an interception on the third play from scrimmage, which Broadway capitalized on to take a quick 7-0 lead. The Eagles got back in the game quickly, though. After recovering a Broadway fumble, they capped a long drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Jeff Pugh to tie the score.
The Eagles failed to make use of a Broadway turnover on downs deep in Freedom territory in the second quarter, and had to punt the ball away. Broadway scored again on a wide receiver pass near the end of the half. Senior J.D. Veney caught a lateral and threw a 51-yard pass downfield to sophomore receiver Joel Phillips. The Gobblers took a 14-7 lead into the second half and never looked back.
"They're a good team," Freedom Coach Tom McIntyre said. "In the second half things started to snowball."
Broadway scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away.
A 46-yard touchdown run by Broadway running back Kristian Moore put the game out of reach for the Eagles. Freedom gained one final first down in the fourth quarter, while Broadway added 13 more points.
Running back Jeff Pugh was the offensive leader for the Eagles, gaining 84 all-purpose yards, including their lone touchdown. Pugh was missing lead blocker T.J. Mizzell, who was out with a sprained left ankle. "T.J.'s an emotional leader for us," McIntyre said.
On defense, the Eagles allowed 421 rushing yards and 117 yards in the air. "We're not very good," McIntyre said. "We missed some tackling." Injuries also plagued the Eagles, who pulled at least six players from the game according to McIntyre.
The Eagles go into next week's game at Brentsville hoping to turn their fortunes around with one game under their belt.
In other action involving Loudoun teams, the Loudoun County Raiders opened Todd Hill's second season at the helm with a 20-2 victory at Musselman (W.Va.) on Friday night. Read an account of the game from The Journal in Martinsburg here. The Raiders next face Handley in their home opener on Friday night.
Special Correspondent Nathan D. Curby contributed to this report.
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