Briar Woods Defeats Heritage

Falcons Win Fourth Straight Game

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Briar Woods Coach Charlie Pierce held up an open hand during his postgame speech to his team on Friday night, stretching his fingers as far apart as they would go.

"You guys were this earlier this week," he said.

Then he balled his fingers up into a fist.

"And you became this. And tonight, that fist kept on pumping."

After a week full of distractions, the Falcons football team came together and dominated Heritage, 30-9, in a pivotal Virginia AA Dulles District matchup on senior night in Ashburn.

Early Sunday morning, Loudoun County sheriff’s deputies raided a post-homecoming party at a Leesburg area residence that was attended by several Briar Woods high school students. Twenty teenagers face misdemeanor charges of underage possession of alcohol, 17 of whom were not named because of their juvenile status. One former Falcons player – 18-year-old graduate Benjamin Poplar – was cited.

Briar Woods officials declined comment on the situation and any possible fallout resulting from it all week. Last night, junior quarterback Austin Frattali was not in uniform or on the sideline for the Falcons and when asked after the game about his status for the rest of the season, Pierce declined to comment.

Freshman Edwin Mends stepped in to fill the void at quarterback against Heritage and was steady, running the Briar Woods offense like a three-year starter. The Falcons pounded the ball on the ground all night with senior Ray Taliaferro and their defense kept the Pride in check in what Pierce called "the biggest win in school history."

Last year, Heritage (5-3, 2-3) handed the Falcons a 28-21 loss in Leesburg and while that didn’t stop Briar Woods from making the playoffs, the team was out for revenge.

"This was huge," senior linebacker Jake Ashton said. "After losing last year on their senior night, we were ready. This is a great feeling."

Ashton – a second-year transfer from Freedom – made several big plays for a defense that frustrated the Pride attack all night, holding Heritage to three first half field goals and forcing three interceptions to ice the game in the second half.

The Pride drove down to the Briar Woods 15-yard line on their opening possession but couldn’t get into the end zone, instead settling for a 32-yard Josh Thiel field goal.

Three plays later, Taliaferro broke through the Heritage line for an 86-yard touchdown run to start a career night. The DeMatha transfer rushed for 164 yards on 16 first-half carries, including another score from 12 yards out. The Falcons (7-1, 4-1) continued to ride the 5-foot-7, 170-pounder in the second half as Taliaferro finished with 26 carries for 217 yards and three touchdowns in his best game in orange and white to date.

"This was an opportune night for him to come through on more big plays than he has in the past for us," Pierce said. "Our line did a fabulous job blocking – probably the best job they’ve done all year long. Tonight our guys did a heck of a job on the line and Ray just hit the hole hard and exploded through."

Heritage responded to first Taliaferro touchdown with another Thiel field goal to cut the lead to 7-6, but they would get no closer as the Falcons tacked on a David Clements field goal and Taliaferro's run to take a 17-9 halftime lead.

Midway through the first quarter, Heritage senior running back/defensive back Ross Madison left the game with a right leg injury following a tackle of Taliaferro. He did not return to the game and was on crutches for the second half. Madison – the district’s leading rusher coming into the night – had rushed for 69 yards on eight carries at that point, but his departure left the Pride without their offensive catalyst.

"He's about half our offense, that's really what it amounts to," Heritage Coach Wes Driskill said. "We got field goals instead of touchdowns, and that could have made a big difference right there. Even without Ross, if we had converted those it would have kept us in it."

With Madison out of the game and T.J. McPhaul out sick, the Pride used a number of receivers and skill players in the backfield, but none found much running room against an aggressive Briar Woods front. When they went to the air in the second half, the Falcons limited them to short passes and picked off three balls late to seal the victory. Heritage finished with 230 yards of total offense but only 107 on the ground – a number Madison had eclipsed on his own each of the last three weeks.

With the win, the Falcons continued their best start to a season in school history. Next week they face Potomac Falls, another 7-1 team vying for a playoff spot and looking to bounce back from a surprising shutout at the hands of Broad Run.

"When we came out, I couldn't really tell what was going to happen focus-wise or enthusiasm-wise," Pierce said. "Then after Ray had that really long touchdown run, that got us going in the right direction and got us the momentum and we just picked it up from there. The defense continued to do what they always do. On offense we made plays and capitalized on their turnovers – it was just a complete game. I think this is one of our best games in school history."

Notes: Madison wasn't the only player to go down with an injury. Briar Woods senior defensive back Briar Mahoney intercepted a Zach Gordon pass on the final play of the game and was tackled while attempting to return it for a score. According to Mahoney – seen in an arm sling during Pierce's postgame speech – he broke his collarbone on the play and will miss the remainder of the season…Heritage juniors Scott Pratz and Josh Toney also suffered injuries during the game but both returned to the field.

Tagged: Briar Woods High School, football, Heritage High School, high school sports

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