Park View Is Routed by Herndon

Patriots Score First, but Hornets Take It From There

By Paul Tenorio

Monday, September 1, 2008

In a game often dictated by momentum swings, Park View found itself on the wrong side of several big plays and crucial penalties and never recovered, falling 34-6 to Herndon in its opening game of the season.

The Patriots, who did not lose until the final week of the regular season last year, scored first against their Class AAA opponent, but missed the ensuing two-point conversion and then failed to cover a perfectly-placed onside kick. Those were the first of many missed opportunities for Park View throughout the first half.

Park View also was called for a penalty on a perfectly executed fake punt that would have put the Patriots deep into Herndon territory. Yet despite the mistakes, the Patriots still only trailed by eight at the half.

But on the second-half kickoff, Hornets junior Devon Thomas fielded the ball after letting it land and sit at the 20-yard line. It seemed Park View would stop him there, or possibly recover the live ball, but instead Thomas weaved 79-yards to the Patriots' one-yard line before being tackled. Herndon scored on the next play and despite trailing by just two scores, a young Park View team seemed to crumble.

"I don't know, it's like in the second half we just gave up when we went down," Park View senior Marcus Freeman said. "All we've been talking about is don't give up when you're down, keep fighting. That's all we talked about during the summer, that's all we talked about during training camp and we failed to do that today."

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Park View Falls to Herndon

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Park View junior QB Brandon Lee warms up before the Patriots take on Virginia AAA Herndon in their season opener. (Paul Tenorio)

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Park View seniors Brandon Absher and Josh Jones talk during warmups. (Paul Tenorio)

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The Patriots take the field for their opener. (Paul Tenorio)

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Park View Coach Andy Hill addresses the team after its 34-6 loss to Herndon. "If I made 12 goals for the other team to win, we probably met all of them," Hill said of the loss. (Paul Tenorio)

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Park View moved the ball efficiently on its first two possessions, stringing together eight- and 11-play drives. But both stalled on failed fourth-down conversions, the second ending on the Herndon six-yard line.

On its third possession, however, the offense broke through. A big 39-yard pass from junior Brandon Lee to senior Josh Jones on third-and-34 brought life to the team, and five players later Lee scored, from one yard out.

A penalty on the extra point moved the ball to the one-and-a-half yard line, but the Patriots could not punch in the two-point attempt and on the ensuing onside kick the ball seemed to be perfectly placed but Park View somehow could not recover it.

That gave Herndon field position, and the Hornets used a pass interference penalty followed by a perfect 34-yard pass from quarterback Zack Ozycz to senior Jake Stewart to take the lead.

Ozycz again connected on a deep pass, this time from 46-yards out to Nick Impellizzer to put Herndon up 14-6 at the half. The big return set up the quick score to start the third quarter, and following an interception, Ozycz and Stewart connected again from 11 yards out to make it a 27-6 game.

After the game, Park View Coach Andy Hill did not mince words, voicing displeasure with his team's effort and execution.

"Young mistakes, stupid mistakes, undisciplined mistakes, lack-of-effort mistakes," Hill said. "We've got a goal sheet with 12 goals for offense, 12 for defense, 12 for special teams. If I made 12 goals for the other team to win, we probably met all of them."

Hill said he hoped his largely-inexperienced team had taken a lesson from the game and that he too would re-evaluate his play calling. But for a team used to winning, the loss was difficult to bear.

"We've got a lot of soul searching to do," Freeman said. "And we've got to figure out what we can so we can have success with this team. So we won't be a failure this year."

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks