Potomac Falls, Heritage Now 3-0

Friday Football Roundup: Raiders Bounce Back

by Stephen F. Ball

Saturday, September 13, 2008

A week after routing Hedgesville, 68-0, Potomac Falls Coach Scott Woodlief hoped that his team would be able to maintain the level of intensity the Panthers had shown in their first two games. They didn't disappoint, beating Jefferson (W.Va.), 31-14, on Friday.

Led by what Woodlief calls his "four amigos," Potomac Falls jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead, scoring on their first four possessions. Seniors Chris Pelto, Michael Baker, Gregory Woodlief and junior Mason Mehalic each played significant roles in the Panthers' win.

"Each of those guys plays both ways for us and made significant contributions on both sides of the ball," Woodlief said. "They play the game very old school. You can't drag these guys off the field and they just come out and do whatever you ask."

Baker, who scored a touchdown rushing and receiving, was never worried about his team looking past the Cougars.

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Potomac Falls Beats Jefferson

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Led by running back Michael Baker, Potomac Falls takes the field for its game against Jefferson Friday night in Sterling. Baker scored two second-quarter touchdowns. (Richard A. Lipski)

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The Potomac Falls marching band performs the national anthem before the game. (Richard A. Lipski)

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Potomac Falls' Mason Mehalic drops Jefferson quarterback Brandon Hyler stops for no gain. (Richard A. Lipski)

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Jefferson quarterback Brandon Hyler feels the heat from the Panthers' Ricky Lovelace. Hyler only had five completions. (Richard A. Lipski)

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Potomac Falls quarterback Gregory Woodlief scrambles past the outstretched arm of Jefferson's Keenan Delawder for a first-quarter touchdown run. Woodlief would later add two touchdowns passes. (Richard A. Lipski)

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The Potomac Falls band gets into the swing of things after another touchdown by the Panthers. Potomac Falls led, 24-0, at halftime. (Richard A. Lipski)

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Running back Michael Baker finds some daylight in the secondary and heads for a first down during the first half of Friday's game. (Richard A. Lipski)

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Potomac Falls quarterback Gregory Woodlief lets fly during the first half of Friday's game against Jefferson. (Richard A. Lipski)

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Sharon Denny had plenty to cheer about as she saw her son, D.J. Denny, and the Panthers improve to 3-0 on the season. (Richard A. Lipski)

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"We really try to play with a chip on our shoulder," said Baker, who also rushed for 157 yards. "We took offense to all the preseason predictions that said we weren't going to be very good. But we've been going out there trying to prove that those predictions don’t matter, that it all comes down to Friday night."

Gregory Woodlief made few mistakes behind center (9-of-14, 96 yards 2 TD/1 INT) and led the Panthers’ spread offense on several long scoring drives with ease.

"These guys really make me look good," said Woodlief of his teammates on the offensive side of the ball. "Our offensive line takes it personally when we don't score and our wide receivers make plays both catching the ball and blocking down field. They all really take pride in what they do."

The Panthers began the game with excellent field position thanks to a Mehalic sack that left Jefferson punting from their own end zone. Beginning on the Cougars' 25-yard line, the Panthers fed the ball to Baker three consecutive plays, advancing them to the 10-yard line. The Panthers stalled there and kicker Asa Fox's 20-yard field goal put them on the scoreboard, 3-0, with 7:23 left in the first quarter.

After short possession by Jefferson, the Panthers again went to work, this time from their 36-yard line. It took only four plays from scrimmage before Woodlief took a quarterback option play off right tackle to score from 29 yards out, putting Potomac Falls up 10-0. From there, a five-yard touchdown run by Baker and a touchdown pass from Woodlief to Baker gave the Panthers all the cushion they would need entering halftime, 24-0.

"We were able to spread them around," Coach Woodlief said of his team's performance. "We have three good receivers, then you throw Baker at tailback. And Gregory, he can do everything you'd want a quarterback to do."

Though the offense was rolling, it was the Panthers' defense that shut the door on Jefferson. With each rush attempt the Panthers swarmed to the ball, many times tackling the ball carrier with five or six defenders. At halftime, Jefferson had not completed a pass, and their star running back, Dewey McDonald, had no yards rushing and finished with only one yard for the entire game.

As a team, the Cougars had produced only 55 total yards of offense, all on the legs of quarterback Brandon Hyler.

"If you can hold 21 [McDonald] to one yard for an entire game, your defense did something awfully impressive," Coach Woodlief said after being read the game stats. "When you see 10 or 11 hats hitting the ball carrier on almost every play, good things will happen."

Coach Woodlief credited his coaching staff with shutting down the Cougars' offense.

"We found some tendencies in the film that we were able to exploit," Woodlief said. "We noticed that the quarterback got most of his yards, running to his left and that he didn't do well when he could see the blitz coming. So we made sure he saw us coming."

Potomac Falls next opens district play on Sept. 26 with a home game against unbeaten Heritage. With Potomac Falls having never made the playoffs in its 11-year history, Woodlief was quick to point out that his team refuses to think too far ahead.

"Right now Heritage is the only team we're thinking about," Coach Woodlief said. "Right now our record is 0-0 and yes, our goal is to win the Dulles District but we're not going to talk about that. Our goal is to have practice on Thanksgiving morning, because if you're practicing on Thanksgiving morning, you're getting ready for the state tournament."

So much for quelling expectations.

Heritage Pulls Away for 30-7 Win Over Brentsville

Ross Madison set a new single-game rushing record for Heritage on Friday night with 213 yards, leading the Pride to a 30-7 win over Brentsville.

A light rain caused problems for both teams throughout the night. Heritage quarterbacks Zach Gordon and Brian Rody combined to complete only four passes on 17 attempts, while Brentsville quarterback P.J. Borko completed only two of his 13 passing attempts.

Two promising Heritage drives in the first half stalled when the center snapped the ball over Gordon’s head, resulting in huge losses and fourth down situations both times.

Brentsville scored first on a 30-yard scamper into the end zone by senior running back Philip Johnson. Heritage quickly recovered when senior Danny Offei returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown.

With the game tied at seven at halftime, Heritage Coach Wes Driskill put sophomore Brian Rody in at quarterback. Rody coordinated a solid offensive attack, leading the team to several long drives in the second half.

"We needed a spark," Driskill said. "Brian came in and gave us that spark."

Heritage took the lead with 3:40 left in the third quarter when Rody capped a 53-yard drive by running the ball 12 yards into the end zone. Rody set Heritage up for another touchdown with a 20-yard run to the one-yard-line to end the quarter, and Madison finished the drive with his lone touchdown of the night.

Heritage got a quick two points and the ball when Brentsville running back Chris Spinks received the kickoff on the one-yard-line and backed into his own end zone to kneel down. Instead of a touchback, Brentsville got a safety and was forced to kick the ball away to Heritage.

Rody added the last score of the night on a 12-yard run midway through the fourth quarter. Rody ended the night with 40 yards and two touchdowns on 7 carries plus one completion for nine yards.

"The line was working well, and when you have a running back like Ross, the defense is drawn to him," Rody said. "It felt good to get in and lead the team to victory."

In Other Games ...

Quarterback Joe Bushrod rushed for two touchdowns as Loudoun County (2-1) rallied for a 23-20 victory over James Wood in a nondistrict game in Winchester. The Loudoun Times-Mirror was on hand, and you can read their recap here. ... Austin Frattali threw two touchdown passes and Billy McDonald rushed for a score to lead visiting Briar Woods (2-0) to a 28-0 win over Manassas Park. ... Calvin Rodney rushed for 127 yards and Clayton Rodney ran and passed for a score to lead Millbrook to a 38-0 win over visiting Dominion (0-2). Sophomore running back Deandre Reaves had 57 yards rushing for the Titans. ... No. 11 Woodbridge got 197 rushing yards and five touchdowns from De'Antwan Williams in a 48-0 victory over visiting Loudoun Valley. Read about Williams's big night here.

Tagged: Briar Woods High School, Dominion High School, football, Heritage High School, high school sports, Loudoun County High School, Loudoun Valley High School, Potomac Falls High School

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