It’s hard to imagine this year’s Broad Run High football team being better than last year’s squad that went 10-0 during the regular season. But the Spartans just might be better this year. Broad Run, through its first four games, is looking pretty dominant and determined to make a strong run at defending its Dulles District crown.
One week after tallying 53 points against a struggling Brentsville High team in a week three, non-district home affair, Broad Run looked nearly as dominant against a team considered to be in the running for the district crown this season in Briar Woods.
The Spartans controlled play from start to finish last Friday night and, in front of a large, enthusiastic home crowd in Ashburn, handily defeated the visiting Falcons, 29-0.
Many of the fans, students and adults alike sported brilliant pink T-shirts in support of October’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The energy level from the crowd was at a fever pitch all night long as many supported the worthy cause and all enjoyed a Friday night of local football rivalry.
"It feels pretty good," Broad Run senior running back Breon Earl said of his team’s decisive win. "This game has been hyped up ever since we played Brentsville and Briar Woods played Hedgesville [the prior week]. I think we’re way better than last year."
Coming into the contest, the fourth year Briar Woods program was looking pretty formidable itself after having opened the season with lopsided victories over non-district foes Millbrook (Winchester), Manassas Park and Hedgesville of West Virginia. The Falcons, coming off their first-ever postseason appearance, were coming into the Broad Run game on a fairly nice roll.
But the night ended with a tough loss for Briar Woods, which totaled only 118 yards of offense against Broad Run’s stubborn defense.
"No excuses," Falcons Coach Charlie Pierce said. "I guess you could say we couldn’t keep Broad Run’s speed under wraps. And offensively we were pinned back [in our territory] all night long."
<b>LAST YEAR’S</b> Broad Run team, which went unbeaten in the regular season before losing to Park View in a first-round Region II playoff game, was more of a blue collar, run-the-ball-up-the-gut type of team, Spartans Coach Mike Burnett said. This year’s team, thus far, has been marked by an offense that is capable of exploding for points at any time.
"We’ve got kids who can make plays and we have the schemes that allow them to make those plays," Burnett said.
One big play on Friday came on Broad Run’s first possession when Earl, the 5-foot-7-inch, 160-pound playmaker, rolled right with the ball looking to throw an option pass. But instead he elected to tuck the ball in and run. Running back left across the field, he ended up picking up 33 yards all the way down to the Briar Woods 18-yard line on the broken play. The big run set up the Spartans’ first touchdown three plays later when senior quarterback Chris Jessop scored on a 7-yard option run to the left.
Broad Run came up with another big play on its next possession. Facing a fourth and three from the Falcons’ 45, the Spartans faked a punt. Jessop ended up with the ball and gained nine yards. Later, Broad Run capped the drive with a 34-yard field goal by lefty kicker Allen Graham to make it 9-0 Spartans.
Before the half was over, Jessop hooked up with Didier Saidi for a 21-yard scoring pass and Earl scored on an 11-yard run to pretty much put the game out of reach by the half at 23-0. The lone second-half touchdown came on a 5-yard Jessop to David Weaver pass late in the third quarter.
"We have skill guys and can move the ball anytime," Earl, who paid tribute to Broad Run’s strong play on the offensive line, said.
Burnett was impressed with his team’s showing against Briar Woods.
"Against a quality team, we were able to do the things we wanted to do," he said.
Pierce, the Falcons’ coach, was looking forward.
"This isn’t the end of the season," he said. "There is a long season ahead of us."
Burnett said the atmosphere for the local rival game was outstanding.
"It’s fun," he said. "We have a great community here. People love football around here and are going to support football."
This Friday night, Broad Run will travel to Heritage (Leesburg) for a district game, while Briar Woods will host district opponent Dominion.
<sh>Who Can Stop Stone Bridge?
<bt>Defending state AAA champion Stone Bridge, another Ashburn team and a member of the Northern Region, has dominated its opponents thoroughly over the first month-plus of the season. Last Friday night was no exception as the Bulldogs easily handled visiting McLean, 51-13, in a Liberty District game.
Stone Bridge (5-0) has yet to be tested thus far in blowout wins over West Springfield, Robinson, Marshall, Loudoun Valley and now the winless Highlanders.
NEXT, THE Bulldogs will play at 1-4 South Lakes this Friday night.
"I think we’re playing real well on both sides of the ball," Stone Bridge Coach Mickey Thompson said. "I couldn’t be more happy with that."
In most of his team’s games this season, Thompson has pulled many of his starters at halftime of lopsided affairs. That was the case on Friday after the Bulldogs built a 51-0 halftime lead.
Thompson wants to see his players show weekly improvement during practices and in games. Despite the relatively easy wins, he and his coaching staff continue to stress game fundamentals and the importance of staying mentally sharp throughout the season.
The coach recalled two years ago when the Bulldogs won numerous games in blowout fashion. But that the team ended up getting upset in the Division 5 region finals by Edison. He does not want to see Stone Bridge face a similar scenario in this year’s postseason.
"A lot of our games in 2006 were over at the half," Thompson said. "We lost in the region final because we didn’t really get better [later in the season]."
Last year, Stone Bridge, on way to the state championship, had big-time playmakers. While many of last year’s standout players graduated, new playmakers have stepped up this season in running back Daniel Allen and receivers Michael Prince, Nick Sheehan, John Bladel and Andrew Ansell.
"It couldn’t be better," Thompson said of his team’s big-play threats.
Sometimes it is difficult to get all of the skill position playmakers involved. "You have five or six guys who can make plays and maybe [at times] they get two touches a game," Thompson said. "So that can be a problem. Guys have to buy into the [team mind-set]."
Against McLean, Allen rushed for 167 yards and four touchdowns.