The Broad Run High football team was a big winner in the opening week of the high school football season. But other Dulles District teams such as Park View, Briar Woods, and Dominion lost in first week action.
The Spartans, the defending state AA champions, won decisively over Fauquier High (Warrenton), 40-6. Broad Run highlights included running back TJ Peeler rushing for 104 yards and two touchdowns and Adrian Flemming returning a punt 49 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback David Weaver completed 3-of-4 passes for 54 yards.
The Spartans blew the game open early, scoring three touchdowns in the first five minutes.
“We really came out hard,” said Broad Run coach Michael Burnett. “We got on [Fauquier] early and played with intensity.”
Broad Run will open its home schedule this Friday night with a 7:30 game against Heritage.
Broad Run is coming off a perfect 2008 season. The Spartans went 10-0 during the regular season to win the district crown. Postseason highlights included a Region title game win over district rival Potomac Falls and, a few weeks later, a 13-0 state championship game triumph over Amherst County in snowy conditions at Liberty University in Lynchburg.
Big games on Broad Run’s schedule this season consist of Park View at home on Sept. 25, Briar Woods at home on Oct. 2, Loudoun County for Homecoming on Oct. 24 and the season finale at Potomac Falls on Oct. 30.
Potomac Falls, the team Broad Run defeated in the region championship last year, was scheduled to open its 09 schedule with a home game versus Jefferson High of West Virginia last weekend. The game got started on Saturday, but poor weather forced it to be postponed until earlier this week.
The Panthers are coming off their best season ever – a 10-2 record and trip to the Region II finals where their season ended with a 33-6 loss to Broad Run. 2008 marked the first postseason appearance ever for Potomac Falls. Both of the team’s losses came to Broad Run.
Panther coach Scott Woodlief and his team will play in West Virginia this Friday night against Martinsburg High. The team’s Homecoming this season is scheduled for Oct. 9 against local rival Park View.
Another top team from last year’s Dulles District was Briar Woods, which qualified for the postseason for the second straight year in 2008. The Falcons, under coach Charlie Pierce, finished 8-3.
They started off the new season with a tough 21-14 loss to visiting Millbrook High (Winchester) last Friday night. Briar Woods will play consecutive road games the next two weeks at Liberty High (Bealeton) on Sept. 4 and Handley High (Winchester) on Sept. 12 before returning home again with a game against Martinsburg on Sept. 17. Briar Woods’ Homecoming date this season is set for Oct. 9 against Loudoun County.
Dominion, which begins its second year under coach Karl Buckwalter, was beaten by Loudoun Valley, 41-0, in its opener last Friday. The Titans will be under the leadership this season of team captains Riley Sullivan, Travis Estridge, Brendon Pocialik, Trey Baxter, Deandre Reaves, and Tripp Tarro.
Park View was beaten in its opener as well, falling to visiting Sherando, 24-21, on a last second field goal.
Sherando junior kicker Justin Haines’ 43-yard field goal barely cleared the crossbar on the game’s final play.
It was a game in which Park View, which got touchdowns from each of its three units – offense, defense and special teams – could have won had it protected the football better offensively. But five turnovers were, in the end, too much for the Patriots to overcome.
“The turnovers are absolutely unacceptable,” said veteran Park View head coach Andy Hill, whose team will hit the road the next three weeks against non-district foes Millbrook (Winchester) and Liberty, along with Dulles District and defending state AA champion rival Broad Run, before returning home again on Oct. 2 for a contest against district opponent Loudoun County.
Park View’s Tommy Sedeski returned a punt for a touchdown and also caught a scoring pass for the Patriots.
The Patriots are coming off a 2008 season in which they struggled at 3-7.
STONE BRIDGE, a member of the Liberty District within the Northern Region, is coming off a fantastic 2008 season in which the Bulldogs captured their third region crown in four years with a 35-6 championship game win over Edison. The Bulldogs, who had won the Div. 5 state AAA championship in 2007, went on to fall to Phoebus (Hampton Roads) in last year’s state semifinals. Stone Bridge finished 13-1 for the season.
Stone Bridge, under coach Mickey Thompson, is scheduled to open the new season this Thursday night at 7 against visiting Woodbridge High. The Bulldogs will also be home next week when they host Westfield on Sept. 4. Stone Bridge has dominated the Liberty District in recent years. Key district games on its schedule this fall include Madison at home on Oct. 16 and a road game at Langley on Oct. 23.