Madison’s Wiley Counts scored a rushing and a receiving touchdown against Marshall on Oct. 9. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
Second-year South Lakes football coach Trey Taylor entered the 2015 season with three primary goals: improvement from last year’s 2-8 record, making the playoffs and beating rival Herndon, which smashed the Seahawks 49-0 in 2014.
After Friday’s performance against the Hornets, the Seahawks have crossed two of three off the list.
South Lakes defeated Herndon 50-13 on Oct. 9 in Reston, giving the Seahawks three wins over the Hornets in the last four years. South Lakes’ record improved to 5-1, the program’s best start since 2010.
“The biggest thing, I think, is we got beat by them 49-0 [last year],” Taylor said. “To be able to flip the script that much in one year ... shows them stuff we did in the offseason ... is paying off.”
South Lakes sophomore quarterback Devin Miles completed 7 of 11 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns on Friday. He also carried seven times for 66 yards.
Eric Kirlew caught two passes for 37 yards and a touchdown, and carried five times for 53 yards a score.
Albert Mensah carried six times for 60 yards and a touchdown, and Spencer Alston had eight rushes for 55 yards and a score.
Sky Lubreski and Anas Fain each returned an interception for a touchdown.
“That game means so much to the community,” Taylor said, “and I was really proud how our guys were able to block out the hype surrounding the game.”
Next up for South Lakes is a big Conference 6 matchup against the Madison Warhawks, who are also experiencing a turnaround season.
Madison improved to 5-1 with a 32-6 victory against Marshall on Friday at Madison High School. The Warhawks, who finished 5-5 in 2014 and 1-9 in 2013, are off to their best start since 2012, when Madison finished the regular season with an 8-2 record and qualified for the playoffs.
After losing the 2015 opener to Oakton on Sept. 4, Madison has won five straight.
“They’ve responded well and now the challenge is keeping them even keel and keeping committed to each and every ball game,” Madison head coach Lenny Schultz said. “... We thought coming into this season we ... had a real good team.”
Against Marshall, Madison quarterback Jason Gastrock completed 11 of 21 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.
Wiley Counts carried 15 times for 82 yards and a touchdown, and had one catch for 38 yards and a score. Landan Thomas had two carries for 63 yards and a touchdown, and three receptions for 53 yards. John DeScisciolo had two catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Kullen Kritsky intercepted two passes for the Warhawks.
“[We’ve gone from] ‘We want to do well’ to ‘We expect to do well,’” Schultz said. “We’ve had to change the philosophy. We expect to do well because we’ve paid the price. ... Now the challenge is: can we handle winning.”
Madison and South Lakes are both 30 in the conference and tied with Hayfield for first place. For the Seahawks, the toughest challenge for Friday’s matchup could be dealing with the Warhawks’ powerful offensive line, composed of center Ryan Partridge (6-1, 198), guards Dan Sole (6-2, 268) and Sean Rose (6-2, 266), and tackles Drew Smith (6-5, 298) and John Bingham (6-3, 256).
“They’re huge up front,” Taylor said. “They don’t really do anything crazy. They’re not a real gimmicky offense.”
For Madison, the test will be trying to contain South Lakes’ speed.
“They’re very well coached this year,” Schultz said. “They’re much improved, have a lot of team athleticism [and] a lot of team speed. ... They seem to be a little faster than us, and we have to keep them hemmed up.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16 at Madison High School.