Week 3 Friday Football Round-Up

No. 4 West Potomac Rides Big First Half to 42-21 Win At No. 10 Yorktown; No. 2 Chantilly Pitches a 49-0 Shut Out of No. 7 Annandale

No. 4 West Potomac 42, No. 10 Yorktown 21

By Phil Murphy
DigitalSports.com

No. 4 West Potomac (3-0) capitalized on five Yorktown turnovers in the first half and battled the rest of the way to a 42-21 road win over the 10th-ranked Patriots (1-2).

By comparison, Coach Eric Henderson’s Wolverines did not turn the ball over once in the first half, only having one drive not ending in a score: A 37-yard Matt Husband field goal attempt that sailed wide. Husband had much greater success on his kickoffs, sending four of his six that were not affected by penalties into the Yorktown end zone for touchbacks.

	It was balanced domination for the Wolverines, who rode the legs of standout senior running back Josh Wells for the first quarter-and-a-half, while relying on junior quarterback Cole Walter�??s arm the rest of the way. Wells amassed 180 of his 198 yards and all three of his touchdowns in the opening half, before sustaining an injury on the way to the locker room at half time that effectively ended his night. Walter, meanwhile, completed 11-of-17 passes through the rain for 127 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Despite its early turnovers, Yorktown senior quarterback Tim Reynolds had a remarkably effective night as well. Reynolds was 7-of-10 through the air for 112 yards and a touchdown connection with his favorite target, senior wide receiver Tim Batol.
West Potomac senior Josh Wells is chased by Yorktown senior linebacker Chris Dola. Wells led the Wolverines with 198 yards rushing and three scores — 180 of which came in the game’s opening half.

Reynolds also was interception free and added 53 yards rushing and a touchdown on 10 attempts. Yorktown was down 35-7 at half time, but both created — and capitalized — on turnovers late to close the gap.

To see photos from Friday’s game taken by professional photographer Deborah Kolt, go to
http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/1179855540834/DeborahKolt/WestPotYktwn

No. 2 Chantilly 49, No. 7 Annandale 0

By Jon Roser
Chantilly High Junior
Online Sports Editor, The Purple Tide

With the cool and stormy weather Friday night, it seemed only appropriate that second-ranked Chargers came roaring onto their home field to �??Thunder�?� by AC/DC. Junior running back Torrian Pace then wasted little time lowering the boom on the Atoms.

On Chantilly’s second play from scrimmage Pace went nine yards for what proved the first of seven Charger touchdowns in a 49-0 shut out of previously-unbeaten Annandale (2-1). No. 2 Chantilly (3-0), the defending Northern Region champions, now gears up for its much-anticipated matchup with No. 1 Westfield (3-0) at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

“This [win] is going to give us a lot of momentum going into the Westfield game,” said senior punt returner and wide receiver Chris Gentile. “I think we’ve been underrated in some of the preseason polls, but we’re going to prove people wrong.”

A driving rain limited the passing of Chantilly senior quarterback Austin Decker Friday night, but with help from the offensive line the Chargers’ trio of running backs once again set the tone.

Pace, who scored again late in the third quarter on a one-yard run,
finsihed with 73 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries. He
combined with senior fullback Antonio Cross and senior tailback Bugsy Urrutia to total 229 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

“We got the momentum early and never looked back,” Pace said. “There was no stopping us after that first touchdown.”

The second quarter was a scoring frenzy, as three different Chargers got into the end zone.

Cross was first to score on an 18-yard run, followed by a fumble recovery by junior offensive lineman Andrew Crawford
in the end zone. Decker capped off the second-quarter scoring on a
20-yard rushing touchdown to put the Chargers ahead, 28-0, at half time.

And the scoring didn�??t stop after the break. Gentile took the opening kickoff 76 yards straight to the end zone.

�??Chris Gentile is the best kick returner in the Northern Region,�?� one Chantilly coach said of Gentile�??s early second-half score.

Chantilly�??s backup quarterback, Mike Fries, took over for Decker
in the fourth quarter with the Chargers leading by a comfortable, 42-0,
margin. Fries promptly made his presence felt on a 45-yard touchdown
run in which he juked past every Atom defender he encountered.

“The lines, both offensive and defensive, were superb tonight,” Chantilly Coach Mike Lalli said. “We dominated the line of scrimmage and it cleared the way for our backs to do some serious damage.”

The Chargers�?? defense, which forced three fumbles Friday night, has yielded only 20 points all season.

* Photo by Jon Roser.