Boys-Liberty District
1-Evan Heflin  15:32  Thomas Jefferson
2-Brian Landry  15:32 Thomas Jefferson
3-Aaron Bernstein  15:50  Thomas Jefferson
4-Alex Witko  15:52  Thomas Jefferson
5-Brian Davenport  15:55 Thomas Jefferson

1-Thomas Jefferson 15pts
2-W.T. Woodson 55pts
3-Mclean  109pts
4-Langley 112pts
5-Marshall 123pts

Girls-Liberty District
1-Lauren Shaw  18:22 Langley
2-Stephanie Paradis  18:24  Stone Bridge
3-Brigid Byrne  18:27  James Madison
4-Connor Fleming  18:27  Thomas Jefferson
5-Lisa Junta  18:28 Thomas Jefferson

1-Thomas Jefferson 40pts
2- W.T. Woodson 67pts
3-Langley 70pts
4-Stone Bridge 101pts
5-Mclean 113pts

Boys-Concorde District
1-Joe LoRusso  15:24 Oakton
2-Neal Hendricks  15:26  Oakton
3-Brian Hendricks  15:32  Oakton
4-Chris Weil  15:45  Oakton
5-Christopher Foley 15:51  Chantilly

1-Oakton 23pts
2-Robinson 58pts
3-Chantilly 99pts
4-Westfield 101pts
5-Herndon 138pts

Girls-Concorde District
1-Lia DiValentine  17:38   Chantilly
2-Frances Dowd  18:02  Fairfax
3-Hiruni Wijayaratne  18:11  Herndon
4-Becca Kassabian  18:12  Oakton
5-Hallie Eilerts  18:15  Oakton

1-Oakton 48pts
2-Herndon 72pts
3-Robinson 86pts
4-Westfield 90pts
5-Centreville 107pts

Boys-National District
1-Leoule Degfae  15:55 Edison
2-Tihut Degfae  15:59  Edison
3-Abiy Mohammed 16:01 Stuart
4-Spencer Rodriguez 16:26 Edison
5-Jonathan Iredell  16:35 Edison

1-Edison 19pts
2-Yorktown 75pts
3-Washington-Lee 80pts
4-Mount Vernson 94pts
5-Falls Church 123pts

Girls-National District
1-Lindsey Hunt  19:30  Yorktown
2-Myah Hicks  19:34  Edison
3-Cynthia Carson  19:40 Washington-Lee
4-Lakayla Hughes  19:57 Mount Vernon
5-Andrea Ferri  19:59  Stuart

1-Yorktown  45pts
2-Stuart  68pts
3-Edison  71pts
4-Mount Vernon  96pts
5-Washington-Lee  100pts

Boys-Patriot District
1-Brad Kenimer  15:28  T.C. Williams
2-Devin Edgell  15:56  Lake Braddock
3-Paul Devar  15:58  West Potomac
4-Alex Clark  16:00  Lake Braddock
5-Kelly Carmichael  16:03 West Potomac

1-West Potomac  49pts
2-Lake Braddock  53pts
3-South County 80pts
4-Annandale  92pts
5-T.C. Williams  120pts

Girls-Patriot District
1-Liana Epstein  18:01  Lake Braddock
2-Elizabeth Heath  18:09 West Potomac
3-Alex Watt  18:17  West Springfield
4-Madeleine Willner  18:18  South County
5-Kelsey Rosenberg  18:25 West Potomac

1-Lake Braddock 47pts
2-West Springfield  58pts
3-West Potomac  62pts
4-South County 130pts
5-T.C. Williams  132pts

Edison Remains Unbeaten in National District Play

Eagles Use a Well-Rounded Attack to Pull Out a 25-22, 16-25, 25-16, 25-23 Win Over Visiting Yorktown

At the beginning of the season, second-year Edison Coach Matt Merante said his biggest complaint was that his players weren’t well-conditioned enough.

“To be honest, we lost a couple of five-game matches earlier this year that I think was largely due to our conditioning,” Merante said. “So we focused on just being a little more fit and working harder in practice, and it has definitely paid off.”

	Edison didn’t need a decided fifth game Thursday night against vistiting Yorktown, partically because its new-found strength late in a match allowed it to withstand a furious rally by the Patriots. The Eagles were ahead 2-games-to-1 and held a comfortable 21-14 lead in the fourth game. But Yorktown, led by hard-swinging sophomore Elyse Bush and senior Sara Sims, rallied to tie the game at 22. Edison did not fold. Instead it was Yorktown that began to self-destruct, affected by three unforced errors down the stretch. The combination proved a 25-22, 16-25, 25-16, 25-23 victory for the Eagles, who improved to 9-6 overall and 3-0 in the National District. “This win feels really, really good,” said middle blocker Nora Abamukong, one of seven seniors on the Eagles’ roster. “We really wanted to beat Yorktown last year and didn’t, so it was one of our main goals on our goal sheet again this year. And that we did it is very exciting. “I think we’ve bonded really well and we’ve picked it up over the years as we’ve matured. I think this is the best team so far in Edison history.”
Edison senior libero Brittney Louis (2) and middle blocker Teri Dua (3) prepare to receive a service from visiting Yorktown Thursday.

The Eagles were well-balanced Thursday, with senior outside hitter Crystal Douglas leading the team with 12 kills, junior setter Ariell Thompson totaling 15 service points and four aces and senior libero Brittney Louis leading the team in digs. Junior middle blocker Lisa Kindred also played well at the net, as did senior hitters Elizabeth Gillispie and Teri Dua, and senior Caitlin Hayes was solid defensively.

“Yorktown did have some unforced errors that hurt them, but I also think we made sure to take advantage of it,” Merante said. “We have to do is just keep getting better at the little things, but playing as a team tonight was crucial. We’ve had some kids step it up one night but then be downt he next .. but tonight everyone had a nice game.”

** To see complete highlights from Thursday’s match, as well as a video
interview with Edison seniors Teri Dua and Caitlin Hayes, click on the
“Volleyball” sports central link at the top of the home page.

Hornets Use Two Second-Half Kickoff Returns to Edge Visiting Patriots

Yorktown came to Herndon Saturday afternoon poised to spoil the Hornets’ Homecoming. But the home team had other plans, and rode two dramatic kickoff returns — one with less than a minute and a half to play — to a come-from-behind, 35-31 victory.

On their opening drive, Patriots’ senior quarterback Tim Reynolds found senior Ben Brooks wide open down the middle of the field for a touchdown and the early lead. The Hornets (3-4 overalll, 1-2 Concorde District) answered right back, mounting a 15-play drive that resulted in a 26-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Zack Ozycz to senior Nicco Berry.

Herndon scored again on their next possession in quicker fashion. Senior running back Chris Winston took the handoff on the third play of the drive and scattered 36 yards for the touchdown and a 14-7 lead. The Patriots (3-4 overall, 2-1 National District) tied the game on their first possession of the second quarter using a 3-yard run by junior Kyle Toulouse with 9:13 remaining in the half.

	That’s when things got sloppy, as the two teams combined for three fumbles on the next eight plays. Herndon’s second fumble set up an outstanding run-and-score by Reynolds, who barely stretched the ball inside the pylon as his body fell out of bounds. Yorktown would then force Herndon to punt, and added a 42-yard field goal by senior Brian Sims to take a 24-14 lead into break.      The extra-long Homecoming half time seemed to refresh Herndon. Winston took the second half kickoff 84 yards back to the house to pull the Hornets within three.
Herndon senior Desmond Siefu broke free on a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the game’s final minute to secure the Hornets’ win.

“You can’t judge football players by size,” Herndon Coach Joe Sheaffer said of Winston, who is listed at 5-feet-7 and 170 pounds. “He might be the littlest kid out here, but he is tough, strong and he’s fast.”

The Hornets’ defense then forced a Yorktown punt, and their offense responded by stringing together another long drive. After 16 plays, one well-executed fake punt by senior linebacker Erikk Shupp and a quarterback sneak by Ozycz, Herndon had re-claimed the lead at 28-24.

But late in the fourth quarter the Yorktown offense got rolling again. With the offensive line leading the way on nine straight running plays, Reynolds once again capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to junior Jared Smith with just 1 minute, 23 seconds on the clock and the visiting team holding a three-point lead. 

But it didn’t last long.

This time it was senior Desmond Siefu who fielded the Yorktown kickoff, and he returned it 94 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown and the win.

“That’s something we really work on, and we felt like we had a chance maybe at one,” Sheaffer said of the pair of spectacular kickoff returns. “I didn’t know we would get two.”    

Week 6 Friday Football Round-Up

Big Second-Half Propels No. 10 Lake Braddock to a 24-6 Victory over Lee; Six Different Eagles Tally Points in No. 7 Edison’s 36-0 Shutout of Yorktown

	The Lancers were able to move the ball in the first half, using two drives of 12 plays. But they were unable to convert in the red zone, missing two fields from 36 and 31 yards.  The second half started with fireworks. After holding Lee to a three-and-out, Bruins’ senior Keon Robinson dropped back to receive the punt at his own 30 yard line. Robinson made the catch and was quickly surrounded, and seemed to be on his way down. But he kept his legs moving and wiggled free from the apparent tackle — losing a shoe in the process — and raced 70 yards down the home sideline for the score and a 10-0 lead. Toward the end of the third quarter Robinson found the end zone again, this time capping a 10-play drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Shane Halley that broke the game open. Halley had also hit Robinson earlier in the drive for a 40-yard gain.
Lake Braddock Coach Jim Poythress address his team, which moved into a first-place tie in the Patriot District with West Springfield, after Friday’s 24-6 victory over visiting Lee.

Lee answered immediately with an 11-play drive of its own, and narrowed Lake Braddock’s lead when running back Pierre Williams pounded it in from the 1 yard line. But with 2 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the game the Bruins struck again.

Next week Lake Braddock will host West Potomac on Homecoming night; Lee will host Annandale.


No. 7 Edison 36, Yorktown 0

By Phil Murphy
DigitalSports.com

It wasn�??t pretty, but it was convincing.

Seventh-ranked Edison (5-1, 3-0 National District) shut out perennial district runner-up Yorktown (3-3, 2-1) on Friday, 36-0.

The Eagles’ defense, anchored by standout junior linebacker Stephon Robertson, held the Patriots to just four first downs and 114 yards of total offense. Yorktown senior quarterback Tim Reynolds was held to 1-of-6 passing for 22 yards and an interception. The culprit on the pick: the aforementioned Robertson.

Both of the Patriots’ red zone visits ended in turnovers on downs.

Comparatively, the Eagles’ offense racked up 397 rushing yards and 18 first downs in the win, led by senior quarterback/wide receiver Ben Barber who carried the ball 11 times for 82 yards and a score and also completed 5-of-8 pass attempts for 93 yards.

Edison did have a few problems — the host Eagles had three touchdowns called back for penalties away from the play and mishandled four snaps, including one on a field goal and another on an extra point attempt. Another stray snap bounced into the hands of senior kicker Paul Bergstrom.

Bergstrom, who had a solid outing, was able to boom the eventually fair-caught punt 47 yards. That was in addition to the special teamers’ 30-yard field goal that put the Eagles ahead, 17-0, as time expired in the first half.

Yorktown attempts to move back above .500 next week as the Homecoming opponent of Concorde district foe Herndon (2-4). Edison, meanwhile, aims for a slightly more flawless performance at Stuart (0-6), who the Eagles outscored 42-0 in the first quarter last season.