Football sponsored by The Original steakhouse
By: Dan Sousa
Leesburg (Oct. 2, 2007) – The match-up between the unbeaten Park View Patriots and the winless Loudoun County Raiders seemed to be quite the mismatch entering last Friday night’s game. On paper. However, the resilient young men who put on the navy blue and gold did not care much about games on paper, and they used this game to send a message to the rest of the Dulles District. While Park View would pull out a 51-26 victory, this game was closer than it seemed.
The Patriots were set to receive the opening kickoff when Loudoun County threw the first punch.
A semi-onside kick made it to the second level of the Patriot return team where it was
mishandled, allowing the Raiders to pounce on the ball. This opening event would foreshadow
an ominous first half for the Patriots.
After holding the Raiders on defense, the Patriots methodically marched down the field using a
mix of running and pass plays. The drive was capped with a 6-yard scoring strike from CJ
Leizear to Danny Foley. On the ensuing possession, the Patriot defense held strong, forcing a
Loudoun County punt. Eric Johnston came off the defensive left side of the ball to block the
punt, a ball which was scooped up by Brandon Absher who raced 30 yards for the touchdown.
The Patriots would once again hold on defense, giving the ball back to their offense with under
two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Leizear would connect with Ryan Pick for a 36-yard
gain that took the Patriots to the Raiders’ 10-yard line, and he would find Danny Foley in the
back corner of the endzone on final play of the first quarter. The 21-0 lead after 12:00 of play
would not be enough to knock out the Raiders.
The second quarter belonged to the Raiders. Remaining persistent in their running attack, and
taking advantage of some penalties and special teams miscues by the Patriots, the Raiders would quickly find themselves back in this contest. The Raiders first touchdown would come after a defensive stop (highlighted by a 15-yard personal foul on the Patriots) pinned Park View deep in its own territory. The untested Patriot punt team had the punt hit a teammate and was downed at the Patriot 10-yard line. The Raiders would score two plays later on a 1-yard run by QB Joe Bushrod. Continuing with their aggressive game plan, the Raiders again caught the Patriots sleeping on an onside kick, giving the ball back to Loudoun County in Park View territory.
Bushrod would reach the endzone again on an 8-yard run, cutting the score to 21-14 with 2:03
remaining in the quarter. Park View’s offense, after spending the majority of the second quarter
on the sideline, would strike quickly, marching 61 yards on 5 plays, capped by a 25-yard run by
Eric Johnston. The drive only consumed 49 seconds, giving the Raiders an opportunity to strikeback. Bushrod would connect with senior receiver Jack Lewis for a 39-yard scoring strike with 30 seconds remaining, cutting the lead to 27-20 for the Patriots. The offensive fireworks were not over, however, as the Patriots would see a fast-paced drive end at the Raider 20-yard line as time expired in the first half.
The Patriots would go to work in the third quarter. Defensive adjustments by Defensive
Coordinator Mick Mullins seemed to give the Patriots the advantage in stopping the Raider
running attack. On the Raiders first series, the Patriot defense held and forced a Raider punt.
Johnston would once again break free off of the defensive left side for a clean block, and this
time the ball bounced right back into his arms as he went untouched the remaining 8 yards into
the endzone. After holding the Raiders again, the next Patriot drive saw three consecutive
completions from Leizear to Tommy Sedeski, the third of which accounted for a 6-yard
touchdown. Only moments later the combination would connect once again for an 18-yard score to move the Patriot lead to 48-20. The final Patriot score would come a minute into the fourth quarter when Clayton Parker made a 20-yard field goal, his fourth field goal of the season.
The Raiders showed that they had no quit inside of them. Loudoun County put together a solid
drive in the fourth quarter, capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by Jenkins, moving the score to 51-26.
The Park View defense was led by Garrett Smith who registered a season and career high 14
tackles, including 2.5 sacks. Thomas Mulabah had 12 tackles, and Eric Johnston added 11
tackles to go along with his two blocked punts. Offensively CJ Leizear completed 21 of 30
passes for 314 yards. Tommy Sedeski had 6 receptions for 104 yards and 2 TD, Ryan Pick had
4 receptions for 66 yards (and had a 70-yard TD reception called back due to penalty), and
Danny Foley had 5 receptions for 48 yards and 2 TD. Eric Johnston continued to be a dual threat with 102 yards of total offense (5 carries for 60 yards and 3 receptions for 42 yards) in addition to his defensive performance.
The Patriots move to 4-0 and face Freedom High School (0-4) on Friday night.
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