Mount Vernon Advances to Semifinal, Defeats W-L 17-10
Third-seeded Mount Vernon hosted sixth-seeded Washington-Lee and defeated their National District archrivals 17-10 in the quarterfinal round of the Northern Region Division 5 Playoffs.

The game was played November 7th in South Alexandria.

In the first quarter, Mount Vernon roared to a 10-0 lead and that is where the game stood at halftime.

In the first 12-minute frame, the Majors junior placekicker Colin Amereau booted a 31-yard field goal and senior QB Brian Green ripped off a 60-yard scoring run that culminated in a 75-yard scoring drive.

On my TD run, I followed running back Kyle Ricks into the endzone, said a pleased Green.

Mount Vernon veteran head coach Tom Glynn commented, We wanted to come out and run our system tonight. We also wanted to rely on our offensive line [Marcus Jones, Zach Quiggly, Chris Crockett, Jason Riddle and Matt Porter] to get our running game going.

In the third quarter, a W-L 72-yard TD pass to Karl Lendenmann brought the visiting Generals from Arlington to within 10-7. That is exactly what the scoreboard read as the third quarter closed out.

In the decisive fourth quarter, Mount Vernon senior punter/running back Brandon OClisham punted from his own 22-yard line.

W-L senior standout Charles Fuller returned the punt 39 yards to the Mount Vernon 26-yard line.

Seven plays later, W-Ls Chris Almquist booted a 27-yard field goal to tie the contest at 10-10 with 4:51 remaining.

The Majors then took control, wasting little time putting together their game winning drive.

Mount Vernon sophomore Emmanuel Tackie returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards, and when coupled with a 15-yard W-L facemask penalty on the play, the Majors were first-and-10 at the W-L 27-yard line.

Stated the sophomore Tackie, I knew that I was going to take whichever hole opened first. I saw the hole open up and I went for it.

The way that I saw it, that kickoff return plus the facemask were the decisive plays of the contest, because we had just gotten back into the game, commented W-L veteran head coach Josh Shapiro.

Mount Vernon senior Ricks then proceeded to rip off nine yards on first down, and then Green generated three yards on second down.

With first-and-10 at the W-L 15-yard line, Ricks carried for three and then senior Robert Coleman carried for six.

With third-and-one to go at the W-L six-yard line, Coleman scored off the left side for what proved to be the decisive score of the contest.

Amereau added the PAT, and Mount Vernon led 17-10 with 2:32 remaining.

W-L, following their short kickoff return, ran six plays from scrimmage but ultimately fumbled the ball away to the Majors.

On the fifth of those six plays, the W-L wide receiver was popped by Mount Vernon senior defensive back Biazek Hill, who caused a one-yard loss on the play.

Green commented after the game, We knew that W-L was going to play hard, but our offensive line told me that they were going to block hard to the whistle and that is what they did tonight.

With the win, the Majors improved to 9-2 overall on the season and will head to Ashburn November 14 to take on powerhouse second-seeded Stonebridge High School, coached by legendary Mickey Thompson. Stonebridge is ranked #17 in the country by USA Today.

To be the best, we must beat the best, added Green.

Regarding the W-L contest, Mount Vernon was led on the ground by: Green (111 yards rushing), Ricks (81) and Coleman (58).

Greens longest completion of the night with his right arm was a 23-yarder to junior Sean Stewart.

Edison 37, R.E. Lee 7
Powerhouse Edison improved to 11-0 overall on the season with a 37-7 victory versus R.E. Lee.

The National District top-seeded Eagles, coached by veteran Vaughn Lewis, scored in all four quarters en route to their Division 5 quarterfinal victory.

As the first quarter concluded, Edison led 10-7 courtesy of a 63-yard scoring run by senior Stephon Robertson as well as by a 40-yard field goal by senior Mehdi Charfi.

At halftime, the Red, White and Blue Eagles led 17-7 courtesy of a second quarter 44-yard scoring pass from junior QB Levi Barber to junior Christian Washington.

In a low-scoring third quarter (only six Edison points), the Eagles received a 53-yard TD run from Robertson, but the ensuing two-point conversion was no good and Edison led 23-7.

In the high-scoring fourth quarter (14 Edison points), the Eagles put two TDs on the board with a Robertson five-yard run and a 13-yard scoring run by senior Donnell Epps.

In the contest, Charfi successfully converted three of three PAT kicks and junior Billy Arnez successfully booted one of his own.

Only four teams are currently left in the Northern Region Division 5 Playoffs. Top-seeded Edison is scheduled to host fourth-seeded Madison Nov. 14 and second-seeded Stonebridge is scheduled to host third-seeded Mount Vernon Nov. 14. The two winners will meet the following weekend for the Northern Region Championship.

In the Northern Region Division 6 Playoffs: top-seeded Oakton is scheduled to host fourth-seeded West Springfield Nov. 14 and second-seeded Westfield is scheduled to host third-seeded Chantilly Nov. 14.

In other games, seventh-seeded Jefferson traveled to second-seeded Stonebridge and dropped a 58-7 contest to the Bulldogs in a Northern Region Division 5 quarterfinal game.

The Red, White and Blue Jefferson Colonials, coached by veteran Tim Puvogel, scored their lone touchdown courtesy of a 12-yard pass by senior QB Ben Daly.

Jefferson wrapped up their season with a record of 4-7, an improvement over their 1-9 record in 07.

In what is believed to be the longest-running rivalry in the South, Episcopal High School traveled to Woodberry Forest (Orange, Va.) and dropped a 25-13 contest to their archrivals.

The Maroon, coached by veteran Mark Gowin, defeated Woodberry at home to conclude the 07 campaign, but was not able to pull off the same accomplishment this season.

Last year, EHS finished 3-6 overall but defeated Woodberry. This year, they improved to 6-3 overall, but lost to their nemesis.

With the conclusion of regular season games the weekend of October 31/November 1, T.C. Williams, West Potomac and Hayfield did not qualify for their respective playoffs.

In addition, private schools Bishop Ireton and St. Stephens/St. Agnes also concluded their regular seasons a week ago and did not qualify for any of the Virginia Independent Schools Playoffs.