Park View Picks Their Way to 9-0 - Defeat Pride
STERLING, VA - On a chilly Senior Night at Patriots Stadium Friday, the surging Heritage Pride rode in with combined hopes of a big Dulles District win, upending Park View's aim of a perfect season, spoiling the Patriot's streak of District championships, and more importantly, solidifying the Pride's play-off entry. It wasn't to be, however, as the Patriots rebounded from a tight 1st half, and sealed the victory in the 2nd stanza, 33-15.
It was a wild and wooly 1st two quarters of football, as Park View jumped out to a 13-0 1st quarter lead, only to see the Pride bounce back, and answer with 13 straight points of their own to tie the game before the quarter ended. Park View DB Marcus Freeman set up the 1st score of the night, as he read the Kyle Nelson screen pass perfectly, picked it out of the air, and returned the ball 45 yards to the Heritage 13 yard line. On the 1st play, C.J. Leizear found Danny Foley alone in the end zone for the score. After the Pride was forced to punt on their next possession, Park View put together a grinding 60 yard drive, culminating in another Leizear to Foley air strike, this time from 6 yards out. The 2 point conversion failed, an attempt of another impressive play out of the "Coach Hill Trick Playbook," bringing the score to 13-0.
It was then that the Heritage offense turned up the heat. After a failed ensuing onside kick attempt by the Patriots, the Pride drove 54 yards and scored on a Cody Beard 1 yard run. The defense would stiffen against the home team, and with 0:28 left in the quarter, on an offensive drive highlighted by a 56 yard Kyle Nelson to Ross Madison toss and catch, Nelson sealed the drive, diving into the end zone for the touchdown. The extra point failed, and the score at the end of the quarter would be tied at 13.
The scoring pace settled down in the 2nd quarter, but the Patriots found their way into the end zone 2 ½ minutes in. Following another Nelson interception, this time by Jr. DB Josh Jones, Leizear capped the impressive drive by finding his favorite receiver on the night, hitting Foley with a 7 yard touchdown chuck. The point after put the Patriots up 20-13. The Heritage defense, for the 2nd week in a row, came up with the next score. With Park View back in possession near their own 30 yard line, 3 straight Pride blitzes forced the offense to go in reverse, sacking Leizear 3 straight times, the 3rd coming in the end zone for the 2-point safety bythe hands...and arms...of the Pride's Kyle Groomes, narrowing the score to 20-15. After the teams traded possessions for the remainder of the half, the scoring would end on a Clay Parker 38 yard field goal, as time ran out, giving Park View the 23-15 halftime lead.
The 2nd half was all defense for both teams. Heritage found the road tough going for the remainder of the night, as turnovers kept the ball in the Patriot's hands. Park View managed to score once in each of the next 2 quarters, in spite of a stingy, but tired, Pride defense . The 1st coming on an Eric Johnston 1 yard touchdown plunge, which was set up by a Leizear to Ryan Pick 92 yard catch and run, with Pick getting 60 (plus) of those yards on his own, down to the 1 yard line. The final score of the night came late in the game, on a Parker 22 yard field goal. The end story would be Park View 33, Heritage 15, with the Patriots remaining undefeated at 9-0, and the Pride dropping to 6-3.
The story for the Pride this game would be turnovers. The Patriots intercepted 7 Kyle Nelson passes on the night, resulting in 17 points...1 point less than the margin of victory. Nelson was also sacked 9 times in the game. The Patriots were not without their ball protection woes... Although Leizear did a much better job of taking care of the football, only being picked off once, Park View fumbled away the ball 5 times on the night.
The Pride's play-off chances were damaged in this game, and they need to come away with a road win this Friday against the resurgent Loudoun County Raiders, who beat the Dominion Titans, 14-3, Friday for their 2nd straight victory. Heritage will also need some help from the Freedom Eagles, who need to upset the Briar Woods Falcons in their final contest, along with a James Wood loss. Should the latter two scenes play out, the Pride would get the play-off nod.
With their win, the Patriots are set for the big, much anticipated, showdown in Ashburn this Friday, against the Broad Run Spartans (who defeated the Potomac Falls Panthers to stay undefeated), for the Dulles District championship, and will be the Game Of The Week, on the Gameday Radio Network. The broadcast will begin at 6:15 pm, with kick-off set for 7:30 pm. If you can't be there, make sure to tune in for all the exciting action.
Chick-Fil-A Players Of The Game
Danny Foley - Sr. WR Park View Patriots
Curtis Rustin - Sr. REC\DB, Heritage Pride
Game Statistics
PVHS
Passing: C.J. Leizear (17-37-280, 3 TD's)
Rushing: Eric Johnston (19-132, 1 TD)
Receiving: Danny Foley (6-61, 3 TD's), Ryan Pick (3-108), Tommy Sedeski (6-86)
Defense: Thomas Mullabah (3 ½ sacks), Josh Jones (3 INT's)
HHS
Passing: Kyle Nelson (15-33-208, 7 INT's)
Rushing: Ross Madison (10-54), Kyle Nelson (18-53, 1 TD)
Receiving: Ross Madison (2-66), Curtis Rustin (3-35), Darius Tibbs (4-32)
Defense: Kyle Groomes (sack for safety), Russell East (INT)
