Patriots, Pride Set For Showdown
#7 Park View vs Heritage
Kickoff: 7:30pm
Park View High School
Broadcast Media:
TCC Sports Game of the Week
Coverage Starts at 6:45pm
Live On The Gameday Radio Network
www.GamedayMagazine.com
Commentators:
Bruce Bornarth
Grant Paulsen
Jimmy Downs
STERLING, VA - In the closing weeks of the season, crunch time has arrived in the Dulles District. This Friday Park View (8-0, 5-0) will face district dark horse Heritage (6-2, 4-1) in a showdown that could ultimately be a huge deciding factor in determining the Dulles District championship.
Park View will feature a strong passing attack with senior quarterback C.J. Leizear, the Dulles District's leading passer. Leizear has passed for 2,380 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. Leizear's key receivers will be sophomore Tommy Sedeski and seniors Danny Foley and Ryan Pick. Sedeski has been outstanding this season with 54 catches for 872 yards. Eric Johnston will be counted on at running back to make plays and help Park View control the line of scrimmage. Johnston leads the team with 470 yards. If Park View can limit the mistakes and turnovers, they could have another strong night throwing the football against Heritage.
The Heritage defense has shown this season that they can play with anyone. The Pride can capitalize on turnovers if the Patriots give it up. Most recently, Heritage was able to come away with a win against Briar Woods (5-3) largely because of their defense. The Pride defense forced two huge turnovers in the game. The first came when linebacker Michael Massey stripped Briar Woods quarterback Alex Munro and ran the fumble back for a 35 yard touchdown. Later in the game, senior Russell East intercepted Munro and proceeded to score as well to set the stage for the big win. The Pride are currently allowing just 16.4 points per game.
Only the offensive end, the Pride will counter with a well balanced running and passing attack. This season, junior tailback Ross Madison has rushed for 649 yards on 113 carries. He also has 6 rushing and 3 receiving touchdowns on the year. His biggest game of the season came against Freedom when he thrashed the defense with 142 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. On the passing side, Heritage is led by senior quarterback Kyle Nelson who has completed 48.3% of his passes this season for 617 yards. Nelson's best receiver this season has been senior Darius Tibbs, who has caught 8 passes for 126 yards on the season. Tibbs scored three times against Dominion just two weeks ago.
The Heritage offense will have their hands full with a Patriot defense that has allowed only 16.8 points per game on the season. Given the fact that the teams are so evenly matched on defense, this game could come down to which team makes fewer mistakes and who can capitalize on them. The winner of this game should take a big step toward locking up a playoff spot.
