Heritage Stays Perfect Behind Rody
Ross Madison and the Heritage Pride took control of the game against Brentsville in the 2nd half.
Photo By: Marc Le Maitre
LEESBURG, VA - There isn't much else that Heritage head coach Wes Driskill could have asked out of his sophomore backup quarterback. When starting quarterback Zach Gordon went down with an injury in the first half, Brian Rody took the reigns of the Pride. By the time Gordon was able to return, he wasn't needed. Rody had engineered a spectacular second half on the way to a 30-7 victory against the Brentsville Tigers.
Rody, who is known more for his arm than his legs, killed the Tigers with his running ability. The young quarterback scored twice on the ground in the second half - once in the closing minutes of the third quarter and a second time with six minutes left in the contest - on what seemed to be the same play. Twice he ran off left tackle and twice his wide receiver and tight end opened a huge hole and twice he scampered across the goal line.
Brentsville broke down the door first, after a scoreless first quarter, with a 30-yard run by Phillip Johnson, who had 70 yards on the night. With the lead and a broken down Pride team against them the Tigers seemed in control and tried to keep the ball out of the hands of playmaker Ross Madison on the ensuing kickoff. Kicking the ball off to the up back Danny Offei seemed like the correct idea but 90 yards and seven points later it was obviously not.
The score remained tied until 3:40 remained in the third quarter and Rody scored the first of his two touchdowns. Madison scored on a one-yard plunge just three seconds into the fourth quarter. The plunge was set up by a long scramble by Rody, who narrowly missed scoring another touchdown on the play. The ensuing kickoff proved to be detrimental to the Tigers, as Erik Kelly backed into the endzone by mistake, giving the Pride two points and the ball back on the safety.
Five minutes later Rody added three of his 40 rushing yards and another score to cap 30 unanswered points by Heritage.
