Falcons Use Second Half to Soar Past Eagles
SOUTH RIDING, VA - If the Briar Woods Falcons were already thinking about their upcoming Region II semifinal contest against defending state champion Monticello, perhaps trailing one-win Freedom 23-21 at halftime Friday night brought the Orange and Blue back to the present.
The Falcons certainly regained their focus in a big way after intermission, outscoring the host Eagles 40-0 in the second half and rolling to a 61-23 win in the Sixth Annual Bird Bowl.
With the victory, Briar Woods improved to 8-2 to set a school record for wins in a season. The Falcons, who two weeks ago wrapped up the No. 3 seed in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, will visit second-seeded Monticello in next week's Region II semifinals.
Trailing by two at the half against a pesky Freedom squad, the Falcons turned two fumbles into 14 quick points to open the third quarter and never looked back. The Eagles coughed up the ball on the third play of the third quarter, leading to a seven-year touchdown run by senior Ray Taliaferro that put Briar Woods ahead for good.
On Freedom's ensuing possession, Falcon junior Allen Jackson recovered a high snap at the Eagle 10, and, after two Briar Woods penalties, freshman Edwin Mends fired a 30-yard touchdown strike to junior Shawn Graham to give the Falcons a 35-23 advantage.
Senior J.T. Bailey ran in from four yards out late in the third quarter before Briar Woods added three more touchdowns in the fourth.
Mends lofted a 52-yard scoring bomb to senior Jeff Simmons on the first play of the final quarter, and Taliaferro raced in from 75 yards out just over three minutes later. Sophomore Stephen Fields capped the scoring with a five-yard run with 1:17 left.
The game got off to a high flying start when Briar Woods senior Andrew Davidson returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, setting the tone for a wild first quarter that would feature nine total possessions, two fumbles and an interception.
Freedom went three-and-out on its first possession but caught a break when the Falcons fumbled the ensuing punt to give the Eagles the ball at the BW 33. On the next play, Luke Braatan hit Dakota Porter for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7.
Briar Woods turned the ball over on downs on its next possession but an Eagle fumble set the Falcons up at the Freedom 47. Taliaferro then took a short swing pass from Mends and raced down the far sideline for a touchdown to give the Falcons a 14-7 advantage.
Freedom pulled even again when Braatan connected with Brian Orr on a 23-yard scoring pass on the first play of the second quarter, and Nico Vivaldi later booted a 38-yard field goal to give the Eagle a 17-14 lead with 4:10 left in the half.
The back-and-forth action continued when senior tight end Jake Ashton turned a short pass from Mends into a 54-yard touchdown to put Briar Woods back in front 21-17 with 2:44 to play. However, Freedom drove 81 yards in the closing minutes of the first half - capped by an 18-yard pass from Braatan to Orr - to regain the lead. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty turned the extra point attempt into a 35-yard try, and Vivaldi's kick was slightly wide left as Freedom took a 23-21 edge into the break.
After being held to 83 rushing yards in the first half, Briar Woods exploded for 266 yards on the ground after the break. Taliaferro picked up 155 of his 204 rushing yards in the second half as he broke the 200-yard mark for the second time this season.
Mends, who was making just his third start at quarterback, completed 7-of-13 passes for 194 yards and a school-record four touchdowns.
Braatan was 16-of-33 for 241 yards and three touchdowns for Freedom. Orr was nearly unstoppable in the first half, catching seven passes for 114 yards and two scores. However, he was held without a reception in the second half.
After giving up a whopping 332 rushing yards to Potomac Falls last week, Briar Woods returned to its normal stinginess, holding Freedom to just 23 rushing yards on 20 attempts.
