Raiders Ride Walczak To 27-21 Win, Playoffs
Heritage and Loudoun County exchanged punches on Friday night, but when it was all said and done, the Raiders were left standing to play another week. The Raiders won 27-21.
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Loudoun County's Michael Ayoub hauls in a touchdown pass from Joe Bushrod in the 27-21 win for the Raiders over rival Heritage. With the win, the Raiders earned a playoff berth and will play Broad Run next week.
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Heritage Head Coach Wes Driskill coached his last game on Friday as the Pride's head man. He will resign to spend more time with his family. Driskill has started both the Heritage and the Potomac Falls programs from scratch, turning both into winners.
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LEESBURG, VA - There was a happy ending to the regular season for the folks that call themselves the Raider Nation on Friday night. The Loudoun County Raiders needed a win to snag the final playoff spot in Division 4, and they had to beat their cross town rival Heritage to do it. Add the fact that Pride coach Wes Driskill was coaching his last game for the team, and the underlying pressure on the Raiders was ratcheted up a bit.
However, they answered the bell from the opening of the game to the end, pounding the Pride with a stellar running attack, and playing opportunistic football on defense. Loudoun County celebrated all the way to the team bus with a 27-21 win, and their first playoff berth in years.
The Raiders got the scoring started first with a Mike Howard touchdown run from 2 yards out to make the score 7-0. After a Heritage fumble on the next drive, the Raiders then quickly struck again when Andrew Walczak rumbled in untouched from 38 yards out to give Loudoun County an impressive 14-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Heritage junior Scott Pratz fielded the ball on the Pride 30 yard line and ran straight up the field practically untouched to the promised land. The score energized the Pride crowd and pulled Heritage within a touchdown at 14-7.
The Raiders then answered again, when quarterback Joe Bushrod hit Michael Ayoub on a 24 yard touchdown pass to increase the lead to 21-7 in County's favor.
Just before the half, Heritage struck back when quarterback Zach Gordon found sophomore Dan Dykema on a hitch route, and Dykema then scorched the defense after juking one tackler to score. The Pride converted the extra point to again pull within a touchdown right before the half 21-14.
In the second half, the Raiders struck first again when Walczak punched it in from 1 yard out, but the extra point was blocked and the score stayed at 27-14.
With just under 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Pride put together an awesome drive, capped off by a Russell East touchdown catch from Gordon. East leaped over the defender to snare the football and keep the Heritage hopes of victory alive. The Pride converted the extra point to make the score 27-21.
The game then fell to the Pride defense to make one last stop, and they did answer the call. However, after the Heritage offense received the football, they went 4 straight plays without much success, and fumbled on 4th and 5 to give the Raiders the ball back inside their own 20 yard line.
Loudoun County ran the clock out and celebrated their biggest win in years 27-21. After the game, an excited Todd Hill spoke about his team's ability to win a game with so much riding on it.
"We played a tough schedule this year, and we had a three game lapse in the middle," Hill said. "We went back to the fundamentals and I really believe that helped us get to where we are tonight. I'm just really proud of our kids," Hill said.
The Raiders will now face top seeded Broad Run next Friday in Ashburn in a rematch from an earlier season game in which the Spartans were victorious 37-17. But as they say, it is always tough to beat a team the second time around, and all indications are, the Raiders are ready to rumble with the top dog in the region.
The Pride fell to 6-4 in the defeat and concluded their second consecutive winning season under head coach Wes Driskill.
VELOCITY SPORTS PERFORMANCE PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
Andrew Walczak - Tailback / Loudoun County
Walczak was a train on the loose on Friday night, steam rolling Pride defenders at every turn on his way to a two touchdown night. His 38 yard scamper in the 2nd quarter was a huge momentum boost for the Raiders.
Josh Toney - Linebacker / Heritage
There was not a better football player on the field on Friday night than Pride junior Josh Toney. Toney was a man playing with boys, making nearly every play on defense near the line of scrimmage. His physical play helped to slow down the Raider attack in the second half.
*Check Back for video highlights and analysis from the Gameday Crew and also photos from this game.
