Spartans Top Rival Park View 39-26
Running back Breon Earl eyes the field during his team's sure-handed 39-26 win over rival Park View...
Photo By: Jan Johnson / Gameday Magazine | VIEW GALLERY
Broad Run's Kevin Sanderson starts to celebrate as he watches teammate TJ Peeler attempt to cross the goal line...
Photo By: Jan Johnson / Gameday Magazine | VIEW GALLERY
STERLING, VA -- It was a great night for high school football. The visiting team, the Broad Run Spartans, battled their rivals, the Park View Patriots, out in Sterling in a game which normally steals the spotlight for the last game of the regular season.
In the end, it was Broad Run once again standing tall in one of Loudoun County's best rivalries as they defeated their Sterling rivals by a score of 39-26.
The last time we saw these two teams go head-to-head was last years Dulles District game in a game that would ultimately decided the district champion. Just like last year, the Spartans would finish out on top.
It didn't take Broad Run long to get on the scoreboard as only a minute and twenty two seconds into the game, junior TJ Peeler cut through the middle of Park View's defense and ran 57 yards to make the score 6-0. Graham Allen's extra point put the Spartans up 7-0.
But that wasn't the only thing the Spartans had in store for the night. With only a few minutes left in the first quarter, senior quarterback Chris Jessop threw a 60-yard pass to junior Adrian Flemming for a touchdown. The Spartans' attempt of a two-point conversion was then thwarted by the Patriots' defense. The end of the first quarter resulted with the Spartans on top with a score of 13-0.
Right at the start of the second quarter, only 58 seconds in, the Spartans once again trampled over the Patriot defense. Jessop threw a 9-yard pass to senior Breon Earl for yet another touchdown, with Allen following up immediately after with an extra point to make the score read 19-0.
With about four minutes left in the first half, Jessop passed to Flemming for a 40-yard catch to secure another touchdown before the half was over. With 3:52 left to go, Flemming again rushed the ball into the endzone with Allen's extra point missing the uprights, the score was 25-0.
Just when the crowd thought that the Patriots would never get points on the board, Park View's Brandon Lee rushed the ball into the Spartan endzone with only 21.2 left in the half. With the extra point added onto the touchdown run, the scoreboard at the end of the first half read 25-7 with the Spartans on top, but Park View would head into the locker room with an added momentum boost.
When play resumed, Jessop would once again extend Broad Run's lead at the 8:37 point of the third quarter when he rushed into the endzone from 13 yards out. Another Allen kick made the score 32-7.
The Patriots weren't giving up just yet. With 5:13 left on the clock the Patriots scored a touchdown making the score now 32-13.
At the end of the third quarter, the score stood at 32-13, with the Spartans on top.
The fourth quarter began on a positive note for the visiting Spartans as senior Mikey Cotton intercepted the ball and ran it all the way to the endzone. With Cotton's six points the score increased to 39-13.
Still, the Patriots were giving all they had left. With the clock winding down and 6:48 left in the game, the Patriots ran for 64 yards past the Spartan defense, which would set up another score. The touchdown cut the deficit to 20 points as Park View now trailed 39-19.
With only 28.2 seconds left in the game, the Patriots came back and scored yet another touchdown, to put the score at 39-26, which would stand as the final, leaving the Patriots on the short end of the stick for a second year in a row to the Broad Run Spartans.
The win gave the Spartans their second consecutive undefeated regular season and the victory also secures them the Dulles District title and #1 seed entering the Region II Division 4 playoffs.
