FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2010
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ALLMETSPORTS.COM
THEPOSTTOP20 Check out area-by-area football previews, plus video and photos from the weekend’s top games on
allmetsports.com 1
Stone Bridge
Next: at Osbourn (12-0), Saturday, 2:30 p.m. 2
Osbourn
Next: vs. Stone Bridge (13-0), Saturday, 2:30 p.m. 3
Good Counsel
Next: season complete 4
Lake Braddock
Next: vs. Battlefield (11-2), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. 5 Urbana
Next: vs.Wise (12-1), today, 7:30 p.m. (13-0) (12-0) (10-2) (12-1) (12-0) 6 Wise
Next: vs. Urbana (12-0), today, 7:30 p.m. 7
McDonough
Next: vs. Middletown (12-1), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. 8 Battlefield
Next: at Lake Braddock (12-1), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. 9
BriarWoods
Next: vs. Courtland (0-0), Saturday, 1:30 p.m. 10 Wilde Lake
Thur: def. Franklin, 21-14, in Maryland 3A title game (12-1) (12-1) (11-2) (11-2) (11-3) 11 Damascus
Next: season complete 12 Colonial Forge
Next: season complete 13 DeMatha
Next: season complete 14 Gaithersburg
Next: season complete 15 Broad Run
Next: season complete (12-1) (11-1) (9-3) (11-2) (11-2) 16 Broadneck
Next: season complete 17 Sherwood
Next: season complete 18 Robinson
Next: season complete 19 Hylton
Next: season complete 20 H.D.Woodson
Next: season complete Allen is lined up in the right place Stone Bridge sophomore struggled as a wide receiver, but as a defensive lineman is key to stopping Osbourn BY PAUL TENORIO When Jonathan Allen enrolled
at Stone Bridge last spring, he told the school’s football coaches that he played defensive back. They assumed that meant the 6-foot-3, 215-pound freshman with the 4.5 speed also could play wide receiver. Over the summer, it became apparent that Allen wasn’t a nat- ural pass catcher. So in the Bull- dogs’ first scrimmage, Allen found himself on the defensive line — a position he had never played. He was an anonymous sophomore in a foreign position on one of the area’s top teams hoping to have any sort of impact. “I was just trying to make a
name,” Allen said. It didn’t take long.
On one play, Allen chased
Dominion running back Deandre Reaves from behind.He eventual- ly caught up to theWest Virginia- bound senior 30 yards downfield and laid a hit so hard he broke his own chinstrap. The soft-spoken newkid might
not have been the wide receiver coaches initially hoped, but on the defensive line he looked like he could be special. “Surprise,” Coach Mickey
Thompson said, smiling widely. As No. 1 Stone Bridge (13-0) prepares to face second-ranked Osbourn (12-0) and its star quar- terback, Dominique Terrell, on Saturday in the Virginia AAA Division 5 state semifinals, the sophomore who has gone from surprise to standout will be vital to the Bulldogs’ efforts to return to the state final for the third time in four seasons. Allen has proved to be among
the most valuable players on one of the state’s top defensive units, setting school single-season re- cords with 17 sacks and seven forced fumbles. He is tied for second on the team with 52 first- hit tackles and is first with 32 assists. He also has two fumble recoveries, five pass knockdowns and one blocked kick. “He has the potential definitely
to be the most highly recruited player I’ve ever been associated with,” said Thompson, who has sent numerous players to BCS programsin his20years of coach- ing at Stone Bridge and nearby Park View, including two who have gone on to the NFL. “I think at the end of the season, after we finish here, you’ll see multiple, multiple offers coming out. And it’s only going to grow.” It’s been a quick and somewhat surprising evolution. As coaches watched Allen run routes and catch passes over the summer,
Virginia
Div. 5 No. 1 Stone Bridge (13-0) at No. 2
Osbourn (12-0) Saturday, 2:30 p.m. At stake: Berth in the
Virginia AAA Division 5 final against the Phoebus- Dinwiddie winner on Dec. 11 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. Howthey got here: Stone
Bridge and Osbourn continued their dominating runs with big wins in their respective region finals. Stone Bridge defeated Hayfield, 35-7, to win the Northern title. Osbourn downedMountain View, 48-7, to capture the Northwest crown. Watch for: There is no
secret formula behind Osbourn’s success. The Eagles are led by one of the area’s top recruits, quarterback Dominique Terrell, who has rushed for 2,010 yards and 30 touchdowns and thrown for 1,305 yards and 15 scores. On the outside, Timmy Keith and Lucky Whitehead are major big-play threats with tons of speed. If any player makes the first defender miss, they could be off to the races—especially the dynamic Terrell. Stone Bridge has alternated
JOEL RICHARDSON/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
something just didn’t feel right. Allen caught the passes, but he
did so with his body and not his hands. His route-running didn’t seem smooth. “Down the road he may very
well be a very good receiver for us,”Thompsonsaid. “But itwasn’t something that came natural to him.” Still, Thompson had never
seen a player with such quickness and ability to get to the football. Allen’s intensity was unmatched. “When you see that, you know you have to get him on the field somewhere,” said Thompson, who decided to try Allen on de- fense.
Despite playing mostly on the
interior instead of the edge, where he can be most effective, it didn’t take long for Allen to make an impact. After twogames, Allen had recorded four sacks. By Week 8 he had tied the school
Jonathan Allen didn’t work as a wide receiver, but he’s set Stone Bridge records with 17 sacks and seven forced fumbles on the defensive line. On the field, though, Allen
single-season record of 10. “He causes problems,” said
McLean Coach Jim Patrick, whose team lost to Stone Bridge, 38-0, on Oct. 29. “We tried to option him and he could play the read and the quarterback. We tried torunawayfromhimandhe chased us down from behind. . . . in the pass game we made the mistake of trying to put one guy on him [and he had three sacks]. You have to game plan for him, you have to be aware of where he is.”
Allen has a reserved nature
that likely stems from his father, retired Sergeant First Class Rich- ard Allen, who has stressed the importance of remaining humble and letting one’s work ethic speak for itself. That personality has helped him transition smoothly into a defense led by seniors who have already played for a state title.
hardly internalizes. There, the emotion one expects from a teen- ager is finally unleashed — often with devastating effects for the opposition. On one punt return against
McLean, Allen doubled back and leveled aHighlanders player near the Stone Bridge sideline, send- inghimflying several yards out of bounds. Allen flexed and looked upward, screaming and jumping up as his teammate took the return 53 yards down the sideline to set up a touchdown. “He’s a totally different player
on the field,” said senior lineman CalvinHollenhorst, one of Allen’s closest friends on the team. “He’s fiery, he’s explosive.” The Bulldogs hope that Allen’s
energy can make a difference at Osbourn on Saturday. Allen will be among those charged with limiting Terrell, one of the state’s
top recruits, who has rushed for 2,010 yards and 30 touchdowns and has thrown for 1,305 yards and another 15 scores. While Thompson emphasized
that it will take a total team effort to stop Terrell, slowing the dan- gerous quarterback will be one of the first major tests of Allen’s nascent but promising career. “I thinkwe’ll be in position in a
lot of places, but when you get there can you make the play?” Thompson said. “Who can, who can’t? That’s the game in a nut- shell, right there.We could go out there and put all the [bells and whistles] around, but if we put Jon Allen three yards in front of Terrell and Terrell’s got the foot- ball, who wins?”
tenoriop@washpost.com
D Maryland 2A
No. 7McDonough (12-1) vs.Middletown (12-1),
Saturday, 3:30 p.m., atM&T Bank Stadium
At stake: The 2A state title. Howthey got here:McDonough won its 10th straight game
by running past undefeated Queen Anne’s County, 55-17, in the state semifinals.Middletown beat Eastern Tech, 20-6, in its state semifinal. Watch for:Middletown prides itself on defense, and senior
free safety Chris Pirrone and senior linebacker Ian Tolino lead a fast, slightly undersized unit that has allowed only 9.5 points per game this season. Senior running back SamMichels and junior quarterback
Michael Pritts lead a balanced, steady offense that operates out of theMultiple I formation. McDonough, meanwhile, seems to rely on a different star
every week to power its big-play offense, a unit that is averaging 40 points and 441.3 yards in its three playoff games. Senior running back Justin Brooks rushed for 267 yards and
three touchdowns on only eight carries last week at Queen Anne’s. This isMiddletown’s fourth appearance in a state final; the
Knights have yet to win a
title.McDonough is looking for its fourth state championship, and first since 1990. The Skinny:McDonough is bigger and more athletic, but
Middletown limits its mistakes and has won multiple games it wasn’t expected to win this season. McDonough’s offense has scored eight touchdowns of more
than 30 yards during the postseason.Middletown needs to limit those big plays to give itself a chance.
—Greg Schimmel Virginia Div. 6
No. 8 Battlefield (11-2) atNo. 4 Lake Braddock (12-1) Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
At stake:Berth in theVirginiaAAADivision 6 final against the
Hermitage-Baysidewinner onDec. 11 at Scott StadiuminCharlottesville. Howthey got here: Battlefield advanced with a 42-14 win overNo. 12
Colonial Forge in theNorthwest Region final. Lake Braddock advanced with a 56-18 win over Chantilly in theNorthern Region final. Watch for:How Battlefield defensive lineman Zavier Stringfellow, linebacker ChrisWendle and defensive back Bobo Beathard attempt to bottle up Lake Braddock quarterbackMichaelNebrich. The senior has accounted for 83 percent of the Bruins’ offense this season, throwing for 3,486 yards and 35 touchdowns and running for 1,089 yards and 21 scores.He has 183 more carries than his next-highest teammate, so there’s nomystery that the Connecticut recruit will have the ball in his hands, at least until he unloads it toMatt Zanellato (86 catches, 1,588 yards, 19 touchdowns), Tanner Quigley (72, 1,147, 15) or Chris Williams (58, 658, 4). “We have to keep him in the pocket because if he gets outside, he’s gone,” Bobcats CoachMark Cox said. “You know if you stop him, you’re pretty much going to win the game, probably. The hard thing is, he’s just that good.” Battlefield also can throw it some, using two quarterbacks, but the
Bobcats prefer to ride the legs of running backNagee Jackson (989 yards, 21 touchdowns) and Cedric Agyeman and Terrell Tapscott, who have been reinstated to the team after missing recent games. Skinny: Battlefield has beaten undefeated and ranked teams (Hylton
and Colonial Forge) on their home fields the past two weeks and will be unbowed rolling into Burke to face an opponent the Bobcats fell to in last year’s state semifinals in overtime, 27-24. The Bruins won that game on a touchdown pass fromNebrich to Williams on a third and goal from the 15-yard line. The Bobcats relish facing, and beating, teams with higher-profile players. After losing in the state final last season, Lake Braddock has every intention of returning to the title game to bring home the school’s first crown and sendNebrich off in style. —Preston Williams
ON
ALLMETSPORTS.COMWatch a video preview of the Stone
Bridge-Osbourn showdown.
between its twomajor formations: a single-wing, run- first offense led by running backMarcusHarris and a spread approach guided by quarterback BrianRody. Harris has rushed for 1,758 yards and 32 total touchdowns and is a reliable back that the Bulldogs leaned heavily on last year in the playoffs.Harris carried the ball a state-record 47 times in last year’s state final, a 15-10 loss to Phoebus. Rody,meanwhile, has thrown for 1,828 yards and 19 touchdownswith just four interceptions and hasweapons in Stan Johnson, Spenser Rositano andKyle Gouveia. The skinny: The
determining factor will be how well the Stone Bridge front seven can limit Osbourn’s big-play capability. The Bulldogs are giving up 112 yards of offense per game and just 1.4 yards per carry, but must prevent Terrell from breaking off huge, game- changing plays.
—Paul Tenorio (10-3) (10-2) (9-3) (10-1) (9-3)
EZ SU
D7
Virginia Div. 4
Courtland (8-4) at No. 9 BriarWoods (11-2) Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
At stake: Berth in the Virginia AA Division 4 final on Dec. 11
against theHarrisonburg-Christiansburg winner at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg. Howthey got here: The Spotsylvania school piled up 297 rushing
yards in a 31-10 rout of Eastern Viewin the Region I final. BriarWoods used another strong defensive effort and poised play from freshman quarterback TraceMcSorley (255 yards, two touchdowns) to beat two- time defending state champ Broad Run in the Region II final, 24-21. Watch for: The wing-T offense. After posting a 2-0 record against
Broad Run’s single-wing, the Falcons will get a heavy dose of Courtland’s multi-back power running variation. Fullback Kirk Wilson (136 yards, two touchdowns) led three running backs with double-digit carries and at least 70 yards against Eastern View, but the Cougars have also shown the ability to strike through the air on play- action with quarterback Nick Zaluzney. Defensively, Courtland likes to get after the quarterback; last week the Cougars recorded 10 sacks. After relying on the passing game for much of the regular season
only to turn to the run game in its first two playoff games, Briar Woods finally found the right balance against Broad
Run.McSorley’s success in play-action and the coaching staff ’s willingness to allow him to take shots downfield opened lanes for bruising senior tailback Michael Brownlee (628 yards, six touchdowns in his last four games) in the fourth quarter.Mixing things up early and often will help keep McSorley’s jersey clean and the defense guessing. Skinny: The Falcons’ last two wins turned on a pair of short passing
plays that went for long touchdowns. Against Liberty, it was Alex Carter’s 65-yard game-winning score, and last week against Broad Run, Scott Rolin took a crossing-route pass down the sideline for a 64- yard
touchdown.McSorley’s ability to connect with his talented receiving corps—over the middle and on the outside—could be the key to BriarWoods’s hopes of reaching its first state final.
—Matt Brooks
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