Football Briefs

McLean H.S. – 25, Lee H.S. – 20

The McLean High School football team capitalized on two crucial turnovers by Lee as the Highlanders handed the Lee Lancers their first district loss of the season, 25-20. An interception by McLean’s Thomas Berry and a fumble recovery by Patrick Sullivan led to two rushing touchdowns by running back William Corey to give the Highlanders a 12-7 lead at the end of the first half. A stellar game by Highlander quarterback J.D. Oldenburg (14-23, 180 yards and two second-half touchdowns) and a key interception by Brendan Griffin, enabled McLean to stave off the Lancers. The victory is the third in the past four games for McLean and moves the Highlanders into fourth place in the Liberty District, one game behind Lee, Langley and W.T. Woodson who are currently in a three-way tie for first. McLean closes out the season with games against Langley W.T. Woodson (7-1, 4-1 Liberty) Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Langley (4-3, 4-1). The Highlanders have already well-surpassed their win total of one game last year.

Falls Church H.S. – 37, Wakefield – 6

Senior running back Eddie Robinson led the way with four touchdowns and 180 yards to get the Jaguars back in the win column for the first time since their season-opening victory against Marshall. Playing without senior quarterback James Gannon, a strong second half led the way to victory behind the efforts of Robinson and R.J. Davis (125 combined yards and an interception and sack on the defensive side of the ball). Junior Joey Collins filled in for Gannon behind the center, completing eight of 13 passes for 117 yards, though the biggest pass play of the game came from Kevin Neismith, who hooked up with Sahr Jalloh on a 43-yard touchdown pass. Neismith also contributed defensively with a pick, while Eric Bruyette, Tony Collins and Darnell Pendleton led the team with nine and eight tackles respectively. Falls Church faces Washington and Lee next week at home at 7:30 p.m.

Woodson H.S. – 54, Marshall H.S. – 14

Marshall struggled to move the ball offensively, while Woodson found little difficulty, running up 41 points in the first half. Woodson running back Matt Nickerson ran for 250 yards in the opening half to lead the attack. The Statesmen made a run at their foe in the second-half, outscoring Woodson 14-13, but couldn’t overcome the huge deficit. Brandon Wallace returned a fumble 65 yards for the first Statesmen score of the night, while sophomore running back Jake Oster accounted for the other touchdown.

Junior Jake Ellis took the reins for Marshall at quarterback, completing six of 20 attempts for 62 yards, while rushing for 33 yards on eight attempts. Oster led all backs with 30 yards on the game, while Jacob Ordoff paced the receivers with 29 yards on two receptions. The Statesmen (2-6, 0-5) face South Lakes Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Yorktown H.S. – 28, Stuart H.S. – 0

Dionte Beatty ran for 123 yards on 18 carries, but the Raiders couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone and fell to the Patriots. Dionte Beatty caught three passes for 29 yards. Stuart is still searching for its first win of the season with just two games remaining against Wakefield (Friday at 7:30 p.m.) and Falls Church. The Raiders record currently stands at 0-8.