Football: No. 8 South County 38, No. 10 West Potomac 0

By Jeffrey Gibert
West Potomac High School Senior/ DigitalSports Intern

Another week, another Homecoming, as the West Potomac Wolverines traveled to Lorton to face the South County Stallions on Friday. Both teams lost in Homecoming games last week; West Potomac at home to Lake Braddock and South County on the road at West Springfield.

This week was South County’s Homecoming, and the Stallion defense played with a passion in shutting out the Wolverines, 38-0.

West Potomac (5-3 overall) is still trying to get back on track after starting the season with five consecutive wins. On the contrary, the Stallions are just now beginning to peak. Before last week’s loss to the Spartans, they were riding a three-game winning streak.

“What went wrong?” West Potomac Coach Eric Henderson asked. “I think they went right. That’s a well-coached team. That’s a good team over there. That’s a playoff team.

The first drive told the story of the game. Stallion athlete J.B. Bullock intercepted a Cole Walter (15-of-29 passing, 54 yards, 2 INTs) pass and returned it to the Wolverine 17-yard line. The pick led to an easy touchdown run for South County’s Eric Dorsey, who finished the night with 16 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown, and also hauled in one pass for 22 yards and another score.

“Well we have two three-year starters at corner, Kyle Michaels and Karlos Morgan,” South County Coach Pete Bendorf said about two of his defensive studs. “They are great cover guys.”

The Stallions’ defense was blistering, especially in the first half. During that span, South County held West Potomac to 28 total yards of total offense, including just three yards passing and 25 yards rushing. The Wolverines couldn’t seem to muster anything. The Stallions were even moving the Wolverines backward on passing plays.

With the score stuck at 7-0 for most of the first half, the Stallions dropped in 10 points just before the break, but it was still anybody’s game. But in the second half, the story changed. South County exploded in the second half, putting the game away early in the third quarter by scoring on its first two possessions with touchdown passes of 41 yards and 18 yards by quarterback Aaron Andrews (5-of-11 passing, 97 yards, 3 TDs).

“We went into the locker room at halftime; we made adjustments,” Andrews said of the turn around. “We just came out and executed better. We [examined] what we saw in the first half and just played on that.”

West Potomac, though, never backed down. The Wolverines fought to the final whistle, putting together three strong drives that moved into Stallion territory late in the game. Unfortunately for West Potomac, each drive ended in a different turnover, via an interception, a lost fumble and a turnover on downs.

“We made a lot of mistakes, but, you know, they forced those mistakes,” Henderson said, crediting the Stallions. “Those guys are good and they’re peaking. They’re getting better every week. That’s gonna be a tough team to beat [in the playoffs].”

The victory was South County’s first against West Potomac in the school’s brief, four-year history. The Wolverines were the only Patriot District team that the Stallions had not managed to beat at least once in their short existence before tonight’s blowout.

“[In] our brief history, you know, at South County, West Potomac has always beaten us for the last couple years,” Andrews said. “This is the first time we’ve beaten them … and it’s Homecoming so it’s always exciting.”

With just two weeks remaining in the regular-season, South County looks like a force to be reckoned with. The Stallions host their rival, the Hayfield Hawks, next week on Senior Night.

“I give credit to not only my assistants, but our players, too,” Bendorf added. “They did a good job of paying attention.”

No. 10 West Potomac 0 0 0 0 — 0
No. 8 South County 7 10 14 7 — 38

1Q – SC – Dorsey 5 run (Fawsett kick) — 9:06
2Q – SC – Dorsey 21 from Andrews (Fawsett kick) — 2:30
2Q – SC – Fawsett 35 FG — 0:03
3Q – SC – Ky. Michaels 41 from Andrews (Fawsett kick) — 8:33
3Q – SC – Doublet 18 from Andrews (Fawsett kick) — 7:25
4Q – SC – Ke. Michaels 52 run (Fawsett kick) — 10:59