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| Facing 4th-and-5 from the Chantilly 11-yard line with just :17 seconds remaining, Edison junior quarterback Levi Barber finds a leaping junior wide receiver Christian Washington for the go-ahead score. The Eagles' 20-17, come-from-behind victory over the Chargers secured their first 10-0 regular-season in school history. | |||||
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By Angela Watts
Assistant General Manager, Washington D.C.
** Click the links above the video to the left find a photo gallery filled with images from Chantilly's Senior Night festivities as well as video interviews with Edison standouts Levi Barber, Stephon Robertson and Christian Washington and dozens more video highlights from the Eagles' dramatic, last-second victory.
In an instant -- with one magnificently executed play -- No. 3 Edison made history Friday night at No. 4 Chantilly.
Facing a 4th-and-5 from the Chargers' 11-yard line with :17 seconds remaining, Eagle junior Levi Barber calmly walked into the shut-gun formation, motioned for the snap from senior center Mehdi Charfi and took a three-step drop as he looked to pass.
While Barber worked behind center, junior Christian Washington, who was one of two wide receivers lined up to the left of the formation, burst off the line at the snap of the ball. Washington made one quick stutter step to the inside and then cut left toward the front corner of the end zone.
"I was like, 'Levi, just throw it up there regardless. I'm coming down with it,'" Washington said.
The ball left Barber's hands just before Washington turned, and he eyed it all the way in. No more than two steps from the sideline Washington jumped -- with Chantilly senior defensive back Michael Fries applying air-tight behind him -- and made the remarkable, diving grab. His feet landed in-bounds just before his upper body hit and slid out of the end zone with :10 showing on the clock.
Touchdown Edison. And, with it, the first 10-0 regular-season in school history.
"Man it was a great feeling, one of the best feelings I've ever had in my life," Barber said. "Just to know that you have teammates that you can count on. Just to know that you have teammates that will go up and get the ball just like that ... you've just got to throw it up and they'll go get it. It feels great."
Added longtime Edison Coach Vaughn Lewis: "Christian is just a great athlete. He does that in practice every day. He just goes up in the air and catches the football. We have a lot of confidence in him. It was fourth down and we had to score to win, and he's the one we went to. He made an amazing catch and Levi made a great throw."
Christian Washington's older brother, senior Corey Washington, was the first to meet his brother in celebration. But soon after junior wide receiver Jerrell Haywood leapt into Christian's arms, and the hugs and high-fives hardly slowed at all.
There was one quick break in the Eagles' merriment when the Chargers lined up on offense for one last-second attempt in the game's final seconds, but the ball was tipped by senior linebacker Kyle Spencer and then intercepted by senior standout linebacker Stephon Robertson, sealing the victory and igniting the jubilation all over again.
"It feels great," said Robertson, who also led the Eagles with 55 yards rushing and a touchdown on 10 carries. "We wanted to get over this and go into the playoffs strong at 10-0 ... and we made history, the first team at Edison to do that. So this was a really big win for us. We're really happy."
With the win Edison secures the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Northern Region, Division 5 playoffs -- which means a potential championship match-up with defending Virginia AAA Division 5 state champion -- and also unbeaten -- Stone Bridge would be played on the Eagles' home field. Edison has had to travel to Stone Bridge for each of the past three division title games.
"It's just been an amazing season because the second game of the year against West Springfield we had to come back in the final minute and win right at the end, and this game is the only other close game we've had, and we came back right at the end to win it, too," said Lewis, 107-51 in 14 seasons at Edison. "It just shows a lot of character for our players. I'm real proud.
"One of our goals this year was to try and make it back to the regional finals for the fifth year in a row. But another goal was earning the right to play at home. If we get lucky and we get back there, it sure will be nice to have the regional final at Edison."
Chantilly, despite the loss, secured the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Northern Region, Division 6 playoffs and will host sixth-seeded Annandale in the opening round.
The Chargers (7-3 overall) were led by senior tailback Torrian Pace, who pounded out 211 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 32 carries, an average of 6.6 yards per touch. Pace scored on a 29-yard run in the second quarter to knot the score at 7 and again on a 5-yard run in the third quarter to give the Chargers a 17-7 lead.
But Edison, which had opened the scoring with a 2-yard run by junior Angus Harper, rallied with two fourth-quarter scores, including a 35-yard run by Robertson with 9:46 to play and the touchdown pass from Barber to Washington as time waned.
"Obviously, we've already qualified for the playoffs so the focus is on that, but it's disappointing for the seniors to lose their Senior Night game and to lose in the last 10 seconds," Chantilly Coach Michael Lalli said. "But we played real well and we made a lot of good plays. They are a very good team. I mean, they're 10-0 for a reason. We made some plays and they made some plays.
"They just made the last play ... and they won."
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
No. 3 Edison 7 0 0 13 -- 20
No. 4 Chantilly 0 10 7 0 -- 17
Scoring Summary
1Q -- ED -- Harper 2 run (Charfi kick)
2Q -- CH -- Pace 29 run (Abott kick)
2Q -- CH -- Puschell 29 field goal
3Q -- CH -- Pace 5 run (Abott kick)
4Q -- ED -- Robertson 35 run (kick blocked)
4Q -- ED -- Ch. Washington 11 pass from Barber (Charfi kick)
Individual Leaders
Rushing
ED -- Robertson 10 carries, 55 yards, TD; Harper 9 carries, 35 yards, TD; Barber 8 carries, 35 yards; CH -- Pace 32 carries, 211 yards, 2 TDs; Mcgrath 14 carries, 43 yards.
Passing
ED -- Barber 9-of-18 passing, 116 yards, TD; CH -- Strittmatter 1-of-5 passing, 15 yards, 2 INT.
Receiving
ED -- Co. Washington 6 recpetions, 73 yards; Robertson 1 reception, 19 yards; Moran 1 reception, 13 yards; Ch. Washington 1 reception, 11 yards, TD; CH -- Ryan 1 reception, 15.
