By Angela Watts
Assistant General Manager, Washington D.C.
** Click the links above the video to find a photo gallery, video interviews with junior running/linebacker back James Johnson, junior quarterback Connor Reilly and senior wide receiver/defensive back Max Waizenegger and dozens more video highlights from Friday’s game!
W.T. Woodson Coach Trey Taylor gathered his players together at midfield after their 28-14 victory over Langley on Senior Night and ended his short, post-game speech with this:
“I’m not going to say too much,” Taylor said, a smile finally crossing his lips. “But for the first time, let’s say this and really mean it.”
With that his players happliy sprung to their feet. They each raised a hand and exuberantly broke the huddle with the shout of one distinct, important word: Playoffs!
The No. 8 Cavaliers locked up a berth in the Northern Region Division 6 playoffs, their first since the 2004 season, with the win over the visiting Saxons on Friday.
“It’s been a while,” Taylor said. “And it means a lot to the kids. In 2004, we won the district and won the region … and ever since then we haven’t beaten Langley and we haven’t beaten Madison. So it’s kind of been a reflection on the year we’ve had to be able to come out tonight having beaten Madison earlier and now beat Langley, too.
“It makes us feel like we’re getting back to where we need to be.”
The victory also keeps Woodson (7-2 overall) a perfect 6-0 in the Liberty District, setting up a championship meeting at No. 1 Stone Bridge (9-0) on Halloween night for the conference crown. The Bulldogs, who many have playfully — and respectfully — begun calling The University of Stone Bridge, have outscored their nine opponents by a combined total of 463-74 this season.
The Bulldogs have allowed only one team to score more than 13 points, and have not been held below 35 points all year, averaging 51.4 points per game.
“I try and tell the kids all the time, ‘I’m not asking you to be Superman. I’m just asking you to be yourself,’ ” Taylor said. “Because we’ve got some pretty good guys, too. So we’ll go out there [against Stone Bridge] and try to keep it competitive. The way we’ve approached every game is that we just want to go in and do what we do. They are a great team and they’ve got a ton of great athletes.
“I’ve looked at the scores all year and I know it’s been a rough road out there in Ashburn … but we’ll see what we can do.”
What the Cavaliers did Friday night was mix a tough run game with a sharp passing attack that kept them from trailing the entire evening. And while their defense bent at times, it rarely broke.
Woodson got on the board first, capping its second offensive possession with a 27-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Connor Reilly, a transfer from Tennessee, to senior all-everything Max Waizenegger. The duo hooked up again on an identical 27-yard scoring play in the second quarter, and Reilly found junior Colin Dempsey on a similar, 28-yard touchdown pass in the fourth.
“He impresses me more and more each week,” Taylor said of the 6-foot, 4-inch Reilly. “He’s still learning the offense, still learning how to do all the things and make the reads and all the right decisions, but every week he gets better. And he’s very focused on getting better, he’s not one of those kids who wants to go out and just be an all-star; he wants to play within the system and learn how it works. He’s done an incredible job.”
Langley’s two scores came on a pair of five-yard runs by senior running back David Helmer, but it wasn’t enough.
The Cavaliers’ other score came on an eight-yard run by junior tailback James Johnson, who led all rushers with 108 yards on 18 carries. It’s Johnson’s emergence this season has freed last year’s standout — senior fullback Jake Sweeney — to concentrate on defense.
“Jake is a great story,” Taylor said. “At the beginning of the year he was playing linebacker, but we had needs at defensive end and so Jake went down on the ground and has done a great job at defensive end for us. He’s not carrying the ball as much as he did last year because with the quarterback throwing we’re kind of running a different offense. You saw tonight, we came out with a new formation where Jake was a blocking back and he had a couple of incredible blocks out there. He’s another kid who just does whatever you ask. He plays his heart out on every play.”
And that’s exactly the kind of effort the Cavaliers will need next week if they hope to upend the vaunted Bulldogs.
“Is Stone Bridge a great team? Absolutely,” Taylor said. “But I think anybody is capable of beating anyone under the right circumstances. So hopefully we’ll get all the right circumstances next week and be able to do something. That sure would be nice.
“Or it’ll be fright night on Halloween.”
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
Langley 0 7 7 0 — 14
No. 8 W.T. Woodson 7 7 7 7 — 28
Scoring Summary
1Q — WT — Waizenegger 27 pass from Reilly (Waizenegger kick)
2Q — LG — Helmer 5 run (Kahn kick)
2Q — WT– Waizenegger 27 pass from Reilly (Waizenegger kick)
3Q — LG — Helmer 4 run (Kahn kick)
3Q — WT — Johnson 8 run (Waizenegger kick)
4Q — WT — Dempsey 9 pass from Reilly (Waizenegger kick)
Individual Leaders
Passing
LG — Pritchett 11-of-17 passing, 149 yards; WT — Reilly 6-of-12 passing, 108 yards, 3 TDs, INT.
Rushing
LG — Helmer 17 carries, 80 yards, 2 TDs; Ecklund 9 carries, 43 yards; WT — Johnson 18 carries, 108 yards, TD; Reilly 17 carries, 54 yards; Waizenegger 4 carries, 32 yards; Hancock 2 carries, 15 yards; Sweeney 1 carry, 14 yards; Dempsey 2 carries, 10 yards; Stokes 3 carries, 9 yards.
Receiving
LG — Devlon 5 recpetions, 93 yards; Sievers 3 receptions, 31 yards; Shafarn 2 receptions, 16 yards; Helmer 1 reception, 0 yards; WT — Waizenegger 3 receptions, 55 yards, 2 TDs; Dempsey 3 receptions, 53 yards, TD.
Defense
LG — Jones 12 tackles, 9 assists; Devlon 10 tackles, 6 assists; McGonigal 8 tackles, 4 assists, 1 INT; Sievers 5 tackles, 3 assists, 1 sack; WT — Johnson 10 tackles, 7 assists, 1/2 sack; Sweeney 9 tackles, 6 assists, 1 1/2 sacks, 2 1/2 tackles for loss; Kim 7 tackles, 3 assists; Hancock 6 tackles, 3 assits, 1/2 sack, 1 1/2 tackles for loss.
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