What already was a standout championship football season for the Washington-Liberty Generals got better with the high-school team’s latest victory.
By defeating the No. 3 seed Langley Saxons, 20-14, Friday night (Nov. 22), the host, second seed and undefeated Generals (12-0) will play in a region-tournament championship playoff game for the first time since 1975.
It is the most single-season wins ever for a W-L football team in the school’s history, which spans just over a century.
Washington-Liberty will face the four-time defending champion, top seed and also undefeated Madison Warhawks (12-0) in that contest at Madison in Vienna on Saturday (Nov. 30) at 1 p.m.
If Washington-Liberty wins the region crown, it will be added to the Liberty District championship the Generals won earlier this fall, and earn the team a berth in the Virginia High School League four-team Class 6 state tournament.
Washington-Liberty’s win over Langley (9-3) came in the 6D North Region tournament semifinals. The victory wasn’t one-sided, like so many of Washington-Liberty’s games have been this fall.
The Generals overcame three turnovers as they struggled on offense in the first half and had to rally for the first time this season. The team trailed 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and 7-3 after three periods.
Felipe Dieguez booted a 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter for Washington-Liberty’s initial points. The Generals scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to move ahead for good.
“We knew Langley would be very tough and give us problems,” Washington-Liberty coach Josh Shapiro said. “We got going on offense after we moved some people around.”
He was referencing his team’s 28-14 regular-season win over Langley just four weeks earlier. The Generals scored 38 or more points against eight of their opponents.
Washington-Liberty’s fourth-quarter scoring in the semifinal began on the first play of the period when Matthew Abramson passed over the middle to Sean Guffey for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Dieguez converted for a 10-7 lead.
Abramson later connected with Trevor Fullen on a 70-yard scoring pass, followed by a Dieguez conversion, then his 29-yard field goal to up the lead to 20-7 with 5:05 to play.
Langley scored a touchdown with 3:07 left, then Henry Cruz later sealed the victory with an interception. The Generals then ran out the clock.
Anthony Louis (115 yards) and Brayden Black (58) were rushing leaders for Washington-Liberty. Jon Matatesta was a top pass-catcher (five catches), along with Guffey.
The W-L defense put heavy pressure on Langley quarterback Cole Samburg the entire game. Guffey, Louis, Ian Crowley and Ben Hughes were among those applying that heat — batting down passes, getting sacks and leading tacklers. Crowley had two sacks and five tackles for losses. Hughes had one sack. Other tackling leaders were Ryan Dodini, Zach Meehan, Dillon Hathorn, Connor Hurren and David Toepel.
“Their quarterback is good. Ben and Ian created more pressure on him in the second half,” Shapiro said.
NOTES: In that 1975 region championship game, Washington-Liberty (then Washington-Lee) lost to Annandale . . . This fall is the first time W-L ever has won 12 games in a season, or been 12-0, dating back to the program’s beginning in 1925 . . . The Generals’ total of 21 wins this season and last are the most in consecutive campaigns in team history. The previous best was 18 compiled during the 1960 and 1961 seasons, with nine victories each year . . . The back-to-back Liberty District titles are the Generals’ first since joining that league back in 2015. All of that has come under Shapiro, who has been the team’s head coach since 2007.
