Victory came so close to the Yorktown Patriots in their opening game of the 2025 high school football season.
A 24-yard field goal attempt off a high snap hit the right upright and bounced away in the final seconds, allowing the host South Lakes Seahawks of Reston to hold on for a 29-28 win the night of Aug. 28.
The loss came after Yorktown led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, 20-8 at halftime and 28-14 entering the final period. South Lakes moved the ball with more frequency in the second half with the help of long running plays, taking a 29-28 lead with two minutes left in the game.
“We did a lot of good things and moved the ball well, but we just didn’t do enough to finish and win,” Alec Hicks told ARLnow about his first game as Yorktown’s head coach.
Yorktown’s potential game-winning field goal by Max Yoon came after a long drive in the final minutes by the Patriots’ offense to the South Lakes 8-yard line. That final drive began on the Patriots’ 22-yard line with 2:15 left to play.
Senior quarterback Samson Schneider engineered the march by completing multiple passes, including two for 20 and 33 yards.
“Samson did a great job getting us in position to win,” Hicks said. “It’s a tough loss.”
When the drive stalled, the field goal attempt from the right hash mark missed with 37 seconds to play.
In his first start as a varsity quarterback, Schneider completed 14 of 20 passes for 233 yards and no interceptions. He threw touchdown passes of 34 yards to Alex Hans and 15 to Brady Owens.
Schneider also ran for 62 yards, including a seven-yard scoring run.
Yorktown’s other points came on a three-yard run by Nate Randles, a two-point conversion pass from Schneider to Owens and two extra points by Yoon.
Randles was Yorktown’s leading rusher with 111 yards.
Colt Monticello (49 yards) and Boston Izzo (55 yards) each caught two passes, Owens caught three for 65, Randles two for 18 and Hans the one for 45.
“We were flexible on offense,” Hicks said.
On defense for Yorktown, Bobby Shea, Nicky Palma and Henry Midberry were standouts.
The Seahawks gained 431 total yards, including 230 rushing.
NOTE: Hicks said senior kick returner Charlie Schirmer is doing well after suffering a hard hit during a late-game kickoff return, which resulted in a trip to the hospital.
