Crowds were big and boisterous and marching bands played loudly in anticipation of the first all-Arlington public high-school football showdown this season — and the action on the field did not disappoint.
In a close game throughout, the Washington-Liberty Generals first rallied then held off the Wakefield Warriors to win 14-10 in a Liberty District battle.
Washington-Liberty improved to 5-1 and 2-0 in league play. Wakefield fell to 3-2, 0-1.
The win was Washington-Liberty’s fourth in a row over Wakefield, which has lost 19 straight district games over four seasons.
Coming off back-to-back district-championship seasons, Washington-Liberty had been considered a heavy favorite. Wakefield is improved this year after three straight losing campaigns, in which the Warriors totaled just two wins during that stretch.
“Give Wakefield credit. They had a bye last week and spent two weeks scheming us up very well. They gave us everything we could handle and more,” W-L coach Josh Shapiro told ARLnow. “We struggled on offense, but our defense made big plays and didn’t break.”
Washington-Liberty had some personnel changes on its offensive line, as the unit struggled all game to amass yards consistently. The Generals were outgained in total yardage 233 to 161, had one turnover and had just 13 first downs to Wakefield’s 17.
Both teams were hurt by mistakes and multiple penalties, as they combined for 187 total yards worth of yellow flags.
Wakefield also was hurt by a missed field goal, a dropped touchdown pass, scoring just three points after a first-and-goal situation at the Generals’ 1-yard line and having a late-game pass intercepted by Miles Whitaker at the Generals’ 19. In the fourth quarter, the Warriors had the ball inside Washington-Liberty territory three times, but came away with just a field goal.
“We had at least three opportunities to score more points and we didn’t,” Wakefield coach Clarence Martin said. “We played hard the whole time, our defense was good and we felt we should have won.”
After a scoreless first quarter that was a punting contest, Wakefield took a 7-0 lead early in the second period on a one-yard touchdown run by Saswat Aryal and Andrew Jackson’s extra point.
Washington-Liberty scored the next 14 points to lead 14-7 after three quarters. Colby Arenson caught an 18-yard scoring pass from Tyler Flint-Steinig for the Generals’ first touchdown in the second quarter. Later, Brayden Black ran seven yards for a score for the second TD in the third. Lavand Aqrawi made both extra points.
Wakefield scored the game’s final points in the fourth period on Jackson’s 23-yard field goal with 6:33 to play. The Warriors had two more possessions after that, but did not score.
A fourth-down incomplete pass out of the end zone on the W-L 12-yard line with 10 seconds to play assured the victory for W-L.
“It’s a rivalry game, so we expected it to be close and tough and a battle,” said Black, who rushed for 74 yards.
Flint-Steinig was 6 of 18 passing for 68 yards. Gavin England had three catches for 23 yards and David Toepel two for 27. Jasper Dennis rushed for 32 yards.
On defense for Washington-Liberty, Black, Whitaker, Jeremiah Saunders, Peter Manouilidis, Gabe Salmeron, Maximus De La Vega and Henry Fonseca-Cruz were tackling leaders. Saunders and De La Vega had sacks and other tackles for losses. Cruz recovered a fumble.
Wakefield’s offense was led by quarterback Judah Connor, who went 24 of 38 passing for 226 yards. The Warriors had just seven yards rushing.
As far as receiving, Xavier Winkelmann had seven catches for 84 yards, Andrew Mason seven for 73 yards, Chris Sewell five for 25, Chris Gilpin four for 36 and Connor Morrison one for eight.
Leading Wakefield’s defense was Sean Perry with a late-game fumble recovery and multiple tackles. Santiago Aceves Villanueva had a sack and another tackle for a loss, and Josh Radka and Dash Gloss made multiple tackles.
In their next games on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. — both district contests — Wakefield plays at the Langley Saxons (4-2, 1-1) and Washington-Liberty visits the Marshall Statesmen (3-2, 0-1).
