It took 68 years, but the Washington-Liberty Generals have again started a season 6-0.
By rallying on the road to defeat the Herndon Hornets, 28-18,on Oct. 4 in Liberty District high-school football action, the Generals improved to 6-0 for the first time since 1956 when the team (then named Washington-Lee) finished the regular season undefeated at 10-0.
The defending champion Generals also are tied for first at 2-0 in the league. Herndon fell to 4-2, 1-2.
“They gave us some pressure up front on defense that gave us some problems at first,” Washington-Liberty coach Josh Shapiro said. “We got punched in the mouth, but we hung in there and it took us a while to adjust on offense, and get going in the second half.”
Herndon led 5-0, then 12-7 at halftime. Washington-Liberty rallied to take a 21-12 lead in the third quarter on a 40-yard scoring run by Anthony Louis (92 yards rushing) and a Matthew Abramson touchdown pass. The Generals added a clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 27-yard run by Louis.
“Anthony is fast and that takes pressure off our offensive line,” Shapiro said.
Sean Guffey and Ian Crowley (three catches, 99 yards) caught the touchdown passes. Jon Malatesta caught seven passes for 49 yards and Brayden Black three for five. Abramson was 20 of 29 passing for 190 yards. Felipe Dieguez booted four extra points.
On defense for Washington-Liberty, Ben Hughes had 18 total tackles, including three sacks. Connor Hurren, Ryan Dodini, Henry Cruz and Guffey were other leading tacklers.
“Hughes and Ian put pressure on their quarterback all night and our defense played outstanding and limited their options,” Shapiro said.
NOTE: Washington-Liberty won its first five games last season en route to a 9-2 finish. It got to 5-o this year by defeating Falls Church, 49-14.
