In spite of lopsided losses in two of three final regular-season football games, the Yorktown Patriots have still qualified for the region playoffs.
Yorktown (6-4) will be the seventh seed in the eight-team field of the 6D North Region tournament. The Patriots will face the No. 2 seed, undefeated and host Washington-Liberty Generals (10-0) in a first-round game.
Initially set for Saturday (Nov. 16), the game has been rescheduled and currently is slated for Friday (Nov. 15) at 7 p.m.
The contest will be a rematch of a regular-season meeting weeks earlier between the Arlington rivals, which the Generals won in a blowout, 46-14.
The playoff appearance will be Yorktown’s third in a row and sixth in seventh seasons, as the Patriots have been a perennial participant in the region tourney for decades.
“They will be super-motivated and ready to play us again,” Washington-Liberty coach Josh Shapiro said.
Yorktown will enter the playoffs coming off a 42-14 loss to the host Herndon Hornets on Saturday (Nov. 9) in the final regular-season contest for both teams. The setback gave Yorktown a Liberty District record of 3-3 and tie for fourth.
The underdog role may suit the team well. A year ago, the Patriots also faced an undefeated team in the first round, besting the host South Lakes Seahawks, 7-6. In 2022, Yorktown topped the higher-seed Langley Saxons in a first-round region-tourney contest.
In the loss to Herndon, Yorktown trailed 15-0 at the end of the first quarter, 29-0 at halftime and 42-7 after three periods. Herndon (8-2, 4-2) also is a region-playoff team as the fifth seed.
“We were able to move the ball the whole game, but we didn’t score like we needed to,” Yorktown coach Bruce Hanson said. “We had some dropped passes and a fumble that hurt us, and they hit us with some long runs.”
Yorktown’s touchdowns in the loss came on passes of 88 and 59 yards to Finn Luca, who caught five passes for 192 yards and rushed for 38. Morgan was 17 of 24 passing for 289 yards and no interceptions.
Coby Casalengo had four catches for 21 yards and rushed for 42. Brady Owens had four catches for 20, and Aaron Volkwein and Sammy Keiser each caught two.
Yorktown’s other lopsided loss during the regular season was to the Langley Saxons, 48-14, in game seven. Langley will be the third seed in the region playoffs.
