The Washington-Liberty Generals will be seeking a couple of significant achievements when they host a semifinal football game of the 6D North Region tournament Friday night (Nov. 22) in Arlington.
A win will give the undefeated and Liberty District champion Generals (11-0) a dozen victories in a high-school season for the first time. A win over the Langley Saxons (9-2) also will return Washington-Liberty to a region-tournament championship game for the first time since losing in the 1975 final to the Annandale Atoms, 24-7.
The Generals are the No. 2 seed in this year’s region tourney, with Langley the third seed. The district rivals met during the regular season with W-L winning, 28-14, in a close contest at Langley.
“They are good and will be a tough opponent again for us,” Washington-Liberty coach Josh Shapiro said. “Their quarterback [Cole Samburg] is very good and they have a good offense that moves the ball.”
In that regular-season meeting, Washington-Liberty built a 21-0 lead, then Langley rallied to within 21-14. A roughing-the-punter penalty was costly for Langley after the Saxons pulled within seven points.
The Generals had 269 yards and survived two turnovers.
Senior quarterback Matthew Abramson led the offense by passing for 135 yards and threw four touchdown passes, all to Jon Malatesta. He caught 10 passes. Brayden Black led the W-L running game with 52 yards and Ben Hughes ran for 44, with Abramson gaining 38.
On defense for Washington-Liberty, Hughes and Ian Crowley had sacks.
Langley had 260 total yards. Samburg passed for 111 yards and ran for 92 more. Robert Roncskevitz is another top runner for Langley. He had 41 yards rushing and caught four passes for 50 more yards.
The four-time defending region champion and top seed Madison Warhawks (11-0) and the fourth-seeded Westfield Bulldogs (9-2) are playing in the other 6D North Region semifinal, also on Friday, at 7 p.m.
The site of the region final will be at the higher seed, now scheduled for Saturday (Nov. 30) at 1 p.m.
