Arlington’s high-school football teams each came away with a victory in Sept. 3-4 competition, and for the first time since the 2014 season, all four have at least one win after two games of a new season.
On Sept. 3, the visiting Wakefield Warriors (1-1) held off the Rock Ridge High School Phoenix of Ashburn to win 21-14 in non-district play, the host Washington-Liberty Generals (2-0) topped the McLean Highlanders, 17-7, in a Liberty District contest, and the host Yorktown Patriots (1-1) blanked the Ballou Knights (1-1) of D.C., 41-0, also in non-league action.
In a non-conference Sept. 4 private-school clash in Dumfries, the visiting Bishop O’Connell Knights (1-1) shut out the St. John Paul the Great Catholic Wolves, also by a 41-0 final.
W-L aided by physical defense: In Washington-Liberty’s Sept. 3 win over McLean, the Generals took an early 7-0 lead, then scored the final 10 points in the second half after McLean (0-2) had rallied to tie the game at 7.
“We tackled well, made good reads, got to the ball and played very solid and physical on defense,” W-L coach Josh Shapiro told ARLnow.
McLean was held to 114 total yards, including just 24 rushing.
For Washington-Liberty on offense, runningback Mikale Gray-Fenny ran for 54 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 11 yards. The other touchdown was scored by Jasper Dennis, who caught three passes for 36 yards, one for a 19-yard touchdown.
Generals’ place-kicker Ethan Foster booted two extra points and a 27-yard field goal.
Washington-Liberty quarterback Tyler Flint-Steinig was 18 of 31 passing for 166 yards. Colby Arenson caught six of those passes for 42 yards, and Grant Johnson and Matthew Herring each had three catches.
On defense for the Generals, Johnson made six tackles, Tyler Hawkins made five with a sack, Gray-Fenny (four tackles) and Dennis (three tackles) had interceptions, and Levin Fullen had four tackles.
Yorktown ‘rose to the occasion’: In its victory, Yorktown amassed 336 total yards to just 122 for Ballou.
Patriots’ runningback Jamari Washington ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterbacks Jack McCorry and Madalo Hall combined for 117 yards passing, each throwing a scoring pass. McCorry TD pass went to Alex Len for 12 yards and Hall’s 45 to Boston Izzo, who had four catches for 85 yards.
Yorktown’s other touchdown came on a 12-yard run by Shane Wilson. Felix Gomez booted field goals of 26 and 31 yards and five extra points.
Also on offense for Yorktown, Whitaker Cummings rushed for 46 yards and Wilson for 27. Ethan Wassel had one catch.
On defense, Owen Quentin and Nate Randles each had two interceptions, and Chase Hobbs and Denton Tuorinsky recovered fumbles. Rowen Traille, Trent Ruffner, Henry Royal and Leo Ferrando were impactful on defense, according to Yorktown head coach Alec Hicks.
Hicks said the Patriots bounced back well after losing its season opener.
“We got back together, simplified some things, we played good team football and rose to the occasion,” Hicks said.
Wakefield holds on to secure win: In Wakefield’s win, the Warriors rallied from a 6-0 deficit, then made a late-game defensive stand deep in its territory to secure the victory.
On that stand, Ruphael Gabriel and Dash Gloss made a second-down stop for a one-yard on a running play, then Nicholas Sejas recovered a fumble caused by Gabriel on third down to clinch the victory with 49 seconds to play. Dominic Nesmith, Xavier Beauvais also made key defense stops on Rock Ridge runs late in the game.
Wakefield’s touchdowns were scored by senior quarterback Judah Connor on a 37-yard run, Miles Robbins on a 59-yard run and Connor threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Aman Azad. Andrew Jackson kicked three extra points.
O’Connell strong on both offense, defense: Bishop O’Connell dominated play on both sides of the ball in its victory.
The Knights gained 342 total yards on offense. On defense, O’Connell caused four turnovers, two resulting in touchdowns, amassed 16 tackles for losses, including two sacks, and had eight quarterback hurries.
Leading the offense was runningback Nick Morris with 170 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Quarterback Ryan Turpin was 8 of 16 passing for 120 yards, including a nine-yard scoring pass to James Fatzinger (three catches for 53 yards).
Morris had scoring runs of 11, 36 and 60 yards. Pierce Hall ran for 47 yards, Anthony Baynes had two catches for 19 yards and Kian Kaboli one for 33. James Hall booted multiple extra points.
The defensive TDs were scored by Santiago Aceves Villanueva on a 12-yard interception return and Ryan Pedone on a 30-yard fumble return. In addition, Aceves Villanueva also made three tackles for losses, and Noah Jordan intercepted two passes and broke up two others.
D.J. Vann made six tackles for O’Connell, Blaise Brady five and Jayden Campbell four, including two for losses along with five quarterback hurries. Other tackling leaders were Brendon Matthews with three for losses with a sack, Owen Wolfe with three for losses, and Alex Podsiadly with two for losses, including a sack.
“It was fun to watch our defense play that well,” O’Connell coach Todd Sabatino said. “On offense, Nick ran hard and we moved the ball well. It was a good feeling to get a win.”
O’Connell does not play this coming weekend. On Thursday night, Sept. 10 in 7 p.m. non-district games, Wakefield hosts the Lewis Lancers, Washington-Liberty plays at the Edison Eagles (0-2) and Yorktown hosts the Centreville Wildcats (1-1)
