Brooke Point defeats Osbourn

STAFFORD — Attempting to solidify itself as one of the better teams in Northern Virginia, two-time defending Commonwealth District champion Brooke Point High School opened the 2009 season with a road victory at Osbourn, 21-13.

The Black-Hawks broke a 7-7 first half tie when senior quarterback Gary Pisall used a sneak to go in for a touchdown. They would lead the rest of the way, beating an Eagles team that reached the Division 6 championship last year.

In his first year as a starter, Pisall started it with a 16-for-33 night passing, totaling 133 yards. He ran for a pair of touchdowns as well.

The top pass catcher was senior wide out Alex Goodman, who was on the receiving end of a four-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

Pisal and the offense was aided by the defense. They forced two early Osbourn fumbles. The latter set up the Black-Hawks’ initial scoring drive from the Eagles’ 20-yard line.

Osbourn takes its 1-1 record on the road against another Commonwealth club in Mountain View High School. The Wildcats improved to 2-0 with a victory over Freedom.

The Panthers of Massaponax are also 2-0 thanks to their non-district win against Courtland.

After a slow start, head coach Eric Ludden’s team got it together in the second half last Friday evening. Down 10-0, they put up 29 and wouldn’t allow their opponent to score again.

After a field goal cut the lead to seven, Panthers senior quarterback Thomas Robinson threw to receiver DeAndre Houston-Carson for a 15-yard touchdown. Momentum was on their side and, soon after, the lead would be with them as well.

Although a pass play helped get them on their way to victory, the point producing was due in part to continued success and depth from the running game. In the season-opening 69-0 win over Spotsylvania on Aug. 28, Massaponax utilized 12 different ball carriers. Against Courtland, they used eight different rushers — compiling 210 yards on the ground.

Most of those came courtesy of Andre Wyche. The senior fullback finished the night with 127 yards on 14 attempts.

Limiting the Cougars’ offense were linemen Johnnelle Perrin and Sidney Blue. In all, Courtland had -1 yards rushing.

Massaponax will go for three in a row to start the 2009 campaign when they face-off at home with the Chancellor Chargers.

Brian Wright is a contributing writer for the Stafford County Sun and the content coordinator for CoachesAid.Virginia. Reach him at info@staffordcountysun.com.