Leesburg, Va. — A rivalry that has been brewing for over sixty years between Loudoun County and Loudoun Valley High School saw its most recent installment on September 27 in Leesburg. After the Vikings scored late in regulation, the Captains used a defensive stand and a 26-yard field goal off the foot of junior kicker Luke Morrison to pull out an overtime victory, 17-14.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be one of those games that was back and forth,” Loudoun County head coach Matt Reidenbaugh said. “I thought our kids responded really well to some adversity, especially late in the game.”
The back and forth focused mostly on the ground game which saw Loudoun County junior running back Montez Dyson rush for over 150 yards and two touchdowns, while the Vikings duo of junior quarterback Macklin Gaffney and sophomore running back Ethan LaFollette, rushed for 65 yards and two touchdowns and 55 yards, respectively.
Loudoun Valley opened the game on offense from their own 20 but penalties moved them back to the 10 yard line. That did not faze the Vikings, as they would drive those 90 yards needed in 14 plays. They moved the ball on the backs of LaFollette and Gaffney that saw every play call be a rush, except a 26-yard pass to junior wide receiver Isaiah Rice. A drive that took over half of the time in the first quarter ended with Gaffney plowing into the end zone from 1 yard out. A missed PAT gave Loudoun Valley a 6-0 lead early in the game.
On the ensuing drive, Loudoun County was forced to punt, but the Captains’ defense came up big on the next Vikings’ drive when junior safety Reed Bianchini intercepted a pass that was over a receivers hands to give Loudoun County the ball back before the end of the first quarter.
With only 18 seconds left in the quarter, the Captains gave the ball to Dyson and he took care of the rest. A spin move and good blocking from the offensive line gave him enough space to outrun the defense for a 57-yard touchdown. Morrison connected on his PAT to give the Captains a 7-6 lead late in the first.
The score didn’t change until the fourth quarter when the Captains found some openings on the ground. Loudoun County turned to senior running back Jack Kolodziej to pick up a crucial first down on a drive that started in the third quarter, but ended in the last frame. His ground game put his team on the Loudoun Valley 17, where Dyson finished the drive with an 8-yard rushing touchdown a few plays later. A Morrison PAT gave the Captains a 14-6 lead with about a full 12 minutes of time remaining.
“We asked Montez to play defense, too, and that’s the first time all year he’s really been asked to carry that load,” Reidenbaugh said. “He knew that a lot was expected, he responded to the challenge and was able to help us a lot on defense and special teams, and his offensive production didn’t fall off.”
Punts by both teams gave Loudoun Valley the ball back with 6:44 remaining in the game, where they needed to drive 75 yards in that time to have the opportunity to tie the game.
They did just that.
Loudoun Valley moved to the aerial attack in the 10 plays it took them to get down the field. Junior wide receiver Jolyon White had a 14-yard and an even bigger 32-yard reception to put the Vikings down in the red zone. Gaffney did not stop looking his way as White came down with a 11-yard catch to set up his team on the 3 yard line.
One play later and Gaffney was into the end zone with under a minute remaining in regulation. However, the work was not done for Loudoun Valley as they still needed a two-point conversion. On the two-point attempt, Gaffney evaded defensive lineman and rolled left, only to find junior wide receiver Ryan Barrett with a toe-tap catch as Loudoun Valley tied the game up at 14-14 to force overtime.
With the ball on the 10 yard line to start overtime, Loudoun Valley used three rushing plays to amass nine yards, setting up a 4th-and-1. Rather than settle for a field goal, the Vikings elected to go for it, Gaffney took the snap and ran behind his offensive line. But Loudoun County’s defensive line had other plans with a goal line stand.
Needing just a field goal to win, Loudoun County trotted Morrison out for a 26-yard field goal to win the game.
“Luke is just cool as a cucumber,” Reidenbaugh said. “So just like any other day, just like it was practice, he went out there, did his thing, and it’s exactly what he does [every other day of the week at practice].”
Loudoun County (1-0, 3-2) will look to ride their overtime momentum into Week 6 when the Captains travel to Riverside to face off against the Rams on October 4. Loudoun Valley (0-0, 2-2) returns home to host Rock Ridge on the same date.
“We were able to get a win,” Reidenbaugh said. “That’s all that matters.”