Ashburn, Va. — Friday Night Lights has returned… well sort of… after a weather delay postponed football’s opening night from August 29 to August 30, the Briar Woods Falcons and John Champe Knights started their seasons under the Friday Morning Haze. Two combined touchdowns and two missed kicks were the difference as the Knights escaped the Falcons, 7-6, in Ashburn.
“It feels amazing because Briar Woods has historically been a very tough opponent and coach [Mike] Burnett does a great job,” John Champe head coach Lee Carter said. “We knew it was going to be a 4-quarter ball game. We knew they had a lot of guys going both ways, so we felt if we could get the game into the fourth quarter, the ball would bounce our way.”
Both teams matched up last season in a 27-14 Briar Woods victory that was offensively-decided, but this year, the defenses stepped up for both teams.
“My team came ready,” John Champe senior linebacker Landon Buckner said. “I had no worries about what we were coming out here to do.”
A scoreless first quarter concluded with only John Champe getting into the Falcons’ red zone before a turnover on downs at the 19 yard line stopped all the momentum.
The resulting drive saw the Falcons march down the field until they reached the John Champe redzone.
Following a holding call, Briar Woods faced a 3rd-and-13, where they got a little more than the 13 yards they needed as senior quarterback Brady Carmical evaded defenders in the backfield and raced to the pylon to open the scoring with a 27-yard touchdown run. A miss kick on the PAT gave Briar Woods a 6-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
“We felt like we could attack the right side of their line on field goal/PAT, so we just overloaded that side to try to get some pressure,” Carter said.
After trading the next two possessions, John Champe got the ball back with just over two minutes left in the half, when a combination of returning junior quarterback Dominic Plush and transfer senior quarterback Brandon Pena helped the “Air Aldie” offense drive down the field.
“Both quarterbacks were a little shaky at times. We got a new guy trying to learn the system, and then we got the returning guy [who knows the system], but [we don’t have]the returning weapons,” Carter said. “Until we can get some other guys coming along, the offense is going to be a little stagnant. Our defense was ready for that challenge and they stepped up.”
With time winding down in the first half, the offense started to heat up as Plush hit junior tight end Ty Kann with a 20-yard completion to put the Knights at the 6 yard line with just six seconds to play.
Looking to even the score or take the lead before the half, Carter sent his offense back onto the field, but Briar Woods senior defensive back Colin Capistrant had other plans as he picked off Plush to lead the Falcons into the break up 6-0.
After receiving the second-half kickoff, the Knights grinded their way down the field, relying heavily on senior running back Zee Willis.
Facing a 3rd-and-9, Pena aired a ball downfield allowing senior receiver DJ Harvey to get around two defenders and dive for the ball at the goal line for a 30-yard touchdown. Pena then put the ball right through the uprights to give John Champe the 7-6 lead.
Briar Woods, however, did not let the touchdown faze them. They moved down the field to inside John Champe’s 15 yard line. That was until a mixup on the snap saw the ball bounce off the man in motion and roll into the hands of John Champe senior lineman Corey Redding.
Briar Woods senior athlete Trey Dudley, responded to the fumble by sacking Pena for a 10-yard loss, pushing the Knights to their own 3 yard line, before they were forced to punt, giving Briar Woods great field position late in the third.
On the ensuing drive, Carmical drove his team down to the John Champe 13, before a holding penalty and a sack set up a 4th-and-24. With just seven minutes to play, the Falcons went for it, as John Champe senior defensive back Cooper Fitzgerald intercepted Carmical at the 6.
However, like they did for almost the entire game, the Briar Woods defense held strong and did not let John Champe past their own 25 yard line. After the Knights’ punt, the Falcons took over near midfield with less than 90 seconds to play.
From there, Carmical and Dudley kept the ball on the ground and marched the Falcons down to the 5 yard line. On 3rd-and-1, Carmical looked right and threw a quick pass in Dudley’s direction before Kann jumped up and batted the ball down.
Back-to-back timeouts by the Falcons and Knights preceded the Briar Woods kicking unit from taking the field, but unfortunately, the 21-yard field goal attempt missed wide left as time expired, earning the Knights their first season-opening win in the Carter era.
John Champe (0-0, 1-0) will look to improve to 2-0 when the Knights host rival Lightridge on September 6 in Aldie. Briar Woods (0-0, 0-1) will look to get into the win column when they travel to Loudoun County High School on the same night.
“It’s a marathon not a sprint,” Carter said. “But, I always tell my team, the biggest game of the season is between Week 1 to Week 2.”
Scoring Plays
| Period | Time | Team | Play | Score |
| 2Q | 7:22 | Briar Woods | Brady Carmical 27-yard TD run (PAT missed) | 0-6 |
| 3Q | 6:11 | Stone Bridge | Brandon Pena to DJ Harvey 30-yard TD pass (Pena PAT) | 7-6 |