Leesburg, Va. — Heading into their Week 10 matchup sitting at 2-6 in fifth place in the VHSL Region 5D standings, the Lightridge High School football team knew what they needed to do to secure a home playoff game: earn a Week 10 win against Riverside then a Week 11 win against Potomac Falls.
“Our goal all season has been to host a home playoff game. So what are we willing to do to accomplish that?,” Lightridge senior quarterback Brady White said. “After our bye week, we had to change our mentality to accomplish that goal.”
After a Week 5 loss to then 5-0 Langley, the Lightning hoped their Week 6 bye would help them reset and get back on track. Unfortunately, the Independence Tigers had other plans as they escaped the Lightning, 37-31.
Sitting at 1-5, the Lightning knew it was now or never and earned a huge win over perennial state power Stone Bridge on October 18 in Aldie.
Following a loss to Potomac District No. 1 Briar Woods on October 25, the Lightning set their sights on Riverside, knowing the significance of the game on playoff seeding.
The Lightning didn’t leave anything up to chance as they dominated the Rams in all three phases of the game to come away with a 42-7 win on October 31 in Leesburg.
“It’s a big deal for our kids. It’s no secret that our games tend to be really close; we have a hard time running over people,” Lightridge head coach Bobby Eavenson, Jr. said. “Our kids just found a way in all three phases: our special teams were nice and crisp, Brady White had a phenomenal day throwing the ball, and our defense controlled the line of scrimmage.”
After stalling out on their first drive, the Lightning offense got back to work midway through the first quarter. On the fifth play of their second drive of the afternoon, White—who finished 12-for-22 for 351 yards and 5 touchdowns—connected with senior receiver Wade Lechner on a 65-yard touchdown strike to give Lightridge an early 7-0 advantage.
The Lightning caught a break on the ensuing kickoff as junior Kevin McAfee jumped on a muffed Rams kick return.
It didn’t take long for Lightridge to add to its lead as on the very next play White hit senior receiver Byron Conley with a 28-yard touchdown pass to put the Lightning up 14-0.
Following another three-and-out by their defense late in the first quarter, Lightning struck again on the first play of the second quarter as White connected with senior receiver Al Honesty for an 87-yard touchdown pass.
“We always talk to our quarterbacks about not getting locked into one guy; when you do that sometimes you can become predictable,” Eavenson said. “We want to be able to take what they’ll give us, and Brady was so good today doing just that.”
Another defensive three-and-out, gave Lightridge the ball back midway through the second quarter, when again White connected with Lechner, this time for a 45-yard touchdown pass to extend the Lightning lead to 28-0.
“It all starts with the guys up front,” White said. “Giving up zero sacks and being untouched is the first thing.”
Riverside seemed to grab some momentum midway through the third quarter when senior defensive back Grant MacBean picked off White, but the Rams’ offense eventually stalled out, giving the ball back to Lightridge as the third quarter drew to a close.
Despite not scoring in the third, the Lightning got right back to it in the fourth when White found Lechner for their third touchdown connection of the game, this one from 36 yards out. Lechner finished the afternoon with 6 catches for 183 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“Based on how teams like to play Al—who’s seeing double coverage every week—Wade Lechner is the beneficiary of that,” Eavenson said. “Wade has been an absolute killer for us all year. He had been a pretty well kept secret, but I don’t know how well that secret will be kept anymore. “
Trailing 35-0, the Rams finally got into the endzone on a 3-yard run by senior running back Ed Abbott, but all the wind was knocked out of their sails when Lightridge senior defensive back Xavier Dillard returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t know if there’s a better defensive football player in Loudoun County,” Eavenson said of Dillard. “He’s well over 100 tackles on the year through 8 games, he got an interception a couple weeks ago, he’s forced several fumbles, and now, for him to get in the endzone on the defensive side of the ball, it’s kind of a ball don’t lie thing: when you play that well, when you’re the dude, when you’re the team captain, you deserve that and sometimes things just work out the way they should.”
The Lightning’s 3-6 record is quite misleading as their six losses have come in the form of a 3-point loss to Catoctin District No. 1 John Champe, a 2-score loss to Northwestern District No. 2 Sherando, a 7-point loss to Dulles District No. 1 Tuscarora, a loss to Liberty District No. 2 Langley, a 6-point loss to Potomac District No. 2 Independence, and a loss to Potomac District No. 1 Briar Woods.
With an incredible strength of schedule, Lightridge feels like they’re not only in a great position to host a home playoff game, but also to make a deep run in the playoffs. But before they get there, the Lightning host Potomac Falls in their regular season finale on November 8 in Aldie.
“We love playing at home just like everyone loves playing at home. With our region, there’s a big difference between playing at home and maybe going to Riverbend or Massaponax,” Eavenson said. “We feel like we’re just a team that needs to get in. With the schedule we played, we feel like we’re going to be playoff ready; I’m not sure who’s going to want to play us if we play like we played today.”
Derrick Jerry captured 200+ photos at the game!
Scoring Plays
| Period | Time | Team | Play | Score |
| 1Q | 3:24 | Lightridge | Brady White to Wade Lechner 65-yard TD pass (Jake Buck PAT) | 7-0 |
| 1Q | 3:07 | Lightridge | Brady White to Byron Conley 28-yard TD pass (Jake Buck PAT) | 14-0 |
| 2Q | 11:46 | Lightridge | Brady White to Al Honesty 87-yard TD pass (Jake Buck PAT) | 21-0 |
| 2Q | 6:35 | Lightridge | Brady White to Wade Lechner 45-yard TD pass (Jake Buck PAT) | 28-0 |
| 4Q | 10:28 | Lightridge | Brady White to Wade Lechner 36-yard TD pass (Jake Buck PAT) | 35-0 |
| 4Q | 8:05 | Riverside | Ed Abbott 3-yard TD run (Owen Saraceno PAT) | 35-7 |
| 4Q | 3:38 | Lightridge | Xavier Dillard 55-yard interception return TD (Jake Buck PAT) | 42-7 |