Leesburg, Va. — Just one year ago the Riverside High School football team shut out Freedom High School, 39-0, in front of the Eagles-faithful in South Riding. So when the Eagles had the opportunity to repay the favor in front of a 2025 homecoming crowd in Leesburg, they did just that, dominating the Rams, 51-11, on September 20 to improve to 3-0 and earn their first Potomac District win after reclassifying this fall.
It wasn’t a pretty start for the Eagles, who went backwards on each of their first three offensive plays. After back-to-back losses on the ground, Freedom wanted to take a chance through the air, but a bad snap went way over the head of junior quarterback Braden Cooke, before he was sacked in the endzone for a safety.
The Freedom defense forced a three-and-out on their first series, allowing the Eagles offense another opportunity.
“The defense has been playing well all year,” Freedom head coach Teddy Whitney said. “We made a couple of adjustments, but our kids just play hard, fast, and determined. They take great pride in what they do.”
This time Freedom drove down to the Riverside 19 yard line, but junior kicker Adam Choi’s 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked and returned back to the Freedom 17 yard line.
Another impressive series by the Freedom defense held Riverside to a 30-yard field goal by senior kicker Jake Winans as the Rams jumped out to an early 5-0 lead.
“We had a bad start,” Cooke said. “But we were able to forget about it, bounce back, and move onto the next play.”
Just twelve seconds later the Eagles responded when junior returner Lorenzo Nadal returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, giving Freedom a 6-5 lead.
Less than three minutes after that, Cooke connected with senior receiver Nolan Tuggle on a 38-yard touchdown to extend the Freedom lead to 13-5.
On the ensuing Riverside possession, a tackle for a loss by Freedom senior linebacker Jeremiah Chery and a sack by senior lineman Andrew Lewis forced a Riverside punt, setting the Eagles up on their own 25 yard line.
Four plays later, the Eagles were back in the endzone as Cooke once again connected with Tuggle, this time a 52-yard pitch and catch.
“This is only Nolan’s second year playing football, but he is amazing,” Cooke said. “He just seemed to get open at the right times tonight.”
With time winding down in the first half, the Eagles were not content with their 20-5 lead as Cooke and co. got back to work. Starting in plus territory, Freedom moved the ball both on the ground and through the air, before Cooke capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles up 27-5 heading into the locker room.
After a three-and-out by their defense to open the second half, the Eagles looked to add to their lead midway through the third quarter. Facing 4th-and-12 from the Riverside 31, Cooke dropped back and hit sophomore tight end Cameron Terry with a 31-yard touchdown pass.
Riverside showed some life on their next possession when sophomore quarterback Julian Marza found sophomore receiver Faris Fagiri for a 14-yard touchdown pass. However, following a failed two-point try, the Rams still trailed 34-11.
To put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, the Eagles used a 26-yard Choi field goal, another Cooke touchdown run, and a touchdown run by senior running back Nathan Danberg, avenging last season’s loss while spoiling Riverside’s homecoming, 51-11.
“We had great preparation. We had to make the kids believe; that was the hardest thing for us to change,” Whitney said. “Now, they believe: they believe in the play calls, they believe in each other, and here we are 3-0.”
The Eagles (1-0, 3-0) will look to remain unbeaten when they travel to non-district foe Dominion on September 26 in Sterling. Meanwhile, the Rams (0-1, 2-2) will take their bye week to prepare for a trip to Heritage on October 3.
“Our goal is to show everybody what we’re made of,” Cooke said. “We want to show the other teams in the Potomac District that we’re here to win.”
Derrick Jerry captured 125+ photos at the game!
Scoring Plays
| Period | Time | Team | Play | Score |
| 1Q | 10:34 | Riverside | Safety | 0-2 |
| 1Q | 2:36 | Riverside | Jake Winans 30-yard field goal | 0-5 |
| 1Q | 2:24 | Freedom | Lorenzo Nadal 88-yard kickoff return TD (PAT blocked) | 6-5 |
| 2Q | 11:34 | Freedom | Braden Cooke to Nolan Tuggle 38-yard TD pass (Adam Choi PAT) | 13-5 |
| 2Q | 6:27 | Freedom | Braden Cooke to Nolan Tuggle 52-yard TD pass (Adam Choi PAT) | 20-5 |
| 2Q | 1:26 | Freedom | Braden Cooke 1-yard TD run (Adam Choi PAT) | 27-5 |
| 3Q | 8:25 | Freedom | Braden Cooke to Cameron Terry 31-yard TD pass (Adam Choi PAT) | 34-5 |
| 3Q | 4:59 | Riverside | Julian Marza to Faris Fagiri 14-yard TD pass (2pt failed) | 34-11 |
| 4Q | 11:02 | Freedom | Adam Choi 26-yard field goal | 37-11 |
| 4Q | 7:24 | Freedom | Braden Cooke 2-yard TD run (Adam Choi PAT) | 44-11 |
| 4Q | 4:25 | Freedom | Nathan Danbery 46-yard TD run (Adam Choi PAT) | 51-11 |