Falcons Sink Clippers, Head to Championship

The Briar Woods Falcons pulled off an overwhelming shutout Saturday over the Grafton Clippers Saturday to earn a place in a second straight AA Division 4 state championship.

Early in the first period of Saturday's state semifinal game against Grafton, Briar Woods running back Cory Colder ran down the left sideline, wide open, as quarterback Trace McSorley lofted a pass his direction. The diminutive running back – more accustomed to catching short passes out of the backfield than trying to corral downfield strikes – heard a coach yell "Trace ... Cory!" indicating to both that Colder was open, and adding to the suspense as he adjusted on the football floating his way.

Luckily for the Falcons, Colder hauled in the pass and went untouched into the end zone, giving Briar Woods an early 14-0 lead and setting the tone for what would be a dominating game with the Falcons cruising to a 31-0 win.

"I haven't caught a deep ball like that all year, so I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.’ I'm thinking 'Angels in the End Zone' like 'Angels in the Outfield.' It was amazing," said a thrilled Colder after the game. He may have been feeling the holiday spirit with his references to two movies where divine intervention played a role in some remarkable sports moments.

If anyone was in need of help from the heavens during this game, it was Grafton’s offense. The Briar Woods defense put on a clinic that limited the Clipper offense to just one legitimate scoring chance all evening; but even that was halted by an Alex Carter interception.

Trailing 14-0 after Colder's touchdown, Grafton put together a 17-play, 68-yard, second-quarter drive that put the Clippers in scoring position at Briar Woods’ 18-yard line. After losing two yards on first down and throwing an incompletion on second down, quarterback Jett Johnson took the third down snap and rolled to his left to avoid pressure from the Falcons. The elusive Johnson hurled an off-balance pass into the corner of the end zone, which Carter read perfectly. The Stanford-bound defensive back leapt for the ball and maintained his balance to come down with the interception and end the scoring threat.

"That was probably the biggest turning point of the game," Falcon coach Charlie Pierce said about the interception. "When you drive and have that many plays, you hope to have an outcome of points."

The key for the Falcons dominating defensive effort was their ability to stop the Clipper running game. Grafton entered the game without several key players on offense because of injury, and the Falcons took advantage. Briar Woods limited Grafton to just 38 yards rushing for the game. Once the Falcons extended the lead to 24-0 on another Colder touchdown run and a David Clements 37-yard field goal, the defense focused on the Grafton passing game and effectively shut it down. The Clippers completed just three passes in the game as the Falcons pitched their first shutout of the playoffs.

Matt Rolin and Kevin Owens each recorded two tackles for loss in the game, while Justin Baker anchored the middle of the defensive front and piled up ten tackles. Jamal Hill nabbed a late interception to help seal the victory.

The Briar Woods offense kept Grafton off-balance all night with accurate passing from McSorley and the power running of Colder. McSorley completed an efficient 14 of 22 passes for 162 yards and a score, while Colder grinded out 117 rushing yards.

Next Saturday the Falcons face the Christiansburg Blue Demons at Liberty University in Lynchburg with the state title on the line. Christiansburg also dominated its semifinal matchup, knocking off Broadway Fighting Gobblers 35-0.

Coach Pierce said he and the Falcons look forward to the challenge of trying to bring another state championship home to Ashburn.

"The first time was exciting and a neat thing,” he said. “The second time it's even more satisfying, because to get back after losing some great players we had on the team last year, it's a great accomplishment for our team. When it's all said and done, hopefully the accomplishment will be just the same as it was last year."

Stay tuned to Ashburn Patch for state championship previews and analysis.