Game of the Week: Tuscarora at Briar Woods

GAME TIME: 7 p.m. at Briar Woods

Brambleton will be rocking once again Friday night as the Falcons play host to the up and coming Tuscarora Huskies, who enter the contest with an unblemished 4-0 record and fresh off a 16-9 win over the previously undefeated Loudoun County Raiders.

For the Huskies, success starts at the top. After guiding Broad Run to consecutive state championships in 2008 and 2009, head coach Mike Burnett unexpectedly announced his resignation and took on the tough task of building the football program at Tuscarora, which opened last year in Leesburg. The early results have been impressive. After leading the 2010 team, with no seniors, to a 5-5 record, Burnett has this year's squad hitting on all cylinders as they head to Ashburn.

Leading the charge for the Huskies is senior running back Cameron Molina. The returning all-district performer already has 485 yards rushing and six touchdowns this season. Molina was the key as usual for the Huskies in their big win over LoCo, as he rushed 19 times for 111 yards and a score.

The Falcons have been on cruise control since the opening week loss to Broad Run. In three games, the Falcons have come away with three wins and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 152-9. While the wins have been impressive, they've come against struggling teams who have gone 3-12 this season.

Sometimes great teams must face some weaker competition to get their mojo back, and Briar Woods has done just that. After the Falcons struggled to move the ball against Broad Run, the offense has come alive under the revived play of quarterback Trace McSorley ­– more than 600 yards passing with 6 touchdowns – and the emergence of running back Cory Colder, who has two 100-plus-yard rushing games this season. Tight end Cam Serigne is one of the area's reception leaders, and wide receiver Alex Carter is probably scoring a touchdown somewhere as I write this.

Defensively the Falcons have been tough all season, and might even be better than last year's state championship unit. Defensive lineman Justin Baker, linebackers Matt Rolin and Brandon Brown, and defensive backs Joe Rizzardi and Darryll Gadsen play key roles in a formidable line-up that has given up less than six points per game.

Prediction: Tuscarora is certainly a team on the rise, and might be the area's next great team. But Falcons head coach Charlie Pierce also knows something about building a program, as he helped Briar Woods win a state title in the team's fifth season of varsity competition. Briar Woods is not ready to let the new dogs on the block become the big dogs, and should post a big win Friday. Briar Woods 28 Tuscarora 14.