Battlefield blanks Stonewall

It may have been Halloween weekend, but few of the fans attending the "Battle of Bull Run" football game at Stonewall Jackson Friday expected to also find a "House of Horrors."

Unfortunately, that was exactly what the Raiders found on the gridiron. Visiting Battlefield ran through and around their western Prince William neighbors all night and routed Stonewall Jackson, 42-0.

The victory was the 28th straight in the regular season for Battlefield (9-0, 3-0 Cedar Run District) as the Bobcats moved a step closer to their third consecutive district championship. The loss was the fourth in a row for Stonewall Jackson (3-7, 0-4), which saw its 2009 season come to a close.

The first possession of the game foreshadowed what kind of night it was going to be for the host Raiders. Stonewall lost seven yards in three plays and on fourth down, the snap went through the hands of punter Andrew Hunt.

Battlefield's Blaine Mason recovered the loose ball at the Raider 4-yard line, and Nagee Jackson powered across the goal line on the next play for a 7-0 Bobcat lead with 9 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first quarter.

It was all downhill from there. By the end of the first quarter, Battlefield held a 21-0 advantage and it was 28-0 at halftime. In fact, the lone bright spot for Stonewall was the announcement at the end of the third quarter that the Raiders had won the Chick-Fil-A Spirit Week contest against Battlefield and earned a $1,000 donation to the school.

The Battlefield defense turned in another outstanding performance as Stonewall Jackson managed just 67 yards of total offense. The Bobcats intercepted three passes and allowed the Raiders to accumulate just five first downs, three coming on their final possession.

"Our defense is our bread and butter and has been solid all year," Battlefield head coach Mark Cox said. "They are the reason we are where we are as a team. I hope they can carry us to another win next week and a long way into the playoffs."

On offense, the Bobcats amassed 319 total yards, with 268 coming on the ground. Jackson rushed for 133 yards in just 15 carries and scored three touchdowns, while Danny Drazl had 61 yards on just six carries. Chad Thorton added 49 yards and a touchdown as he played exclusively in the second half, and Cedric Agyeman added 29 yards and another touchdown. Battlefield's other touchdown came on a 14-yard pass from Bo Revell to Jeff "Bobo" Beathard late in the first quarter.

"When you watch Stonewall on film, they are very good up front on defense," Cox said. "We knew it would be tough to run inside on them, so we switched things up and ran outside and found success."

"Once we saw what they were doing [running outside], we tried to make adjustments but were unable to do it," Raiders head coach Mike Dougherty said. "They sealed the edge over and over and made big plays."

Dougherty had high hopes for the Raiders in the preseason as he felt that with some breaks, they could contend in the Cedar Run District. But several close games—Stonewall lost to Gar-Field, Heritage and Loudoun Valley by a total of 17 points—went against the Raiders and contributed to a second straight 3-7 campaign.

"You've got to be able to win close games," Dougherty said. "A winning or losing season lies in those games for us. Going into the season, we knew teams like Woodbridge, Osbourn and Battlefield would be tough to beat, but we knew the games that we had to have. We let three of those slip through our fingers.

"But our freshman team went undefeated, and we're trying to surround our program with good character kids. There is a lot to build on for the offseason."

As for Battlefield, the beat goes on. With a win at Loudoun Valley next week, the Bobcats can claim back-to-back 10-0 seasons and the top seed in the Northwest Region Division 6 playoffs.

"Consecutive 10-0, unbeaten seasons are rare and it's great for the kids that we have a chance to accomplish that," Cox said. "But that's not our focus. If it comes, it comes. Our goal each year is to win every game, be outright district champions and get home-field advantage in the playoffs. Tonight was just one more step toward that goal."