Battlefield football falls in state semifinals

BEALETON — Battlefield High School this year saw its football team accomplish two things the program had never done before: win a playoff game and be crowned region champs.

But the final first the Bobcats did not give their fans was a state title berth.

Battlefield (12-1) was unable to overcome two postponements and a venue change, falling to Northern Region winners Lake Braddock 27-24 in overtime in the state semifinal Monday night at Liberty High School’s Kip Hull Field in Bealeton.

The two clubs were originally slated to play at Northwest Region champ Battlefield Saturday, but icy weather and poor field conditions pushed the game to Sunday in Haymarket and then Monday at Liberty.

It came down to a rollout by Bruins junior quarterback Michael Nebrich who found Chris Williams in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard score, just out of reach of the reach of the Bobcats’ secondary.

“We almost had them. The quarterback made a great play,” Battlefield coach Mark Cox said. “That was a great game… You can’t keep them down all night and they had some kids that made big plays.”

Lake Braddock (12-2) suffered from poor play on special teams, even allowing a 67-yard kickoff return by Blaine Mason to tie the game with a second to go in regulation. The Bruins, who will make their first state final appearance in school history this week, misplayed two punts, turning the ball over both times.

When Lake Braddock held onto the ball, Nebrich was a one-man offense, racking up 305 passing yards and another 92 on the ground. He threw for three touchdowns on 17-of-31 passing and added a score on the ground.

“We had to do what we could to keep their offense off the field,” Cox said. “So we started running the ball more in the second half. They were the best defensive team we played this year.”

Cedric Agyeman gave the Bobcats their ground game in the final two quarters, rushing for most of his 102 yards in the second half and overtime.

“Cedric’s a gamer. He was fired up for this all week long,” Cox said. “We saw [Lake Braddock’s] inside linemen and they were good inside. We wanted to get on the corner more and he has a little more speed [than starter Nagee Jackson].”

A back-and-forth affair, Battlefield trailed 21-14 after Nebrich’s four-yard rush with 14.2 seconds left in the game. The Bruins squib-kicked on the kick off that Bobo Beathard fielded short.

As he was wrapped up, Beathard spotted Mason right behind him and Beathard pitched it quickly into Mason’s hands.

With Lake Braddock focused on taking Beathard down, Mason was left with wide open space to the end zone.

“That was just Bobo being heads-up and Blaine being heads-up,” Cox said. “They weren’t going to give up. I think Blaine was just as surprised as the rest of us.
“It’s tough to come up short like this, but once the kids look back on this, who would have thought Battlefield would be in the semifinals,” the coach added.

LAKE BRADDOCK 27, BATTLEFIELD 24, OT
Lake Braddock 7 7 0 7 6 — 27
Battlefield 2 6 0 13 3 — 24
First Quarter
BF — Ball fumbled out of end zone for safety, 9:02
LB — Johnson 29 pass from Nebrich (Weiler kick), 2:58
Second Quarter
BF — Revell 1 run (kick blocked), 8:08
LB — Johnson 42 pass from Nebrich (Weiler kick), 6:48
Fourth Quarter
BF — Revell 2 run (kick failed), 10:14
LB — Nebrich 4 run (Weiler kick), 0:14
BF — Mason 67 kick return (Hoepker kick), 0:01
Overtime
BF — Hoepker 20 field goal
LB — Williams 15 pass from Nebrich
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Lake Braddock, Nebrich 15-92, Mansaray 3-4; Battlefield, Agyeman 22-102, Jackson 15-57, Beathard 8-16, Revell 10-16.
PASSING — Lake Braddock, Nebrich 17-31-0-305; Battlefield, Revell 6-12-1-70.
RECEIVING — Lake Braddock, Johnson 4-140, Mansaray 4-49, Resetar 5-46, Banihashemi 1-39, Williams 2-21; Battlefield, Robinson 6-70.