Osbourn Park defeats Woodbridge, moves on

With one of the area’s best offenses on the opposing sideline and leading by just three points mid-way through the third quarter Friday night, Osbourn Park quarterback Dominique Terrell figured his team would need to score again to secure a Northwest Region Divison 6 final berth.

Terrell lined up under center in the region semifinal and spotted something in the Woodbridge defense. He quickly changed the called play — a slant pattern by Travis Marion — to take advantage of the perceived hole.

Instead of a slant, which the Vikings had covered well all night, Marion ran a slant-up, breaking the receiver free from the secondary and wide open for a 29-yard touchdown pass.
The Yellow Jackets (10-2) would tack on another field goal later, but Terrell and Marion teamed up — in some form or another — to lead OP to a 19-6 win over host Woodbridge, ousting the No. 2 seeded Vikings from the region playoffs for the second consecutive year.

“He looked at me and changed the call,” Marion said of Terrell. “He put [the pass] on the money.
“We changed it because the corners had been up on the slant and he read it right.”

Marion also intercepted Woodbridge’s Frank Buckley once and recovered a fumble from his free safety position, a spot he and Terrell share on defense.

Terrell played safety last year, but Osbourn Park coach Brian Beaty decided it was best to limit the junior’s defensive contributions and preserve him for offense.

Against Woodbridge, Terrell — on a muddy, sloppy field — ran for just 80 yards on 20 carries. None of those opportunities were more important than a 51-yard scramble that set-up a 19-yard scoring run by Gary Jackson a play later.

The Terrell run, however, seemed to break Woodbridge’s spirit early in the second half. The Vikings also lost one of their best players for most of the game’s remainder on the play when safety Collin Frazer was hit hard on a vicious — yet clean — block.

“They made plays and we didn’t,” said Vikings’ interim head coach Kevin Smith. “In the playoffs you can’t afford any mistakes. It’s high school football and people are going to make mistakes.”
Woodbridge (10-1) couldn’t recover on its next possession, committing four penalties on the drive and being forced to punt from its own 11-yard line.

Osbourn Park took full advantage of Woodbridge’s mistakes, too. The Yellow Jackets scored six points off the Vikings’ six turnovers that included two muffed punt returns.

“It was a great effort by the kids, especially when they played Monday night,” Beaty said. OP played Riverbend just four days before facing Woodbridge after poor field conditions and inclement weather forced the region first-round game to be postponed from last Friday.

“We knew this was going to be a game of field position,” the coach added. “We maintained that and we came out in the second half and played some serious football.”

After giving up 202 yards to Woodbridge’s offense in the first half, Osbourn Park allowed just 55 yards and no points in the second half.

In fact, aside from a 15-play, 97-yard drive on the Vikings’ second possession of the game that ate up much of the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets’ defense was stout.

“We capitalized on their mistakes,” Beaty said. “Defensively, I feel we’ve played pretty well all year long. The offense did a great job in the second half, throwing up some points to give us a little breathing room.”

Osbourn Park will travel to top seed Battlefield Saturday, Nov. 28 for a 1 p.m. kickoff in the Division 6 Northwest Region final. The winner earns a state tournament berth.

Staff writer Joe Conroy may be reached at 703-878-8047.