The Colonial Forge football team used an improved defense and punishing rushing attack to reach the Region 6B championship game Friday afternoon at Patriot High School in Nokesville.
But to advance, Eagles head coach John Brown believed his team needed to show some offensive firepower and strike early and often.
It took just 3:29 for the visiting Eagles to get on the board with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Brock Brimhall to TaySean Jones.
Colonial Forge didn’t stop there as it rolled to a 42-14 victory over Patriot, setting the stage for a Class 6 state semifinal contest next week at the winner of tonight’s contest between Highland Springs and Oscar Smith.
“We thought offensively we needed to be pretty aggressive to try to get some points on the board pretty quickly and keep the throttle down if you will,” Brown said. “We just tried to mix it up and we did fairly well with our execution.”
The Eagles (10-3) are the final Fredericksburg-area team remaining in the Virginia High School League playoffs.
They were paced by Brimhall who connected on four touchdown passes — two each to Jones and receiver Darion Majeed. He also scored on a long touchdown run.
His second pass to Jones came on a screen that the speedy receiver took 49 yards to the end zone for a 21-7 lead with 3:40 to go before halftime.
Colonial Forge held that advantage through intermission and increased its lead to 28-7 on an 8-yard pass from Brimhall to Majeed in the back of the end zone on what Brown said was a “broken play.”
“He worked his way across the end zone and Brock found him,” Brown said.
Colonial Forge added touchdowns on a 45-yard run by Brimhall and a 10-yard run by Josiah Bryson, who also recorded an interception on defense.
The Eagles posed on Patriot’s turf with their regional trophy in hand. It is the second regional crown in Brown’s head coaching tenure with the other one coming in 2019.
Brown said the Eagles hit a lull after that season, partly because of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. But now Colonial Forge is back in familiar territory, competing for a state championship.
“It feels like old times,” Brown said. “I hope we’re able to match up well [in the state semis]. We have a good opportunity because we’re in it. No matter what, we’ll go down and give a great effort like we have all year. We stayed the course and kept fighting. I’m very proud of our guys.”
Region 5D championship
Briar Woods 32, Riverbend 15
The Falcons controlled the clock and the action throughout this contest on the Bears’ home field.
Briar Woods quarterback Brady Carmical completed 13 of 19 passes for 219 yards and also rushed for two scores. Senior running back Trey Dudley, a Syracuse University commit, rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
The Bears (8-4) ran just 10 offensive plays the entire second half. Standout senior running back JoJo Thomas was held to 65 rushing yards on 13 carries, including a lost fumble early in the third quarter.
The Falcons converted on a 33-yard field goal after the miscue to increase their lead to 25-7.
Riverbend quarterback Camden Sullivan fired a 44-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Stewart with 16 seconds left in the third quarter and Thomas rushed for the two-point conversion to bring the Bears within 25-15 entering the fourth quarter.
However, Briar Woods methodically marched down the field for a touchdown drive that was punctuated by Dudley’s 2-yard run to provide the final margin. Riverbend ran just four plays for two yards in the fourth quarter.
Both of Sullivan’s completions in the game went for touchdowns. He also found Tristan Greene for a 14-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to tie the game at 7 with 6:12 left in the second quarter.
But the Falcons added a 1-yard touchdown run by Carmical for a 13-7 lead. He then connected with Colin Capistrant for a 67-yard reception with eight seconds to go before halftime, setting up a 25-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 16-7 advantage at intermission.
