Heritage Wins Third Straight with Shutout over PF

Football sponsored by The Original steakhouse

By: Dan Sousa

Leesburg (Oct. 2, 2007) – The Heritage High School defense limited Potomac Falls to 174 total yards and kept the Panthers out of the end zone to open AA Dulles District play last Friday with a 15-0 shutout.

The Pride’s starting quarterback Kyle Nelson was back healthy for the first time all season and he threw two first-half touchdowns, one a 30-yarder to Mike Massey and the other a 5-yard toss to Darius Tibbs, and the Heritage defense, which didn’t give PF time to throw all night, made those two scores stand up.

Heritage running back Ross Madison rushed for 112 yards on 18 carries and Nelson was 4 of 14 for 72 yards and an interception. Nelson and back-up Zach Gordon were both injured when Heritage lost its opener to South Lakes with Madison as the make-shift qb. Gordon did well in victories over North Hagerstown MD and Brentsville and now Nelson is back.

Massey finished with two receptions for 38 yards and Tibbs had two for 34.

Defensively, Chris Groomes led the Pride with 14 tackles and Nick Cadwell had 11 tackles, including three sacks. Ben Stroud registered 12 tackles.

PF quarterback Greg Woodlief was 7 of 16 for 55 yards and his replacement in the fourth quarter, Michael Fahey, was 3 of 4 for 22 yards and an interception.

Heritage limited PF top receiver Chad McMichael to three receptions for 28 yards. Chris Pelto had four catches for 29 yards, while Tarrell Owens had three grabs for 20.

Michael Baker led the Panthers with 88 yards rushing while the athletic Woodlief was credited with just nine yards on 13 attempts because of lost yardage on sacks.

Heritage (1-0, 3-1) travels to Broad Run (1-0, 4-0) in a showdown for first place in the district. Potomac Falls (0-1, 1-3) hosts Loudoun County (0-1, 0-4) in what would be a match-up of winless teams save for the Panthers forfeit over Martinsburg WV after the West Virginia team used an ineligible player in the contest.