By Kyle Gotimer
LoCoSports Managing Editor
[twitter-follow screen_name=’KyleGotimer42′]
Leesburg (September 12, 2016) – Loudoun Valley High School head coach Anthony Long returned to his former school to take on Heritage High School in a match up between two of the hottest teams in Loudoun. After a back and forth battle, Long’s Vikings defeated Heritage 35-17 – avenging their loss to the Pride last season.
“We talked about them beating us during the week, but towards the end of the week we talked about how this is a different year,” Long said. “We aren’t going to keep harping on what happened last year. Yeah, it stung, but this year is a different team. Heritage was just another team in our way, and we took care of business.”
Early in the first half, Heritage gave themselves a small lead as Pride senior running back Luke Schaub went for a 25-yard rushing touchdown.
Just before the end of the first quarter, Heritage struck again – this time with a 30-yard field goal by junior Bryan Henriquez.
“Loudoun Valley played really well. It was two good football teams playing, and it was a good test for both of us,” Heritage head coach Reed Prosser said. “We played well against a quality football team. We just let a couple of plays get away from us in the second half; they made some plays in the second half. It was just two well-coached teams getting after it.”
But in the second quarter, Viking senior quarterback Nick Kallivokas settled in and gave his team a chance to take control of the game. Before Kallivokas had his chance, Loudoun Valley senior running back Tyler Hunt went for a 24-yard touchdown run.
“We just wore them down and went to some run packages,” Kallivokas said. “Our running backs got it done, and the offensive line played great. We knew that was going to loosen it up in the second half, and we got some balls over the top.”
Against a tired Heritage defense, Kallivokas was able to find and connect with senior receiver Duron Norris on a 12-yard fade route – giving his team a score and the lead.
“If we see a match up that we like we go to it because the line is going to give Nick time and everyone is keying on Tyler,” Norris said.
Just eleven seconds later, Heritage senior quarterback Alex Carlin threw a screen pass to sophomore receiver Gio Wooten – allowing Wooten to break free for a 77-yard touchdown.
“We knew they were going to come out strong, and we just needed to calm down and stick to what we have been practicing all week,” Norris said.
In the third quarter, Hunt was hunting for points and came up big. The senior running back went for two scores from within the 10-yard line – pounding his way through a big Heritage defensive line.
“It’s just a chess match with the weapons we have,” Long said. “If you want to put more in the box, we’ll throw it up to Duron; if you double Duron, we can hand off to Nick or Tyler.”
One last time, Kallivokas took advantage of a tired Heritage defense and connected with Norris on yet another fade route for a 15-yard touchdown.
“We had a couple of guys out from the beginning defensively, then we lost our fullback to an injury on the first play,” Long said. “Losing him meant we had to readjust our plan. We really got Nick settled down. He was a little out of whack early on.”
On September 16, Heritage (2-1) travels to undefeated Freedom (2-0) in South Riding while Loudoun Valley (3-0) hosts John Champe (1-1) in Purcellville.
“Last year I was injured so I didn’t get to play, but I really wanted to be out there,” Norris said. “This year I got to play and I knew we had a better team going into it. I knew if we played to our strengths, we’d get it done.”
Scoring:
1Q 8:27 H Luke Schaub 25-yard run (Henriquez PAT)
1Q 2:25 H Bryan Henriquez 30-yard FG
2Q 6:00 LV Tyler Hunt 24-yard TD run (Hippler PAT)
2Q 2:25 LV Nick Kallivokas to Duron Norris 12-yard TD pass (Hippler PAT)
2Q 2:14 H Alex Carlin to Gio Wooten 77-yard TD pass (Henriquez PAT)
3Q 7:31 LV Tyler Hunt 5-yard TD run (Hippler PAT)
3Q 1:43 LV Tyler Hunt 1-yard TD run (Hippler PAT)
4Q 7:23 LV Nick Kallivokas to Duron Norris 15-yard TD pass (Hippler PAT)
