In the biggest regular-season-ending neighborhood high-school football rivalry game played Friday night, Nov. 5, the host Langley Saxons (2-8, 2-4) rallied late to top the McLean Highlanders, 24-21, in a Liberty District contest.
Langley scored the winning touchdown on a pass from Brendan Mansinne to Colin Affleck with five seconds to play in the seesaw contest. McLean finished the season 3-7, 2-4.
Langley’s final drive began on its 36 yard line with fewer than 2 minutes to play. Mansinne engineered the winning march by completing numerous short passes, including the game winner. A pass interference penalty also aided Langley during the drive.
For the game, Mansinne was 14 of 22 passing for 139 yards. Gardiner Tyler and Daren Mosleh each had four catches, Affleck had three and Connor Campbell two.
On the ground, Langley rushed for 197 yards, with Campbell having 89, Mosleh 51, Chur-Yong Mun 35 and Campbell 21.
Langley’s other touchdown came on a 36-yard run by Cash and a 10-yard run by Mosleh. Nick Guagliano booted a 35-yard field goal and three extra points.
The Saxons amassed 336 total yards.
McLean senior Nick Halteh had 159 combined yards in the game to finish the season with 1,776 combined yards over 10 games.
Against Langley, Halteh returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and caught a 47-yard scoring pass from Manoli Karageorges, who ran for a score and completed seven passes for 135 yards.
Kaelan Ferris ran for 96 yards for McLean and caught two passes for 55. Halteh had three catches for 56.
On defense for McLean, Jacob King had 14 combined tackles, Wyatt Johnson 11, Max Geduldig 10 and Daniel Benitez.
* In another local Nov. 5 contest, the Madison Warhawks (8-1, 5-0) ended the regular season with nine straight wins and as the outright Concorde District champions by defeating the visiting Chantilly Chargers, 36-14.
Madison took a 14-0 lead, was ahead 17-7 at halftime and 30-7 in the second half. The Warhawks gained 289 yards, led by 102 rushing on 17 carries and two touchdowns by Alex Jreige. John Kustra rushed for 21 yards.
Madison quarterback Connor Barry threw for 104 yards and three TDs and ran for 26 yards. Catching scoring passes were Sonny Endicott, Benji Frederick and John Hurley. Seven different receivers caught passes and Carter Castro kicked a 23-yard field goal and multiple extra points.
On defense for the Warhawks, Austin Wysocki, Ryan Salvosa, Jake Green, Eric Anderson, Travis Allen and Kevin Chadwick were leading tackles. Chadwick and Tobias Walker had sacks. Chantilly had just 146 total yards.
* Also Nov. 5, the Oakton Cougars (4-6, 0-5) lost to the visiting South Lakes Seahawks, 36-20, in a Concorde District clash, and the visiting Marshall Statesmen (5-5, 4-2) blanked the winless Herndon Hornets (0-9, 0-5), 38-0, in Liberty District action.
In Oakton’s loss, quarterback Nick Toole completed 11 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, Rohan Mudras made four tackles, two for losses.
In Marshall’s victory, the Statesmen gained 426 yards, which included 311 rushing, many by Nokia Wilson, who scored multiple tuchdowns. Quarterback Jeff Ryder threw for the 111 yards and a touchdown to Owen Buhrman.
* On Nov. 6, the host Potomac School Panthers (5-4, 3-1) routed the Sidwell Friends Quakers, 40-7, to clinch second place in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference for the fifth straight season eighth of the last nine.
Potomac School led 13-0, then 13-7 at halftime, and pulled away over the final two quarters.
The Panthers did not attempt a pass in the game, but rushed for 237 yards, including 150 from Marcel Gaskins and 59 from quarterback Drew Turner. Holden Smith ran for another 22. Gaskins, Turner and Smith all had rushing touchdowns.
Stefan Harvey booted two field goals of 40-plus yards.
For the season, Gaskins finished with 1,150 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.
On defense, Gaskins and Nathan Alexander had interceptions against Sidwell. Tackling leaders were Smith, Marcus Burrell, Max Revis, Max Gyllenhoff, Kevin Check and Will Edens.
“It was another good day on the ground, and we didn’t throw the ball once,” Potomac School coach C.J. Remmo said. “It was a great way to end the season with a total team effort.”
* With a 40-6 road loss to the Maret Frogs on Nov. 6, the Flint Hill Huskies finished the season 0-9 overall and 0-4 in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Flint Hill’s touchdown came on a 30-yard pass from Mert Guney to Andrew King.
The last time Flint Hill did not win a game was in 1993 when the Huskies finished 0-9, then ended the football program and did not play another varsity season until 2004 when it was restarted.