Author: Dave Facinoli

After 56-7 loss, Wakefield football team looks to Yorktown matchup

By Dave Facinoli

With their worst game of the season behind them, the Wakefield Warriors won’t dwell on the lopsided setback, because the high-school football team has an Arlington rival next up on the schedule.

Wakefield (3-3, 0-2) lost to the host Langley Saxons, 56-7, in Liberty District action Friday night (Oct. 10). Next up on its home field Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m., Wakefield hosts the district-leading Yorktown Patriots (4-3, 3-0).

The Warriors last defeated Yorktown during the 1995 campaign, losing 28 straight times since that victory.

“The players know it’s been a long time since we defeated Yorktown. So this is a great opportunity for us and we look forward to the game,” Wakefield coach Clarence Martin told ARLnow. “We have to get back on track this week in practice to be ready for Yorktown. They are well-coached and have size up front.”

Yorktown also will be coming off a lopsided loss when it plays Wakefield. The Patriots fell at home to the West Springfield Spartans, 31-7, in non-district play Oct. 10.

Wakefield never got going in the loss to Langley. The Warriors lost a fumble on the game’s opening kickoff, with the Saxons scoring a touchdown on their second play to build a 7-0 lead just 28 seconds into the game. Langley (5-2, 2-1) was ahead 14-0 after the first quarter and 49-7 at halftime.

The Warriors were hurt by multiple turnovers, including an interception return for a touchdown. They had just 93 total yards, with only one yard rushing, and converted only one of nine third-down attempts.

Langley amassed 450 total yards and had long scoring plays covering 70, 48 and 36 yards.

“Langley is a very good football team. They are big, and we couldn’t get anything going or get on track,” Martin said. “We never really rebounded well after that opening kickoff, and didn’t have much energy. It was kind of the domino effect after that kickoff.”

Wakefield’s touchdown came on a 30-yard second-quarter pass from Judah Connor to Xavier Winkelmann. Andrew Jackson added the extra point.

Connor threw for 92 yards, including a 33-yarder.

Chris Gilpin had 20 yards in kick returns and Chris Sewell five for Wakefield. Jackson punted five times, with his longest for 53 yards.

The loss was the second straight for Wakefield, which fell to Arlington rival Washington-Liberty, 14-10, in its previous game. Washington-Liberty (6-1) is tied for first with Yorktown in the Liberty District at 3-0.

O’Connell holds off Ireton, 33-28, to win annual football showdown

By Dave Facinoli

Although neither high-school football team has won many games in recent seasons, the Bishop O’Connell Knights and Bishop Ireton Cardinals still play their version of a Super Bowl each fall.

The annual contest pits the longtime Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) private-school rivals each year in a regular-season clash. A victory earns 12 months of bragging rights and, usually, a berth into the WCAC Metro Division playoffs.

This season’s showdown was played at O’Connell Saturday afternoon (Oct. 11) with the Knights (2-5, 1-0) winning 33-28 over the Cardinals (1-5, 0-1) of Alexandria. O’Connell also had won last season, with Cardinals winning the 2023 matchup.

In the latest showdown, O’Connell rallied from an early 7-0 deficit.

“Falling behind fueled us a little bit, and we responded well,” O’Connell junior running back Nick Morris told ARLnow.

Morris helped lead the victory by rushing for 156 yards on 17 carries, including an 80-yard third-quarter scoring run. He also caught a pass for 13 yards.

O’Connell’s offensive line leading the way for the running attack consists of Kellen Hicks, Nolan Wible, Mateo Quiroz, Daniel Erickson and James Trotter.

“I followed the blockers,” said Morris, who has stepped up as the Knights’ top rusher as multiple others at that position were lost to injuries.

Morris has a bit more than 600 yards rushing this season, including 176 in the team’s previous game and 138 in another.

“He runs hard. It was always in the plan to have Nick in our rotation of runners, but he’s our main guy now,” O’Connell coach Nick Sabatino said.

Also in the win over Ireton, O’Connell quarterback Ryan Turpin threw three touchdown passes, two to Jacob Geisler for six and 25 yards. Geisler made nice tip-toe maneuvers to stay in the end zone on both receptions. He had three catches in the win.

Turpin completed his first six passes and ended up 12 of 20 passing for 205 yards, and was intercepted twice. His other scoring pass went for 42 yards to Jon Tyler in the fourth period for the game-clinching score.

Zander Schied caught four passes for 30 yards for O’Connell and Xavier Reid caught two. Ariston Kroeger had one catch for 35 yards. Josh Taliaferro added 30 yards rushing for the Knights.

Also scoring for O’Connell was Kian Kaboli on a 30-yard interception return. The interception was his third this season.

Mitch Czernia made three extra points for the Knights, who took the lead for good in the second quarter at 14-7.

“We were able to move the ball well and we hit some big plays in the passing game,” Sabatino said. “We came back and fought after falling behind early.”

Ireton stayed close by making some big plays, as well, including a second-half interception return and a lengthy touchdown drive. After Ireton’s final score, Eli Moran recovered an onside kick in the final seconds to secure the victory.

Also on defense for O’Connell, Taliaferro had an interception that he returned 25 yards, and Jayden Campbell had multiple tackles for losses. Other tackling leaders were Taliaferro, Kroeger, Tyler, Kaboli, Hicks, Colin Castro, Tyler McManus, Kaiden Alt and Kai Molter.

O’Connell’s next game is Saturday, Oct. 18 at 12:30 p.m. against perennial WCAC Metro Division power St. Mary’s Ryken (4-3, 1-0).

NOTE: O’Connell and Ireton have played every season but one (2009) since the 1993 campaign. O’Connell has won 25 of those contests since 1993 and Ireton six. The result of the 1995 contest during that stretch ended in a scoreless tie.

W-L again routs Marshall for latest victory in district football

By Dave Facinoli

The Washington-Liberty Generals continue their winning ways against Liberty District opponents.

And for the fourth straight high-school football season, the Marshall Statesmen have been on the lopsided end of losses against W-L.

The Generals’ latest victory over Marshall came in a 31-14 road decision Friday night, Oct. 10. In the previous three years, W-L routed Marshall by 42-13, 52-26 and 27-7 scores.

With the win, Washington-Liberty improved to 6-1 overall and is tied for first in the district at 3-0 with the Yorktown Patriots.

The recent triumph over Marshall gave Washington-Liberty, the two-time defending district champion, 13 straight league wins over a three-season span.

“We moved the ball pretty well against Marshall on offense. Our defenders were in good position and where they needed to be all game long,” W-L coach Josh Shapiro told ARLnow. “Marshall had a hard time stopping us. We sabotaged ourselves on several drives or we could have scored more.”

The Generals gained 355 total yards, of which a single-game season-high 220 were on the ground. Brayden Black ran for 213 of those yards on 26 carries and had four rushing touchdowns, with a long of 39 yards. His other scoring runs were for 16, eight and one yards.

“If we can run the ball, we can play with anyone,” Shapiro said.

Adding the remaining W-L scoring was Lavand Aqrawi, who booted four extra points and made a 26-yard field goal.

Generals’ quarterback Tyler Flint-Steinig was 11 of 21 passing for 135 yards. David Toepel caught five passes for 66 yards, Trevor Fullen two for 34 and Gavin England two for 15. Colby Arenson and Grant Johnson caught one each.

Jasper Dennis ran for 12 yards.

Leading tacklers on defense for W-L were Black, Lando Reed, Jeremiah Saunders, Matthew Heim, Miles Whitaker, Maximus De La Vega and Henry Fonseca-Cruz. Peter Manouilidis recovered a fumble.

Marshall had just 21 yards passing.

Behind an experienced and sizeable offensive line, the Generals have run for more than 150 yards in four of their games so far, with totals of 114, 96 and 93 in the other three.

Washington-Liberty has three regular-season games remaining, all against district rivals, including a 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 home contest against the Herndon Hornets (2-4, 1-1). Herndon was the last district team to defeat W-L, by a point in double overtime in 2023.

Also remaining on the Generals’ schedule is 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30 all-Arlington road clash against Yorktown (4-3, 3-0) and a Friday, Nov. 7 home tilt against the Langley Saxons (5-2, 2-1) at 7 p.m.

If the Generals win all three, they will have a third straight district championship.

Winning streak ends at three games for Yorktown football team

By Dave Facinoli

The three-game winning streak for the Yorktown Patriots came to an end Friday night (Oct. 10) in high-school football action.

Host Yorktown (4-3) fell to the West Springfield Spartans, 31-7, the squad’s third consecutive loss to the Patriot District team.

In this year’s setback, Yorktown broke from its winning formula against Liberty District rivals in its three previous three games that gave the Patriots a 3-0 record in the league. Yorktown did not turn the ball over during that span, capitalized on opponents’ mistakes and would bend but not break on defense.

That wasn’t the case against West Springfield, which gained 370 total yards — 284 of them on the ground — and 18 first downs.

West Springfield runningback Dillan Wickham ran for 204 of those yards and three touchdowns. The Spartans (5-2, 4-0) had four rushing TDs in addition to a field goal.

“We had trouble stopping their running game, and they exploited us and capitalized,” Yorktown coach Alec Hick told ARLnow.

West Springfield led 17-0 at halftime and was in front 31-0 before Yorktown scored a late-game TD.

The Patriots’ touchdown came on a 38-yard pass from Samson Schneider to Sammy Keiser, who had six catches for 91 yards. Schneider was 15 of 29 passing for 197 yards, and was intercepted once.

Alex Hans caught four passes for 60 yards and Brady Owens four for 42. The Patriots had just nine yards rushing.

Nate Randles, front, begins his pass route for Yorktown (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

West Springfield took control early. After receiving the opening kickoff, the Spartans put together a 79-yard multi-play touchdown drive to take a 7-0 first-quarter lead.

Yorktown responded with a march of its own, which ended at the West Springfield 15-yard line with a lost fumble. The Patriots struggled to mount any other drives until scoring their TD with just 3:34 left in the game.

“We were driving right back, but the wind went out of our sails with that lost fumble,” Hicks said. “We had not made errors like that in our past few games.”

Yorktown’s defense came up with just one turnover when Collin Damato recovered a second-half fumble. Players with tackles for losses or no gains for Yorktown were Bobby Shea, Henry Midberry, Teddy Sennott, Andrew Cole, Landon Foose, George Cocker and Sevan Raine, who made a strong tackle on the game’s opening kickoff.

“That was a big hit, the way we wanted to start the game,” Hicks said.

Yorktown plays the host Wakefield Warriors (3-3, 0-2) in a district all-Arlington showdown in its next game at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17. Yorktown and the Washington-Liberty Generals (6-1) are tied for first in the district with 3-0 records.

“We will work in practice to get better, like we did after our first two losses,” Hicks said.

O’Connell finds challenge, if not always success, in meeting nearby football rivals

By Dave Facinoli

They haven’t won any of the games, but Bishop O’Connell’s high-school football schedule the last three seasons has included the addition of a trio of nearby opponents.

The Knights have played the Flint Hill Huskies and Potomac School Panthers for the first time ever in private-school contests, and resumed an all-Arlington rivalry with the public-school Washington-Liberty Generals.

Until they met in their 2025 season openers, O’Connell and W-L had not played for more than 40 years.

Playing those opponents makes sense, as each is in close proximity to O’Connell. Potomac School in McLean is less than four miles to the west, W-L about the same distance to the east, and Flint Hill is located in relatively close-in Oakton.

Third-year O’Connell head coach Todd Sabatino was significantly involved in adding those opponents to the Knights’ schedule. He said the games make for natural rivalries and provide good competition for the Knights.

O’Connell lost to Potomac School by scores of 28-14 this year and 9-6 in 2024. In its recent 55-22 loss to Washington-Liberty, the Knights trailed just 27-22 in the third quarter. Five turnovers helped the Generals pad the score.

Flint Hill defeated O’Connell in an initial meeting between the two in 2023, and could meet again in the future.

O’Connell’s most recent game against its new opponents was a 28-14 loss to visiting Potomac School on Oct. 4. The Knights had leads of 7-0 in the first quarter and 14-13 at halftime, but didn’t score again and fell to 1-5.

Potomac School’s two second-half touchdowns were the result of a fumbled O’Connell punt that set up a TD, then a punt return for a score. Another costly second-half O’Connell mistake was a turnover coming on a fumble into the end zone at the Panthers’ one-yard line.

Penalties also proved costly for O’Connell.

“We just can’t afford to have mistakes like that,” Sabatino said. “We were leading and could have won this game.”

The Knights were significantly shorthanded at running back because of injuries to multiple players. The one running back who did play and was productive was junior Nick Morris. He ran for 176 yards on 21 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown run.

“Nick was about the only one we had, and Nick ran hard,” Sabatino said.

O’Connell quarterback Ryan Turpin completed his first nine passes and finished 10 of 16 for 96 yards and a touchdown pass of nine yards to Jacob Geisler. Mitch Czernia kicked two extra points.

Zander Schied caught three passes and Geisler, Xavier Reid and James Fatzinger caught two each.

On defense, Jayden Campbell made nine tackles (four for losses) and recovered a fumble. Kaiden Alt also had nine tackles and Eli Moran made seven. Ariston Kroeger caused a fumble and had a tackle for a loss, as did Fatzinger, Kai Molter and Tyler McManus.

Morris had four tackles.

Another nearby opponent O’Connell has scheduled in recent years are the St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes Saints of Alexandria. The Knights have defeated the Saints in the majority of those initial meetings, winning 38-12 this season.

Next up for O’Connell is its opening Washington Catholic Athletic Conference contest of 2025 against the visiting Bishop Ireton Cardinals (1-4) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. O’Connell defeated Ireton last season.

NOTE: In O’Connell’s previous game, Kian Kaboli had two interceptions.