When the North Stafford High School football team dropped a pair of one-point games in the first month of the regular season, it could’ve let its entire campaign go down the drain.
Instead, the Wolverines are one win away from their first state playoff berth since 2019.
North Stafford scored on its first play from scrimmage Friday night, and the Wolverines never trailed in a 21-6 victory over host Battlefield in a Region 6B semifinal contest in Haymarket.
Third-seeded North (9-3) will host No. 4 seed Woodbridge (11-1) for the regional championship at 1 p.m. next Saturday. It will be a rematch from Week 4 of the regular season—a 42-35 shootout win by the Wolverines that is the lone blemish on the Vikings’ record.
Friday’s victory avenged a season-opening 14-13 loss to the Bobcats on Aug. 28. North led that game 13-0 with less than four minutes to play, but the Wolverines surrendered a pair of touchdowns in the final 3:40, including the game-winning score on the final play of the contest.
There would be no repeat this time around.
North quarterback Chase Sullivan connected with Antwan Barnes for a 62-yard touchdown pass to give the Wolverines an early 7-0 advantage with 10:06 to go in the first quarter.
A bad snap on a North punt set up second-seeded Battlefield (10-2) at the Wolverines’ 1-yard-line midway through the second period. Bobcats quarterback Ethan Stowell scored on a keeper one play later to make it 7-6 with 4:33 left in the first half, but the extra-point attempt never got off the ground because of a low snap.
North ate up nearly the first five minutes of the third quarter with a 10-play, 85-yard drive. Alon Lester capped the march with a 4-yard touchdown scamper to extend the Wolverines’ lead to 14-6 with 7:16 remaining in the period.
Lester was a standout for North, carrying the ball 15 times for 93 yards.
Kenaz Sullivan’s 2-yard touchdown run with 10:05 left in the game effectively slammed the door shut.
The Wolverines last played for a regional title in 2019, when they defeated Commonwealth District rival Mountain View 21-10. They lost to eventual state runner-up Stone Bridge in the state semifinals the following week.
REGION 6B
WOODBRIDGE 35, COLONIAL FORGE 34
The top-seeded Eagles’ late rally fell short against the No. 4 Vikings.
Trailing 35-21, Colonial Forge (10-2) got a 9-yard touchdown pass from Brock Brimhall to Jeremiah Schneider with 6:11 left to play.
The Eagles got the ball back with 3:04 to go and drove 71 yards, pulling within 35-34 on Brimhall’s 16-yard scoring strike to Darion Majeed with 1:43 remaining.
Forge elected to go for the win and attempt a 2-point conversion, but a double-reverse pass attempt fell incomplete in the end zone.
However, the drama was far from over, as the Eagles recovered an onside kick at the Woodbridge 49-yard-line. Brimhall hooked up with Majeed for a 12-yard gain on first down, but the drive stalled there and the Vikings (11-1) took over on downs and ran out the final 1:02.
Even in defeat, Brimhall had a night to remember in his final game in a Forge uniform. The senior completed 19 of 30 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns.
Majeed paced the Eagles’ receiving corps with nine catches for 143 yards and two scores. Senior TaySean Jones finished with four receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown.
Another senior, Jaylen Carter, ran for 107 yards on 12 carries.
Forge led 14-0 in the second quarter courtesy of a 23-yard scoring connection from Brimhall to Majeed and a 2-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Carter.
Woodbridge ran off 21 consecutive points after that to take a 21-14 edge in the third period. Then Brimhall found Jones for a 58-yard scoring strike to tie the score at 21. But the Vikings ran off the next 14 points, setting up the late-game drama.
REGION 5D
RIVERBEND 56, POTOMAC FALLS 6
Seven different players scored touchdowns, and the second-seeded Bears churned out 627 yards of total offense in a Region 5D semifinal rout of the No. 3 seed Panthers.
Riverbend quarterback Ian Shook Jr. completed 15 of 17 passes for 266 yards and three scores and ran the ball 14 times for 84 yards and another touchdown.
Mekhi Davis was on the receiving end of two of Shook’s scoring passes, finishing with eight catches for 161 yards. Tristan Greene hauled in the other, a 21-yard connection that got Riverbend (11-0) on the board in the first quarter.
Adrien Picot rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown, and Camden Simmons added a 57-yard scoring scamper.
Dwayne Stewart and Joshua Lautenschlager also found the end zone on runs of 3 and 66 yards, respectively.
The Bears led 56-0 before Potomac Falls (7-5) got on the board in the final period.
Riverbend will travel to play top-seeded Stone Bridge (9-1) for the regional championship at 1 p.m. Friday in Ashburn. The Bulldogs defeated No. 4 John Champe 41-0 on Friday, which was their fifth shutout in a row.
The Bears have never won a region title in football. Last season, they defeated Stone Bridge 35-21 in the regional semifinals before falling 32-15 to Briar Woods in the championship game.
