TC Titans Trump Annandale with 31-7 Turnaround

Photo by FLICKR/adobemac/257265824/ After a scoreless first quarter, the Red, White and Blue Titans utilized a 24-yard run by Cortez Taylor to surge ahead 7-0 early in the second stanza.

Alexandria, Virginia - The Titans of T.C. Williams avenged last season's loss to Annandale by getting on the scoreboard both first as well as last in this season's contest last weekend.  TCW improved to 3-3 overall with a 31-7 win versus Annandale.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Red, White and Blue Titans utilized a 24-yard run by Cortez Taylor to surge ahead 7-0 early in the second stanza.

At halftime, the Titans led 10-7, courtesy of an 18-yard field goal by Manuel Benites. T.C. put the offensive pedal to the metal in the third quarter and surged ahead 24-7 via a 12-yard scoring pass from Doug Murphy to Bennie Jenkins as well as a 60-yard interception return by Israel Richardson.

T.C. also accounted for the only points of the fourth quarter - a 49-yard interception return by Damien Benton to win going away 31-7. The Titans, coached by Dennis Randolph (third season) have now matched their win total from one season ago (when T.C. finished 3-7 overall).

Photo by FLICKR/mvjantzen/3544292763/ A tribute marker to George Preston Marshall, founder of The Washington Redskins, in front of RFK Stadium.

Regarding other local high school football this past weekend, five of the squads won and nine came up short.

In Alexandria, St. Stephens/St. Agnes improved to 4-1 overall with a 34-13 win versus Blue Ridge (Va.); Ireton dropped to 4-2 overall via a 24-6 loss to St. Albans (D.C.); Episcopal dropped to 1-3 overall via a 33-20 loss to Landon (Md.).

The Saints of St. Stephens/St. Agnes trailed visiting Blue Ridge 13-7 at half as the visitors had just scored via the air with 2:52 remaining second quarter - to take the six-point lead into the locker room. In the third quarter however, it was all St. Stephens/St. Agnes.

The home team generated three offensive touchdowns via three different players and led 27-13 as the third quarter concluded. Specifically in the third quarter, the Red, White and Green scored via: a Thomas Newman 19-yard run, a David Solomon seven-yard run and a Chip Phillips 19-yard run.

The Saints, coached by Dave Holm (fourth season), also kept Blue Ridge out of the endzone in the fourth quarter as well. The Saints scored the only touchdown of the fourth quarter when Thomas Newman ran the ball in from 10 yards out.

Thomas Edison Improves with Win

In Fairfax County, Thomas Edison improved to 5-1 overall with a 42-10 win versus Yorktown; Hayfield improved to 4-2 overall with a 48-14 win versus Mount Vernon (which dropped the Majors to 0-6 overall); West Potomac dropped to 1-5 overall via a 42-7 loss to W.T. Woodson; Jefferson dropped to 0-6 overall via a 38-0 loss to McLean; and as mentioned above - the Atoms of Annandale fell to T.C. 31-7 and dropped their season record to 3-3.

The Eagles of Edison comfortably led the Patriots of Yorktown 21-7 after the first quarter was in the proverbial books and never looked back. The Red, White and Blue Eagles also led 28-10 at halftime enroute to their decisive win.

The four first half Eagle touchdowns were scored by: Levi Barber (a 48-yard run as well as a 15-yard scoring pass to Mark Krisak) and Angus Harper (a five-yard run and a 33-yard run). Edison, coached by veteran Vaughn Lewis, scored 14 additional fourth quarter points (after a scoreless third quarter) to comfortably win 42-10. Harper accounted for four TD's on the evening as the senior also ripped off fourth quarter scoring runs of 21 and four yards.

Regarding the Hayfield Hawk 48-14 win versus the Majors of Mount Vernon: the scoring information was not able to be obtained - but the Hawks, coached by veteran Billy Pugh, have already shattered last seasons win total of merely one game. Whereas Hayfield finished the '08 campaign with an overall record of 1-9, the Orange and White Hawks currently weigh-in at 4-2.

Arlington County Gridiron

In Arlington County, Washington-Lee improved to 3-3 overall with a 34-21 win versus JEB Stuart; O'Connell dropped to 4-2 overall via a 47-7 loss to Gonzaga (D.C.); Yorktown dropped to 2-4 overall via the aforementioned 42-10 loss to Edison and finally Wakefield dropped to 0-6 overall via a painful 28-27 overtime loss to Falls Church.

The Generals of Washington-Lee spotted visiting JEB Stuart leads of 7-0 and 14-7. Nonetheless, the Central Arlington Generals scored their go-ahead touchdown late in the second quarter when QB Richard Lewis hooked up with wide receiver Karl Lendenmann on a slant pattern - to put W-L ahead 17-14.

The Navy Blue and Grey Generals scored the lone points of the third quarter to surge ahead 27-14 (David Roddy ripped off an 80-yard kick off return and Chris Almquist booted a 33-yard field goal). Both teams generated one touchdown apiece in the fourth quarter as the Generals prevailed 34-21. (The final W-L tally was a two-yard scoring run by Anthony Taylor).

In games this weekend, Oct. 16,  West Potomac hosts Robert E. Lee; Annandale visits West Springfield; Edison hosts Falls Church; Hayfield visits Wakefield; Mount Vernon hosts Washington-Lee; Yorktown hosts JEB Stuart and Jefferson visits Langley.

On October 17, T.C. Williams hosts W.T. Woodson; St. Stephens/St. Agnes visits Bullis (Md.); Episcopal visits St. Albans (D.C.); Ireton visits St. Christophers (Richmond) and O'Connell visits McNamara (Md.).

Will the Skins fortunes turn?

Over the past weekend, the Washington Redskins dropped to 2-3 overall and fans are wondering whether or not the season will turn around or not.

Thus far, the Skins: dropped a 23-17 contest to the N.Y. Giants in week one; and then defeated the St. Louis Rams 9-7 in week two; and then dropped a 19-14 contest to the Detroit Lions in week three; and then defeated the Tampa Bay Bucaneers 16-13 in week four; and most recently dropped a 20-17 contest to the Carolina Panthers in week five.

This Sunday (October 18th) - the Skins will square off with the Kansas City Chiefs at home (1 pm) and then on Monday night (October 26th) - the Skins will square off with the Philadelphia Eagles at home (8:30 pm) on national TV.

In November, December and the first week of January,  the Skins will play five of their remaining nine games on the road.

"If George Preston Marshall had any doubts that Washington would be more receptive to his team than Boston had been, they were erased in the first game played at Griffith Stadium on September 17, 1937, when 24,942 showed up, watching the Redskins get off on the right foot with a 13-3 win over the New York Giants," writes Thom Loverro in the book, The Washington Redskins: The Authorized History.

In the Skins initial season in D.C., after moving from Boston, they recorded a regular season record of 8-3 and then defeated the Chicago Bears 28-21 in the League Championship Game - Washington's first title.