The Briar Woods Falcons used opportunistic offense and dominant defense in a 31-0 dismantling of Grafton in the Division 4 state semifinals Dec. 3 in Yorktown.

The Falcons are now one victory away from claiming the school’s second consecutive state football championship. Briar Woods will play Christiansburg in the state title game Dec. 10, 4:30 p.m. at Liberty University in Lynchburg. Christiansburg shut out Broadway 35-0 in the state semifinals.

Junior running back Cory Colder took the ball into the end zone in each of the Falcons’ first two possessions against Grafton, providing more than enough points for a stout Falcon defense to complete the romp.

“Oh man, I’m ecstatic right now! So glad to get back to the state championship,” Colder said through a big smile as he and his teammates boisterously celebrated after their 13th win in 14 games this season.

“I want to win it again,” he added.

The Falcons had ample reason to be pleased. In pitching its fifth shutout of the year, Briar Woods limited their hosts to a miniscule 76 total offensive yards and eight first downs while sacking Clipper quarterback Jett Johnson three times.

Junior linebacker Matt Rolin found his way into the Grafton backfield often. Rolin, who recently received a scholarship offer from Boston College, recorded two-and-a-half tackles for loss among his four stops. Senior lineman Justin Baker contributed a team-high six tackles as the Falcons stayed with their base 3-4 defense all game long.

“We’ve been doing that all year,” said Pierce of his defense’s fundamental effort. “We just stayed sound with what we do and everybody runs to the ball. We’re fortunate to have a lot of kids on defense that have a defensive mentality.”

The game was played under comfortable afternoon conditions on the grass-like artificial surface of Yorktown’s Bailey Field, the home facility of Region I and Bay Rivers District champion Grafton (9-4). The Falcons made the trip to the historic peninsula due to pre-determined sites for the state semifinal round.

Despite the three-hour journey, the Briar Woods fan contingent was large and vocal, aided by the Falcon band blasting out the pageantry.

“It’s awesome. It’s exciting for the players, knowing there are people in the stands yelling for them,” Pierce said. “Plus the band’s huge too. They get stuff going, and how great is it to hear the alma mater playing?”

The Falcon supporters were rewarded for their travel by witnessing a complete effort by their team, which turned in timely plays all afternoon long.

Down 14-0, Grafton managed its only red-zone appearance with a run-based drive in the second quarter. On third down, Johnson took a shot into the end zone, but Briar Woods’ Alex Carter used his height and vertical jump to intercept it.

The athletic play kept the Clippers off the scoreboard and kept momentum squarely with the Falcons.

“That was probably the biggest turning point of the game,” Pierce said.

Clements punctuated the Falcons’ first-half performance, nailing a long field goal to put his team up three scores going into the locker room.

The senior kicker’s right leg boomed the ball all afternoon. He averaged 49.5 yards on two punts and delivered touchbacks on three of five kickoffs.

Colder added his third touchdown late in the third quarter, banging it in from five yards away one play after Rolin made a splendid bobbling catch of a deep pass to convert a long third down.

“The offensive line played great. They opened up a lot of holes today,” bragged Colder about his friends up front. “I just had to run behind them and make a guy or two miss.”

The Falcons put the finishing touches on their masterpiece the fourth quarter.

Jamal Hill picked off a deep Johnson pass to the right sideline, the third turnover Briar Woods forced. The Falcons proceeded to soak up more than six minutes of clock, sustaining a 12-play drive that culminated with senior Connor Cashman’s untouched scoring dash from four yards away.

Pierce echoed Colder’s compliments about his big guys doing the trenchwork, a young group including two starting sophomores.

“This is the best offensive line since I’ve been head coaching in terms of communicating with each other,” said Pierce, praising the work of offensive line coach Chris Brown and starting center Brian McKelvey.

Pierce said he sees his offensive line acting like a college or professional line in communicating assignments and adjustments pre-snap.

“It’s about McKelvey accepting that role of knowing everybody’s assignment and from there it permeates to the rest of the guys,” the Falcon coach said.

That offensive line provided enough time for sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley to survey downfield and find receivers. McSorley completed passes to seven different Falcons with no interceptions.

Briar Woods 31, Grafton 0

-First Quarter
BW: Colder 37 run (Clements kick), 8:02
BW: Colder 18 pass from McSorley (Clements kick), 2:19

-Second Quarter
BW: Clements 37 field goal, 0:14

-Third Quarter
BW: Colder 5 run (Clements kick), 0:38

-Fourth Quarter
BW: Cashman 4 run (Clements kick), 3:14

Offensive Stats

-Rushing
BW: Colder 21-117, Logan 3-20, McSorley 2-6, Carter 2-5, Cashman 1-4, Larco 1-4, Leith 1-2. Total 34-142; G: Bartells 8-33, Spearman 11-30, Johnson 9-(-10). Total 31-38.

-Passing
BW: McSorley 14-22-1 162 yards; G: Johnson 3-12-0 38 yards.

-Receiving
BW: Carter 3-39, Ramos 3-26, Gadsden 3-24, Serigne 2-22, Rolin 1-27, Colder 1-18, Logan 1-6; G: Swartwood 2-26, Stallings 1-12.

-All photos by Ryan Kelly