After spending the early part of the week practicing indoors due to the sloppy condition of its practice field created by the recent rainfall, Briar Woods High School football coach Charlie Pierce decided it was time to prepare outside the day before his team’s pivotal AA Dulles District game against undefeated Tuscarora. 

“Our practice field was a mud bath but we told our guys listen, ‘I don’t care how it is, it’s like old style football we just have to prepare.’ We had our best Thursday practice out in the mud,” Pierce said. “We had one dropped ball and we did all of our assignments right. That told me something there ... the guys stayed focused.”

The stellar practice carried over to the game as Stanford University commit Alex Carter returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and the host Falcons never looked back en route to a 38-0 victory over the Huskies Sept. 30 in Ashburn.

Briar Woods (4-0 in district play, 4-1 overall) has now won 13 consecutive Dulles District games dating back to the 2009 season. The defending Division 4 state champion Falcons are tied with Heritage - a 44-42 winner over Loudoun Valley on Friday - for the Dulles lead.

Briar Woods - who has outscored its four district opponents by a combined 192-9 this season - will host Heritage Oct. 14.

“We’ve been trying to prove ourselves. We just wanted to come out and show everyone what we are about,” said Briar Woods junior receiver Cam Serigne, who caught six passes for 64 yards and a touchdown Friday.

Along with his electrifying kickoff return, Carter also scored on a 12-yard run and deflected a pass that led to senior Brandon Brown’s interception - ending Tuscarora’s best drive of the game on the first possession of the second half.

Junior Cory Colder carried the ball 21 times for 76 yards and a touchdown in the win, and sophomore Trace McSorley completed 13 of 23 passes for 111 yards and a score. Junior Mike Barta returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown and senior David Clements booted a 21-yard field goal late in regulation to cap the scoring.

“We scored in every fashion - special teams, offense and defense,” Pierce said. “I’m proud of the way our guys played. Tuscarora was the next game and we took care of business.”

Tuscarora - fresh off a 16-9 win over previously undefeated Loudoun County - turned the ball over three times and struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the stout Falcon defense.

“Obviously we played a good team and we made mistakes, bad combination,” Tuscarora coach Mike Burnett said. “We picked a bad night to have a lot of things go wrong.”

Despite the loss, the second-year Huskies have impressed through the first half of the season. Tuscarora (2-1, 4-1) has already recorded wins over Millbrook, Brentsville, Loudoun Valley and Loudoun County - two of those four teams made the playoffs last year.

“We set a goal for us to be in the playoffs and make a run in the playoffs,” Burnett said. “If you told us before the season that we are going to be 4-1 with the five games we had in front of us, we would be pretty happy with that. We are proud of our kids, they didn’t quit.”

Briar Woods 38, Tuscarora 0

First Quarter
BW: Carter 92 kick return (Clements kick) 11:38

Second Quarter
BW: Colder 1 run (Clements kick) 9:57
BW: Serigne 15 pass from McSorley (Clements kick) 0:59

Third Quarter
BW: Carter 12 run (Clements kick) 7:23

Fourth Quarter
BW: Barta 28 interception return (Clements kick) 11:50
BW: Clements 21 field goal, 1:50

Individual Leaders

Rushing: T-Molina (14 for 31 yards); BW-Colder (21 for 76 yards, TD)

Passing: T-Carrerra (6 of 16 for 47 yards, 2 Int.); BW-McSorley (13 of 23 for 111 yards, TD, Int.)

Receiving: T-Carpenter (3 for 21 yards); BW-Serigne (6 for 64 yards, TD), Gadsden (3 for 24 yards)

-All photos by Chuck Moore