By Angela Watts
Assistant General Manager, Washigton D.C.
** Click the links to the left, above the video, to access a photo gallery, dozens of video highlights and video interviews with Oakton captains Chris Coyer, Jack Tyler and Trey Watts.
The fog hovered so low and so thick by game’s end Friday night that it was impossible for fans to see their counterparts across the field during the Northern Region Division 6 semifinal between No. 6 West Springfield and No. 2 Oakton.
But the heavy haze did nothing to muffle the sounds of the Cougar and Spartan faithful, who packed the stands and took turns throughout an action-packed second half upping one another with wild cheers.
In the end, though, it was the home team — and their fans — who savored the sweetest of their 12 victories this season.
No. 2 Oakton (12-0) held off a furious rally from No. 6 West Springfield (8-4) for a 49-43 victory to advance to next week’s Northern Region Division 6 championship game.
And one thing is certain with that game: There will be a new region champion crowned. That’s because No. 5 Chantilly also knocked off No. 4 Westfield, the defending region and Virginia AAA state champions, 35-28, in the other semifinal game. The Cougars will host the Chargers at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the regional finale.
“We haven’t really been that kind of team all year that’s been overly excited,” said Oakton senior quarterback Chris Coyer, whose teammates did little more than exchange a few hugs after the final whistle had sounded. “But yeah, we expected to be here at the beginning of the season. Our team motto, we decided early in the off-season, was to finish 15 as one.
“And we have yet to make it to the 15th game … so we’re not satisfied yet.”
But to even continue toward that goal, the Cougars first had to stave off a feisty Spartan team that scored 33 second-half points to turn what once looked to be a walk-over into a nail-biter.
Oakton led 28-10 at half time on the strength of Coyer’s big plays.
The senior signal-caller rushed for scores of 65 and 50 yards and threw a pair of touchdown passes of 46 and 67 yards, respectively, to senior running back Trey Watts. The Cougars extended that lead to 42-17 with 8 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter with a another pair of touchdown passes of 55 and 10 yards from Coyer to senior wide receiver Jay Young.
“They were hyped up all week as the match-up being their offense against our defense and could our defense shut them down,” said Coyer, who finished with 215 yards passing and four touchdowns, and also rushed for 197 yards and two scores.
“But we are an explosive offense and we really wanted to show everyone, really, that we are an explosive offense and we can put points on the board from anywhere on the field.”
But that’s when things got interesting.
West Springfield scored four of the game’s final five touchdowns — over a span of almost exactly 12 minutes of game clock — to close within 49-43 with 8:30 to play. To do so the Spartans not only benefited from an onside kick that was recovered by junior linebacker Peyton Davey, but also a pair of fumble recoveries by senior defensive back Malek Diaw and senior defensive end John Lockwood.
And, of course, the Spartans had standout senior quarterback Bryn Renner, who will play next year at North Carolina, with his hand firmly on the throttle. Renner, who was covered head-to-toe in mud, limping at times and surely exhausted, put the West Springfield offense on his shoulders and, as he has done for two seasons, fought to the end.
He finished with 423 yards passing, four touchdowns and an interception and also rushed for 96 yards and two more scores. Renner scored on runs of two and four yards and passed for four touchdowns, two to senior Andy Stallings (30 and 44 yards), and one each to junior running back Dan Collins (8) and senior receiver Fabrice Kambinga (47).
Renner completed 24-of-47 passes for 419 yards and four touchdowns, making him the 10th quarterback in Virginia High School League history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season — despite sitting out one game with injury. He stands alone in sixth place in the single-season records books for completions (221) and yards (3,123) and eighth in touchdowns (35).
“Our kids had seen him in a scrimmage and had gotten a flavor for what he could do, but you’re just amazed at his accuracy,” Oakton Coach Joe Thompson said of Renner. “The kid is a complete warrior. He throws on the run, doesn’t break down … if you blitz he picks it up, sight adjusts, understands coverage. He’s the real deal. There’s no question about it.
“You can see that they’re not afraid of giving up points. So it’s a different world trying to play them. You can think we’ve got it easy, but they get one stop on you and all the sudden they flip the field and they’re scoring again. They’re not afraid to give up points because they know they’re going to come back and score. So it’s unconventional. You have to take everything you know about football and put it in a box for a week and think about playing a basketball game against them.”
Oakton’s defense was on the field for most of the end of the third quarter and nearly the entire fourth — the Cougars’ lone score during that stretch came on a 65-yard kickoff return by senior running back Derek Gleich — but as drained and dirty as they were, they stood tall when it mattered most.
“Obviously they would have liked to have made it a little easier on themselves,” Thompson said of his defense. “But seeing as they didn’t, their job was to get a stop and get off the field with the win, and they did that.”
Renner and the Spartans — trailing by only six points — had two possession in the game’s final six-and-a-half minutes, but failed to convert.
Oakton junior defensive lineman Daniel Aevermann put a damper on West Springfield’s first drive, sacking Renner for an eight-yard loss, and on 4th-and-6 with 1:01 to play senior linebacker Joey McCallum stopped Renner about a yard shy of the first down on a quarterback keeper to seal the win.
“We couldn’t have played any worse in the first half, but obviously we did exactly what we wanted to do in the second half,” said West Springfield Coach Bill Renner, Bryn’s father. “We just didn’t finish. We had two chances for our offense to finish it and couldn’t. … But I still couldn’t be more proud of the effort we gave out there.”
Added Oakton senior linebacker Jack Tyler, who became only the fourth player this season to intercept a Renner pass: “Bryn’s an excellent player and you have to throw everything at him to even remotely stop their offense. And we knew it was going to be tough. … Most of our defense is seniors and we were just, the whole time, telling them, ‘This is not going to be our last game. This is not going to be our last game.’ And we really just stayed alive and we made some big plays.”
Now the Cougars must turn their attention away from the top quarterback in Division 6 of the Northern Region and to Chantilly senior Torrian Pace, who is widely regarded as the region’s top running back in Division 6. Pace rushed for 2,468 yards and 36 touchdowns this season, including 724 yards and 10 scores in the last two weeks alone.
“They’re a great team,” said Thompson, whose team defeated Chantilly, 17-15, during the regular-season on October 3. “I’ve thought all along they were one of the best in the region, if not the best in the region. So it doesn’t surprise me that they’re there. I’ve got great respect for their team and their coaching staff.
“I think it’s a heck of a squad coming in here next weekend.”
* South County junior and DigitalSports intern, Jeff McDaniels, contributed to this report.
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
No. 6 West Springfield 0 10 19 14 — 43
No. 2 Oakton 7 21 21 0 — 49
Scoring Summary
1Q — OK — Coyer 65 run (Goins kick)
2Q — WS — McConnell 27 field goal
2Q — OK — Coyer 50 run (Goins kick)
2Q — OK — Watts 46 pass from Coyer (Goins kick)
2Q — WS — Stallings 30 pass from Renner (McConnell kick)
2Q — OK — Watts 67 pass from Coyer (Goins kick)
3Q — WS — Stallings 44 pass from Renner (kick failed)
3Q — OK — Young 55 pass from Coyer (Goins kick)
3Q — OK — Young 10 pass from Coyer (Goins kick)
3Q — WS — Renner 2 run (kick failed)
3Q — OK — Gleich 65 kickoff return (Goins kick)
3Q — WS — Collins 8 pass from Renner (McConnell kick)
4Q — WS — Renner 4 run (McConnell kick)
4Q — WS — Kambinga 47 pass from Renner (McConnell kick)
Individual Leaders
Passing
WS — Renner 24-of-47 passing, 419 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT; OK — Coyer 6-of-14 passing, 215 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT.
Rushing
WS — Renner 17 carries, 101 yards, 2 TDs; Collins 19 carries, 62 yards; OK — Coyer 11 carries, 197 yards, 2 TDs; Meadows 10 carries, 28 yards; Watts 7 carries, 32 yards.
Receiving
WS — Stallings 10 receptions, 154 yards, 2 TDs; O’Connell 5 receptions, 75 yards; Kambinga 4 receptions, 122 yards, TD; Collins 4 receptions, 56 yards, TD; OK — Watts 3 receptions, 138 yards, 2 TDs; Young 2 receptions, 65 yards, 2 TDs.
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