THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010391
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
To hear Francis Dall tell it, a 21-20 loss to McLean in the sixth game of the season was the wakeup call his Lake Braddock football team needed.
``At the time, we had come off a series of games where we played very well and beaten some good teams comfortably,'' said Dall, in his sixth year as the Bruins' coach. ``That loss got us refocused.''
If Lake Braddock hadn't meant business until then, it certainly understands the task at hand now. After stopping undefeated Chantilly 15-14 in the Northern Region final, the Bruins bring a six-game winning streak into Saturday's 1:30 p.m. Group AAA Division 6 state semifinal game against Indian River at Oscar Smith High School.
That Lake Braddock (11-1) has come this far, is a surprise. When the season started, the team had only one returning starter - fullback Jerel Morton - and quarterback D'Arcy Wills was a first-year varsity player.
While it would be unfair to call Lake Braddock a ``no-name'' team, even Dall admits he doesn't have any star players. Only one Bruin - junior offensive guard Wes Bieligk - was named all-district.
Lake Braddock runs the I-formation and one-back offenses. Wills, who has passed for 1,110 yards this season, is the spark plug.
``He's a very good passer and has a pretty strong arm for high school,'' said Dall. ``I don't know if he does anything great, but he does everything well.''
Although senior Eric Pilson is the fastest of Lake Braddock's three backs and the team's leading rusher with 752 yards and 10 touchdowns, he has lost his starting job to Greg Hinton, who has rushed for 127 yards in the playoffs. Morton (593 yards and nine TDs) is a strong inside runner and a tremendous blocker, Dall said.
``We're very balanced. We'll run sweeps, off tackle, and try to be as diverse as possible,'' Dall said. ``We'll throw deep, short, medium - whatever we need to.''
As the only coach to defeat Lake Braddock this season - courtesy of a failed two-point conversion attempt by the Bruins - McLean's Karl Buckwalter has a few suggestions for Indian River.
``You're going to have to have some kids that can run, and you need a multitude of weapons,'' Buckwalter said. ``You have to set the tone in the beginning and have the threat of throwing, so they can't load up against you on the run.
``You need defensive backs that have speed, because they've got a receiver (Mike Cady, with nine TDs on 29 catches) who's a big-play kid.''
All qualities the Indian River has in spades.
``They've got tremendous speed,'' Dall said after seeing game tapes of the Braves defeating Tallwood and Oscar Smith. ``The quarterback (James Boyd) for sure, he's something else. All their skill guys - receivers, backs - have tremendous speed.
``It certainly concerns us.'' by CNB