Herndon Leaves South Lakes With Baron Cameron Trophy

South Lakes High Coach Jason Hescock was primed to finish the sentence.

What was the turning point he was asked after the 27th annual Baron Cameron Cup game at South Lakes on Saturday afternoon. Was is the failed onside kick to start the second half “which I did not call,” Hescock said.

Indeed it was. That kick, which was supposed to be a pooch kick to the 25- or 30-yard line instead of an onside kick that didn’t even cover the required 10 yards before Herndon recovered, gave the Hornets the ball in South Lakes territory. They took advantage to score a touchdown and never looked back in defeating South Lakes, 26-14, in the final non-district game for both teams.

The victory lifted Herndon to 4-1 on the season and gave the Hornets, who have never trailed in the Baron Cameron Cup series, a 14-13 edge. South Lakes, which begins defense of its Concorde District championship next week against Chantilly, falls to 2-3.

Both teams operated in the others’ territory through most of the first quarter, but Herndon finally pushed across a touchdown in the final 13 seconds when Brayden Humphreys scored from four yards out after setting up the touchdown with a 58-yard run down the right sideline that made it 8-0.

South Lakes defensive back Will Kouadio, a senior who has made two previous touchdown-saving tackles, saved a touchdown by taking Humphreys out of bounds. But his head hit the turf hard, and he did not return.

South Lakes got back in the game with an 86-yard pass from Mohamed Shuaib to Cody Wood on a wheel route. “Cody went past No.4, and I just let it go,” said Shuaib of South Lakes’ longest play from scrimmage this season. “I should’ve put a little more on it, but Cody took care of it.”

Herndon added a third-down touchdown pass from John Callow to Malcolm Levenberry and a 20-yard field goal from Logan Lopez to grow its lead to 18-7 at half, but even then the Seahawks seemed just a play away from catching up.

But then came the onside kick that was supposed to be a pooch. The teams wore each other out all day with special teams gimmicks – Herndon made two two-pointers on swinging gate extra-point plays – so Herndon was ready when the kick bounced and checked up on the South Lakes 49, where Herndon’s Donovan Wilson pounced on it.

Six plays later, Humphreys banged in from 27 yards out to make it 26-7 and essentially seal the deal. South Lakes would get another touchdown on a trick play – a halfback pass from Wood to Alec Saunders for 30 yards and the Seahawks drove down to get closer, but they could not get points after the Saunders touchdown.

“That was definitely the turning point of the game,” Humphreys said. “Our goal was to score something on that drive and start trying to put the game away. Giving us the ball there put us in the drivers’ seat.”

Humphreys, a returning all-state player, had the best game any running back has had against South Lakes this year with 161 yards on 20 carries. He had eight gains of five yards or more and suffered only two tackles for loss against the proud and swarming South Lakes defense.

“He’s the best player in Northern Virginia,” said Herndon Coach Bill Bachman, who earned his first Baron Cameron Cup victory in the game. “Everyone thinks their guy is the best, but your guy is the best. That was a good, well-coached South Lakes team, but he was able to get the yards we needed when we needed them.”

The Seahawks’ running game did not produce as it has in recent weeks, but Shuaib had his best game statistically of the season, passing for 203 yards and a touchdown and completing a season-best 17 passes. Shuaib said he has improved on footwork and reading his progressions and that his arm has gotten stronger and his release faster as the season goes along.

But he knows there’s an element lacking. “Our team needs to be more disciplined,” Shuaib said. “We keep on shooting ourselves in the foot. We have to work together. We have to get the tempo right. We can do it, but we have to be more disciplined.”

Hescock said change is coming to his team. “There’s so many points being left on the board because of mistakes,” he said. “I can’t keep staring at the same guys making the same mistakes every week. Either these guys are going to stop making those mistakes, or I’m going to find people who care enough to get it right.”

Herndon 8 10 8 0-26
South Lakes 0 7 7 0-14
H-Brayden Humphreys, 4 run (Lenn Vikhman pass from John Callow)
SL-Cody Wood, 86 pass from Mohamed Shuaib (Nicholas Bertoni kick)
H-Malcolm Levenberry, 5 pass from Callow (Logan Lopez kick)
H-Lopez, FG 20
H=Humphrey, 13 run (Levenberry run)
SL-Alec Saunders, 30 pass from Cody Wood (Bertoni kick)

Herndon South Lakes
First Downs 13 12
Rushes-Yards 51-258 19-54
Passing Yards 61 232
Att-Compl-Int 10-4-0 ` 26-18-0
Punts-Avg 2-34 3-34
Fum-Loss ` 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-53 8-59

Rushing - Herndon: Humphreys 20-161, John Costello 13-55, Ethan Buhler 6-35, Hayden Rita 1-4, Shalom Assogba 1-6, team 1-minus 15. SL: Wood 15-51, Shuaib 3-7, Nicholas Picarelli 1-minus 6.
Passing – Herndon: Callow 10-4-0, 61 yards. South Lakes: Shuaib 25-17-0, 202 yards, 1 TD; Wood 1-1-0, 30 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving – Herndon: Buhler 1-34, Levenberry 1-5, Cade Dowling 2-12. SL: Matthew McArthur 4-55, Picarelli 4-20, Saunders 5-57, Wood 3-91, Sammy Alfred 2-1, Nate Zschunke 1-8.