South Lakes Visits Oakton In Battle Of Unbeaten Concorde District Rivals

By BRIAN McNICOLL

When South Lakes travels to Oakton on Friday night, it will be more than a battle of 5-0 teams looking to get off to a good start in the Concorde District. It will be, in a sense, the rubber game of a best-of-three series.

Two years ago, Oakton quarterback Jack Martin threw five touchdown passes and a South Lakes extra point hit the upright in overtime as the Cougars won, 48-47. South Lakes would not come close to winning a game the rest of the season and finished 2-8 and out of the playoffs.

Last year, Nick Bertoni kicked three field goals and Dalton Blakeney scored with 29 seconds left and South Lakes overcome three more touchdown passes by Martin to take a 24-21 victory that eventually put the Seahawks into the playoffs and left the Cougars on the outside.

A lot of those players are gone, but many are still around.

It's not just Martin either. Collin Henriquez had 11 catches for 143 yards as a sophomore but no catches and only two carries for minus-9 yards last year. Deylen Jones had one catch for Oakton as a sophomore but nine for 143 yards and three touchdowns last year. Nick Picarelli had three catches for 21 yards for South Lakes as a sophomore and six for 45 last year.

But the Cougars have gone as Martin has gone. He was nearly unstoppable two years ago; last year he completed barely half his passes and did little damage aside from the three big plays.

“Yeah, 1, 5 and 0, just like it’s been for three years,” said South Lakes Coach Jason Hescock, referring to the jersey numbers of Martin, Jones and Henriquez. “You have to know where those guys are and keep them contained. We know each other very well. We know what we have to do.”

With a quarterback in his third year as a starter, experienced receivers on both sides and what should be a large home crowd, the Cougars seem set to offer the toughest test yet against a South Lakes team that has won every game by at least 22 points and taken a commanding lead by halftime of every game.

Oakton has played a somewhat close game – the Cougars defeated Colonial Forge 32-23. And they come in off a 36-9 victory over Langley.

But the Seahawks have some advantages as well. Oakton relies heavily on its passing game. South Lakes can move the ball on the ground or through the air. South Lakes has gained at least 133 yards on the ground in every game and has gone over the 250 mark twice.

It’s not all pound-and-pound to one back either. South Lakes senior quarterback Christian Wyatt has 345 yards and two touchdowns rushing. James Smith leads the Seahawks with 517 yards rushing, and Sean Ventura has added 122 on 19 carries.

The Seahawks held down the Oakton machine last year, and there is zero reason to believe they won’t be as successful this year. The South Lakes defense has given up five touchdowns in five games – three at the end of a blowout against Yorktown and two versus state-level contender Battlefield.

South Lakes held Robinson, Herndon and West Potomac below 100 total yards, and no team has rushed for more than 86 yards on the Seahawks. The Seahawk defense, led by Sebastian Valencia, David Landeryou, Cameron Soto, Joshua Dagbe, Dominic Covington, Yusef Atiya and Colin Wall, averages eight tackles for loss per game.

The mood on Seahawks Drive has been serious this week. “We have to keep focused,” said Wyatt. “The last two years have been tough games. We need to practice hard this week and have a good week on offense on Friday night.”

Considering the last two games and the number of key players from those games who will be on the field Friday night at Oakton, it’s not unreasonable to think the game will come down to who has the ball last, Hescock said.

“But I’ve told my guys … don’t be surprised if you end up doing real well.”