Will Kouadio Has Made It His Mission to Be South Lakes’ Last Line of D

Will Kouadio said he was watching from the other side of the field and jogging – although he probably should’ve been running – when he saw Herndon High’s Division I prospect running back Brayden Humphreys chugging down the far sideline with nothing but daylight between him and the South Lakes end zone.

Kouadio, a senior cornerback and leader on the Seahawks defense, “hit like eight gears to catch up,” and knocked Humphreys out of bounds.

“Knocked” might not be the right term. More like he initiated a collision with Humphreys that did result in Humphreys going out of bounds .Kouadio did not get the best of the collision either.

“My chin strap was too far down, so when I hit him, the helmet slipped down in front of my face, and when it went off,” he said. “My face hit the ground, and the next thing I know they’re asking me if I have a concussion.”

Kouadio’s tackle limited Humphreys to a 58-yard gain that gave Herndon the ball at the South Lakes 14. The Hornets scored four plays later to make it 8-0.

The Seahawks’ training staff were not satisfied with Kouadio’s responses, and he did not play the rest of the game – although he was cleared and returned to practice early the following week. But the Seahawks coaches and players were impressed with Kouadio’s third touchdown-saving tackle of the season.

“It’s the Rule of 21,” South Lakes Coach Jason Hescock said. “You keep the other 21 people in front of you. And Will has done a real good job of that for us this year. He’s been what we wanted him to be – dependable, hard-working – and he’s made some plays like that one that really saved us.

In week 1 against Osborne, Kouadio did all that work for nothing. He chased down Jayden Hill of Osborne at the South Lakes 3, knocking him out of bounds after a long run from across the field that time as well. But the Eagles were called for holding on the play, so the ball went back across midfield.

The following week against Robinson, Kouadio killed one scoring drive with a brilliant pass breakup. Then later in the first half when the Scaperotto brothers hooked up for a big play – Jackson hitting Daniel with a big play – Kouadio again came to the rescue.

He ran down Daniel Scaperotto at the South Lakes 1. The Seahawks then stiffened and turned what looked like a clear touchdown drive into a field goal for the Rams.

“On that one, I knew we probably weren’t going to catch him any other way,” Kouadio said. “Then it shaped what we did afterward.”

Kouadio and the Seahawks return from their bye week on Friday and travel to Oakton for a 7 p.m. Concorde District battle with the Cougars.

Oakton went 1-9 last year and lost to South Lakes 56-18. But the Cougars are 3-3 this year with victories over Fairfax, Woodson and West Potomac. They are running the ball more and with more success, and their defense shows a lot of looks and, according to Hescock, did not give up a play of longer than 15 yards in any of the film he saw of them.

The Seahawks, 2-4 after opening Concorde District play with a 30-28 loss at Chantilly on a touchdown on the last play of the game, now have their backs to the wall in terms of the postseason.

“We have our work cut out for us,” Hescock said. “It starts with our quarterback. He has to be clean. We have to protect him. He has to take care of the ball, which he has done.”

“I feel like I’m getting better at progressions … at going through the reads I’m supposed to make,” said quarterback Mohamed Shuaib, also a senior. “Better footwork, better timing, better accuracy.”

But both Kouadio and Shuaib agreed on the key going forward. “Sometimes our intensity is there, and sometimes it is not,” Shuaib said. “It needs to be there these last four weeks.”

“I’ve had three plays this year where I was in the wrong place, and it cost us big every time,” Kouadio said. “It’s up to us to make sure we finish strong and not make those mistakes anymore.”