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Mike Glennon and Westfield face Woodbridge Saturday for the Group AAA Division 6 state title.
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - For the second consecutive year the Group AAA Division 6 state championship is an all-Northern Virginia affair.
Busloads of fans are expected to stream down Route 29 on Saturday afternoon as No. 2 Westfield (14-0), the Northern Region champion from Fairfax County, faces unranked Woodbridge (9-4), the Northwest Region champ from neighboring Prince William County, at the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium in Charlottesville.
That means two of Virginia’s singular talents — Westfield senior quarterback Mike Glennon and Vikings junior running back De’Antwan Williams — have a chance to shine on the state’s biggest stage.
The 6-foot-6 Glennon, a North Carolina State recruit, is a strong-armed gunslinger with uncanny accuracy. He has completed 64 percent of his 246 pass attempts. The younger brother of Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon, who helped Westfield to a state title in 2003, Mike Glennon has 31 touchdown passes and been intercepted just eight times. He is the Gatorade player of the year in Virginia.
“In all the video we watched of Glennon I don’t remember a single time when he threw a pass that didn’t hit a kid in the numbers,” said Woodbridge coach Keith King. “It was nothing but strikes, one right after the other.”
The Bulldogs will have their own problems dealing with Williams, the 5-foot-9, 190-pound dynamo already with 4,956 career rushing yards. According to King, “Rocket” set the school record for career rushing yards last week with an incredible 34-carry, 247-yard, five-touchdown performance in a 42-27 state semifinal win at Hermitage. He will enter his senior year about 1,300 yards shy of the career mark set by Westfield’s Evan Royster (6,384 yards), a Penn State sophomore considered the gold standard among Northern Virginia backs.
“We’re a team that has tackled well all season,” said Westfield coach Tom Verbanic. “But [Williams] has an amazing ability to get out of trouble even when you think he’s boxed in. This is a tremendous challenge for our defense.”
With almost the entire roster returning from a team that went 11-1 last season, Westfield was a good bet to make it to Charlottesville. But Woodbridge, which last played for a state title in 1974, was an afterthought after starting 3-3. It took until midseason for enough of the team’s 10 injured starters, including Williams and senior quarterback Jake Myer, to regain their health. A 24-7 loss on Sept. 14 to a Loudoun Valley team that eventually finished 2-8 was the low point.
“I think everyone wrote us off after that game,” said Myer, who missed two games with a strained knee ligament and contemplated sitting out the rest of the year to get healthy for baseball season, his main sport. “We finally showed what we can do after getting some people back. I just didn’t want to leave and have to say “what-if” for the rest of my life. Now we’re here and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Virginia Group AAA
Division 6 state final
WHO » No. 2 Westfield (14-0) vs. Woodbridge (9-4)
WHEN » Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
WHERE » Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, Va.
DIRECTIONS » Take I-66 West to Lee Highway/US-29 South. Go 80 miles until US-29 turns into N. Emmett Street. Continue two miles. Bear right onto Stadium Drive for .3 miles.
Comments from Examiner Readers
3:09 PM MST on Mon., Dec. 10, 2007 re: "Executives lock horns over football game"
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7:51 AM MST on Mon., Dec. 10, 2007
re: "Executives lock horns over football game"
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Examiner Reader said:
Smith and Ulman are both fruitcakes. I would not wipe my feet on either one of them.
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Examiner Reader said:
I can't beleive the Examiner fell for this obvious political stunt to get press on the backs of high school athletes. This isn't the pros and this isn't the super bowl. One of the main reasons student athletes use Steroids is because of the pressure to win at all cost. Having the County Executives bet on the game, is first a demonstration for the kids and second it puts additional pressure on the teams to win, since the county execs control most of the school budget. Now that River Hill has won, I'm sure that Jim Smith will try and turn this into more cheap press. I hope the examiner doesn't fall for it this time. The real stars are the student athletes.
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