Briar Woods has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will venture away from home to square off against Independence at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Briar Woods' defense has only allowed 10.4 points per game this season, so Independence's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Briar Woods is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 32 points two weeks ago, they were much more limited against Stone Bridge last Thursday. They fell just short of the Bulldogs by a score of 14-12. The Falcons' defeat signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.
Despite the loss, Briar Woods had strong showings from Brady Carmical, who threw for 229 yards and a touchdown, and Colin Capistrant, who picked up 85 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Independence had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13.3 points) and they went ahead and made it five last Thursday. They strolled past the Panthers with points to spare, taking the game 23-6. Given Independence's advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia football rankings (they are ranked 57th, while Potomac Falls is ranked 212th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Robert Kellen and Trent Stewart. Kellen rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown while Stewart rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries. Justin Jordan did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 89 receiving yards.
Independence was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 282 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 151 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups.
Independence didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Luke King and Adam Martin.
Independence pushed their record up to 6-3 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. As for Briar Woods, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 6-3.
Briar Woods couldn't quite finish off Independence in their previous matchup back in November of 2023 and fell 9-6. Can Briar Woods avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
