On Friday, September 27th, the 1-2 football team entered arguably its toughest game of the year against Chantilly, ranked 20 in the entire Northern Virginia region. Langley entered the season with an impressive win against a tough Yorktown team that finished 11-2 last year and was one of the early favorites to beat Stonebridge and possibly win states. Following the win, two losses in a row to both Stonebridge and T.C. Williams resembled the early 3-4 record the team began with last year and surprised most that had high expectations going into this year. The inspired team entered the game angry, and left as the talk of the school.
“We are just so tired of losing to Chantilly over and over again every year,” said senior Andre Rivero. “We made it our mission not to lose and carry that momentum into each and every game left this year.”
Opening with two touchdowns back to back and a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, the team looked ready to take on the undefeated Chargers with their quick offense led by senior quarterback Nick Casso and junior running back Tyler West. In an almost complete shift in momentum, Chantilly marched down the field with three touchdowns in a row and a 21-14 lead at the half.
“The atmosphere in the locker room at half time was probably the main reason behind the win,” said junior offensive lineman Connor Halm. “We came out excited and hungry and pretty much rolled over them after that. We looked like a much more efficient team and proved that we’ve really grown into our style of play.”
The team came roaring out of halftime and went on to score 28 unanswered points and ran the Chargers back to Chantilly with what many thought to be a huge upset. Tyler West and Nick Casso both had a monster game, combining for over 615 rushing yards, and all six touchdowns. Scott Rosener and Alex Kolencik offered much needed support from the defensive side with two interceptions and fumble recovery in the second half. The 42-21 rout raised the team back to 2-2 and helped them wrap up the first half of the season with a win.
“The game against Chantilly was a big one for us and I think will give us a lot of momentum going into the second half of the season,” said head coach John Howerton. “There is a lot to learn from those first four games, but now that we’ve found our balance, we can confidently move forward and finish with a similar streak to the one we had last year.”
With only two home games remaining in the season, the schedule doesn’t get any easier. They finish with two tough away games against Madison and McLean. The team is now ranked 35 in the region and is rising fast.