Chantilly Chargers Played as a Team

Sure, the 56-18 playoff loss last Saturday to Lake Braddock was a tough way for the Chantilly football team to end its season, but the Chargers finished 10-3, and with two playoff wins, finished second in the Northern Region.

During the regular season, the team made a name for itself with a strong running game and a gritty defense. But a bad start to the regional championship game gave top-seeded Lake Braddock too much of an opening.

The Chargers fumbled the option exchange on the first play of the game, and the Bruins recovered deep inside Chantilly territory. On the next play, Connecticut-bound quarterback Michael Nebrich found the end zone from the 7 for the first of four rushing touchdowns.

It wasn't the quick touchdown that proved to be the Chargers' downfall, said coach Mike Lalli, it was the fact that Lake Braddock's offense put up 28 points in the first half, while Chantilly could only manage a 21-yard Billy Germain field goal.

"You can overcome the one mistake, but it was just that we let them score so many before we made our adjustments," Lalli said.

Chantilly used two long touchdowns from Jimmy Hicks and William Hill-Pensamiento in its second playoff game to put away rival Centreville on the road, but the Lake Braddock defense kept the running game in check.

Hicks and Hill-Pensamiento, who combined for 203 yards and four touchdowns against Centreville, managed just 120 yards and a touchdown against Lake Braddock. With the running game struggling, the Chargers were forced to throw in the second half.

The lone Lake Braddock score in the third quarter kneecapped Chantilly, which started to slow down the Bruins offense and showed a spark of their own. Senior quarterback Carson Romine found Trey Huelskamp for 31 yards and a first down on Lake Braddock's 28 with 2:30 to play in the quarter. Hicks gained 10 yards on the next play, but junior defensive back Greg Jones stepped in front of Romine's next pass and outran the Chargers for an 82-yard score that made it 35-3.

"We hadn't scored defensively all year. We got one, and we almost got another one," Lake Braddock coach Jim Poythress said. "We figured, sooner or later, something's gonna break."

"Once you get in a situation where you're throwing, and their D-line is so talented, it just put us in a bind," said Lalli, whose team gained 153 yards through the air, but also was intercepted twice.

Chantilly put together a nine-play drive that ended with Hicks' five-yard run to make it 35-10 early in the fourth quarter. But Lake Braddock recovered the onside kick and Nebrich completed the drive with a four-yard scamper for his fourth rushing touchdown.

On the subsequent kickoff, the ball came loose after Chantilly brought it up to about the 25-yard line. It was picked up by Cory Donovan, who outran the Lake Braddock coverage team for a long touchdown. The Chargers made the two-point conversion to make it 42-18, but the Bruins had an answer, as Nebrich hit Matt Zanellato with his second touchdown pass, another 27-yarder, to make it 49-18.

The Chargers won a pair of playoff games for the first time since 2008, when they were eliminated in the regional final by Oakton, and while the game was unquestionably a blowout, there is reason for optimism in 2011.

"Getting to the regional championship game is a nice accomplishment and we're pretty pleased with that," Lalli said. "Getting second in the region is nothing to be upset with. We're lucky this year, unlike a couple years back, we have a lot of returners."

In fact, the top three running backs will all be back for their senior year. Hicks and Hill-Pensamiento each gained over 1,000 yards (including the playoffs) and Donovan, who carried nine times in Saturday's game, should add stability to an offense which will be adjusting to a new quarterback.

"We have a blend of juniors and sophomores and seniors," Lalli said. "We're obviously going to lose our seniors, our quarterback in particular and our tight end (Trey Huelskamp), and on defense our nose guard is a pretty big loss for us. But we have bodies coming back. Three out of our four linebackers are juniors, we have a sophomore starting at safety and we have and a sophomore at line and a junior at line."

Chantilly finished second in the tough Concorde District in the regular season, with its only losses coming in double overtime to Centreville on a two-point conversion and to Oakton on a late-game field goal. The Chargers beat Robinson, arguably the second-best team in the region, by 10 points in the middle of the year, a strong Westfield team twice, and Hayfield, which finished second in the Northern Region in Division 5. The highlight of the season was certainly the Chargers' 30-13 playoff win over Centreville, which avenged one of their regular-season losses.

"They played as a team," Lalli said as he prepared to walk off the field for the final time this year. "Every week someone stepped up, they didn't quit. We were down 14 to Langley in the second half, and we were down 14 to Westfield in the fourth quarter, and they stayed together, never pointed fingers or accused anybody else. It was always a team. They always stayed together."