For a sports team, if you can’t make the playoffs, the next best thing is spoiling another team’s hopes of making it. After being forced to forfeit two of their wins, the varsity football team found themselves in this very position: out of the playoff hunt with one game left against playoff hopeful West Potomac.
“The theme of our week was the West Potomac Elimination Bowl sponsored by Giant Food,” Head Coach Mike Scott said. “That was our goal. They’d be collecting their equipment on Friday night and Saturday morning just like we were.”
Coming into the game, the Wolverines were favored, sporting a 6-3 record with wins over T.C. Williams and South County. The Atoms, meanwhile, entered the game coming off a big win over district rival Woodson.
West Potomac got out to an early lead on a 4-yard run by junior Tamaric Wilson. AHS answered with a 1-yard run by junior Tony Hysjulien, but the Wolverines scored a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff to take a 14-7 lead. After senior JP Jenkins found the end zone twice in the second quarter, the Atoms came into halftime with a 21-17 lead. In the second half, Jenkins scored two more touchdowns and junior Adam Wattenbarger added another to en route to a 41-31 run.
“It was great to win the last game of the year,” senior Bob Stevens said. “And to know they wouldn’t get in [to the postseason] because of us is a good feeling.”
Jenkins led the Atoms in the game with 20 rushes for 172 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Steven Cook added 46 yards rushing, while senior Andy Craig added 46 total yards.
“We know that the team out there on Friday night wearing the red and white can beat any team in the state,” Scott said. “It felt good to win at home because we’ve played well at home all year; we were undefeated on the field at home.”
With the win, the Atoms finished the year with an official record of 4-6, though they won six games on the field (two wins against Falls Church and South County were forfeited due to an ineligible player). If those games had not been lost, the team would have made the playoffs. Instead, Langley took the final spot in the Northern Region Tournament.
“It was a fun season so it’s too bad it had to end ‘cause our wins got taken away,” said Andy Craig. “We were playing really well and probably would have done well in regionals.”
Despite the loss, the season can still be considered a success for Scott’s first year as head coach.
“We won six games on the field and lost to three teams ranked at the top of Northern Region in Lake Braddock, Oakton and Centreville,” Scott said. “The team improved throughout the year which was our goal and we had some really good team chemistry.”
Many players also received All-District recognition by the coaches. Jenkins, along with fellow senior Henry Cooper and junior Ali Musa, earned first-team. Seniors Bob Stevens, Paul Phongsavan, Devin Lawrence, Ian Griffin, Yari Mizouri and Jake Barnes and junior Adam Wattenbarger earned second team , while seniors Stephen Craig and Nick Lalande made honorable mention.
“It was great for those guys,” Scott said. “I pushed hard for Musa to be Defensive Player of the Year and I thought Bob, Paul, Yari and Jake Barnes should’ve been first team. Steve Craig and Donnie Lalande were as good as any in the district, but there were some good linebackers and safeties they had to compete with.”
“We ended a good season on a good note,” Stevens said.
