D6 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 , 2021
BY MICHAEL ERRIGOAny high school football team —
but especially a young one — de-
serves time to find itself. An identi-
ty is rarely formed in the sloppy
and experimental Fridays of Sep-
tember. Often, the hope is that the
group will know its preferred style
and be able to execute it by the
time the air grows cold and the
games matter more.
Or, as Centreville Coach Jon
Shields has put it to his program,
the aim is to play your best brand
of football by the time there’s frost
on the pumpkin.
“I told them, ‘When the frost is
on the pumpkin, we need to beable to play great defense and run
the football.’ And we’re starting to
get to that point. The frost is al-
most on the pumpkin,” Shields
said before laughing. “I don’t even
know where I got that from, but it ’s
something I’ve been saying this
year.”
On Friday night, the Wildcats
looked secure in their ground-and-
pound identity as they pulled past
South Lakes, 27-13, in front of a
homecoming crowd in Clifton.
Wildcats junior running back
Isaiah Ragland finished with four
touchdowns, three of which came
in the fourth quarter. Centreville
graduated 26 seniors last spring
and came into this season with a
number of sophomores and ju-
niors, including Ragland, playing
big roles. Youth doesn’t always
lend itself to physicality, but the
Wildcats had no choice in whatapproach to embrace. After all,
they play in the Concorde District.
Widely seen as one of the area’s
most competitive leagues, the
Concorde is made up of Centre-
ville, South Lakes, Chantilly, Madi-
son, Oakton and Westfield. They
are large programs with strong
numbers and proud histories. In
the Concorde, the late-season dis-
trict schedule is known to derail
many a promising start.
Even if you can survive it, that
five-game gauntlet can drain you
before the postseason. Simply put,
these teams beat each other up.
“In this district, you know it’s
going to be hard-fought and gritty
all four quarters,” Ragland said.
“No game is easy. You just have to
keep chopping the wood.”
Friday’s victory moved both the
Wildcats (6-2) and the Seahawks
(4-4) to 2-1 in district play.The Wildcats seemed intent on
sticking to the plan early in Fri-
day’s victory. Ragland took the ball
69 yards to the end zone on his
second touch, and the defense fol-
lowed by forcing a three-and-out.
That pattern reemerged after
South Lakes took a 1 3-7 lead with
nine minutes remaining. Ragland
scored a touchdown, and the de-
fense got a key three-and-out. Rag-
land scored another touchdown,
and the defense forced another
quick punt.
Finally, for good measure, Rag-
land torched the Seahawks again
with a 6 6-yard touchdown. He re-
turned to his team’s sideline beam-
ing with four fingers in the air.
“This is a young group with
great chemistry,” Ragland said.
“All we care about is fighting for
each other.”
[email protected]VIRGINIA CONCORDE DISTRICT FOOTBALLRagland scores four TDs as Wildcats top Seahawks
CENTREVILLE 27,
SOUTH LAKES 13BY KYLE MELNICKAs he jogged to the visitors’ side-
line after scoring in the third quar-
ter Friday evening, Quince Or-
chard running back Johnnie Cas-
tro yelled to his teammates: “They
can’t stop me.”
That statement, which also
could have applied to all his team-
mates, would have been hard to
believe entering the No. 8 Cougars’
game against No. 9 Northwest in
Germantown. The Montgomery
County rivals, both of which were
undefeated, appeared as evenly
matched as ever.
But with a 31-0 win in Mary-
land’s most anticipated regular
season game this year, Quince Or-
chard made clear it is the county’s
best team and a t op contender to
win the Maryland 4A title in De-
cember.
“We’re equal in talent,” Cougars
offensive lineman Connor McDon-
ald said. “But it’s whoever’s mostintense, who’s going to be mentally
tough.”
Northwest (7-1) or Quince Or-
chard (8-0) has appeared in eight of
the past nine Maryland 4A champi-
onship games. Entering Friday, the
Jaguars had outscored their first
seven opponents by 249 points; the
Cougars had beaten their foes by- In the teams’ 31 meetings,
Friday was the third time both
squads entered undefeated.
Quince Orchard had dominated
the rivalry entering the 2019 play-
offs, winning six consecutive
games. But Northwest reignited
the a nimosity between the teams,
spoiling the Cougars’ perfect sea-
son in the 4A semifinals the last
time the state conducted playoffs.
In a l ow-stakes affair during Mont-
gomery County’s condensed spring
season, Quince Orchard defeated
Northwest.
While Friday’s atmosphere was
raucous as usual, the game was
played two hours earlier than nor-
mal. In a letter Wednesday to their
communities, both schools’ princi-
pals said moving the game to
4:30 p.m. was “out of an abundance
of caution for everyone’s safety and
for the smooth operations of the
entire event.” The Jaguars’ game at
Seneca Valley last week ended early
after fights erupted around the
Germantown school.
There was little to fret over Fri-
day on the Cougars’ sideline,
though. With his team ahead 10-0,
Castro rushed for a 19-yard touch-
down with just over three minutes
remaining in the third quarter.
Castro, who transferred from
Watkins Mill before the season,
had never played a game as crucial
as this one. The senior began the
season as a reserve, but as he made
highlight plays, he took more car-
ri es and switched his jersey num-
ber to 10 to honor his favorite NFL
player, wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
This week, Castro was especially
motivated after watching an inter-
view clip on social media of North-
west Coach Travis Hawkins calling
Quince Orchard’s running backs
“decent.”
“Our backs aren’t decent,” Cas-
tro said. “They should know that
now.”
With 50 seconds remaining in
the third quarter, the Cougars
sealed th eir victory when the Jag-uars snapped the ball over their
punter’s head and linebacker Sek-
ou Kamara recovered the ball in
the end zone for a touchdown.
Soon after moving from Akron,
Ohio, this past summer, Kamara
learned about Friday’s rivalry and
spent hours researching it. It
wasn’t difficult for Kamara to view
Northwest as an enemy because his
school’s rival in Ohio also wore
black and gray.
“It lived up to the hype,” Kamara
said. “Ohio is a big football state,
but Ohio games don’t compare to
this game.”
With 61 / 2 minutes remaining,
Quince Orchard’s students began
looking toward nex t month’s play-
offs. They chanted, “We want
Wise,” referring to the 2019 4A state
champion out of Prince George’s
County.
After the game, Cougars Coach
John Kelley told his players they
may face the Jaguars again in the
playoffs. Quince Orchard players
vocalized their goals as they hud-
dled postgame, yelling “state
champs” before walking toward
their bus.
[email protected]MONTGOMERY COUNTY FOOTBALLCougars turn rivalry game into rout, move to 8-0
QUINCE ORCHARD 31,
NORTHWEST 0JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
Johnnie Castro, who transferred from Watkins Mill before the season, scored in the third quarter to expand Quince Orchard’s lead.ASSOCIATED PRESSMasters champion Hideki Mat-
suyama overcame cold tempera-
tures and often steady rain show-
ers to shoot a 2 -under-par 68 Fri-
day and take a one-stroke lead
after two rounds of the PGA Tour’s
Zozo Championship in Inzai, Ja-
pan.
Matsuyama, who trailed by a
stroke after the first round follow-
ing a 64 on the par-70, 7,041-yard
Narashino Country Club course,
had a t wo-round total of 8-under
132.
Temperatures dropped to as
low as 12 degrees Celsius (53 Fahr-
enheit) late in the second round.
Cameron Tringale birdied his
final hole for a 66 and was in
second place. Matt Wallace bird-
ied his final three holes for a 69
and was tied for third with Bren-
dale Steele (68), two behind Mat-
suyama.
Joaquin Niemann shot a 71 af-
ter an opening 64 and was tied for
fifth, three strokes behind.
Matsuyama made his shot of
the day Friday from heavy roughon the eighth hole — his 17th —
putting his low shot about 20 feet
from the pin before watching his
birdie putt drift just right. On his
final hole, he le ft another birdie
putt short.
Hiroshi Iwata, who led by one
stroke after the first round, just
missed an eagle putt on the 18th
and finished with a birdie for a 7 3
and was four behind Matsuyama.
British Open champion Collin
Morikawa shot a 68 and was seven
strokes behind.
l LPGA TOUR: Jeong Lim shot
a 6-under 66 and first-round lead-
er Na Rin An a 69 to leave the
South Korean players tied for the
lead after two rounds of the BMW
Ladies Championship in Busan,
South Korea.
Lim and An had 11-under totals
of 133 on the par-72 LPGA Interna-
tional course.
American Danielle Kang shot a
68 and In Gee Chun a 6 9 and were
tied for third, one stroke behind.
l PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS:
Steven Alker shot a 9-under 63 to
take the first-round lead in the
Dominion Energy Charity Classic,the first of three PGA Tour Cham-
pions playoff events.
Alker had a b ogey-free round on
the Country Club of Virginia’s
James River Course in Richmond,
making nine birdies in a 12-hole
stretch from No. 12 to No. 5. The
50-year-old New Zealander is 55th
in the season standings.
Steve Flesch was a stroke back.
l EUROPEAN TOUR: Bryce
Easton was leading the Mallorca
Open when the second round was
suspended because of darkness in
Santa Ponsa, Spain.
Easton had a four-shot lead
when play was stopped with the
South African still to finish the
18th hole. Easton was 4 u nder on
the windy day at the Santa Ponsa
course after m aking f our b irdies to
go with one bogey on the par-4
14th. That took him to 11 under
overall.
First-round leader Jeff Winther
of Denmark was four shots back
after a 1-over 71, tied for second
with Spanish trio Álvaro Quiros,
Sebastián García and Jorge
Campillo, who all finished their
second round.GOLF ROUNDUPIn Japan, Matsuyama leads after two
til 1999.
“MLR will be 14 years old in
2031,” Killebrew said of the
league, which has 12 teams play-
ing in cities from New York to
Tukwila, Wash. “We’re doing our
part at the professional level to go
where the people are. Now, as the
covid hangover lifts and we’re
allowed to fill our stadiums, that’s
what we have to concentrate on,
and [MLR is] the pathway for
young American players that are
going to be [on the national
team].”
MLR, which began play with
seven teams in 2018, will add a
13th in Dallas next year and po-
tentially another by 2023. The
league’s 2021 final was broadcast
on CBS in August, and MLR teams
have invested in increasing par-
ticipation in their communities.
USA Rugby membership peaked
at 125,565 in 2017, although those
numbers slipped just before the
coronavirus pandemic. And
Young said 36 U.S. cities ex-
pressed interest in hosting World
Cup games.
Killebrew and other rugby dis-
ciples are bullish on rugby’s
growth despite increased con-
cerns about concussions and
brain injuries in sports in recent
years. They emphasize the sport’sfocus on tackling technique,
which discourages players from
using their heads to launch into
ball carriers. Still, rugby has faced
its own reckoning over brain inju-
ries.
“In any contact sport, injuries,
concussions are at t he forefront,”
Killebrew said. “What we’ve done
and what we talk about — and not
in a disrespectful way to football
— but, the tackling techniques in
rugby teach you to take your head
and neck out of the tackle. That’s
why we’re able to play without
helmets and pads.”
Those concerns have not de-
terred World Rugby from explor-
ing new ways to grow the sport.
New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark
Robinson said he has had fre-
quent conversations with the or-
ganization about creating space
for elite teams to play less-com-
petitive opponents more often as
a way to better promote the sport
in those countries. He said he
wants to see the All Blacks engage
with the United States more regu-
larly and to explore ways that
their visits can make a more tangi-
ble impact on the game’s growth.
“There are so many things that
are part of growing sports in
countries that aren’t maybe so
well versed in it,” he said. “World
Rugby is putting a lot of thought
into how we can develop a global
calendar and competitions,
which provide emerging nations
the opportunity to play more reg-
ularly against high levels of com-
petition, and I think there’s a
broad level of support for that
around the world at the moment.”
[email protected]men’s rugby World Cup in either
2027 or 2031 and the women’s
event in 2029. The U.S.-N ew Zea-
land match, scheduled for
3:15 p.m., will follow a 1 p.m.
contest between Army and Navy.
“We believe the 1874 Cup is an
affirmation of rugby’s growth po-
tential in the United States and
will create a rugby tradition in our
nation’s capital,” said Ralph Mor-
ton, an executive with Events DC,
which partnered with USA Rugby
to stage the event. “The sport is
rapidly growing in and around
D.C.”
New Zealand will be playing in
the United States for the first time
since November 2016, when Ire-
land stunned the All Blacks at
Soldier Field in Chicago, derailing
their historic 18-match winning
streak. Two years earlier, New
Zealand thrashed the United
States, 74-6, in front of a crowd of
61,500 at the same venue.
Such occasions — pitting a
mighty New Zealand side that
rarely slips from the top spot of
the world rankings but is current-
ly ranked second against the
1 7th-ranked U.S. team, which is
clawing to qualify for the 2023
World Cup in France — seldom
occur.
The world’s top teams have pre-
existing arrangements to play
each other, as the All Blacks do
annually with Argentina, Aus-
tralia, top-ranked South Africa
and several European sides.
Those competitions, plus the obli-
gations that call top players back
to their professional teams, leave
nascent rugby nations such as the
United States with little opportu-
nity to schedule consistent, elite
competition to further develop
national team players and help
attract would-be fans.
The schedule “gets very
clogged,” Young said. “Without
the opportunity to make money
with those bigger games, it leaves
us floundering.”
Less revenue makes it difficult
to support and grow the men’s
and women’s game from the na-
tional team down to the youth
levels of the sport, which is why
rugby executives and organizers
are trying to create more events
such as Saturday’s match or the
sellout affair in 2014.
If these events continue to il-
lustrate the potential of America’s
vast, latent rugby market, the
thinking goes, it will help organiz-
ers sell the country’s attractive-
ness to World Rugby, which is
keen to select a promising, less-es-
tablished rugby nation when it
announces its next group of
World Cup host countries next
year. If the United States can land
the women’s event in 2029 and,
ideally, the men’s event in 2031,
that would give its four-year-old
pro league, Major League Rugby,
ample time to develop. Come
2029 , the United States could be-
gin to capitalize on that growth,
using two global events to pro-
mote the league and further grow
the sport.
Considering that timeline,
MLR Commissioner George Kille-
brew said he believes rugby can
outpace soccer’s incubation peri-
od. The country already has two
professional rugby-specific stadi-
ums, in Houston and just outside
Denver, and a pro league well
before potentially hosting a
World Cup. Soccer executives, by
comparison, used the 1994 World
Cup to help launch MLS in 1996
and didn’t see the league’s first
soccer-specific stadium built un-
RUGBY FROM D1
USA Rugby envisions
soccer-like explosion
“We believe the 1874
Cup is an affirmation of
rugby’s growth
potential in the United
States.”
Ralph Morton , an executive with
Events DC, which partnered with USA
Rugby to bring New Zealand’s famed
All Blacks t o play an exhibition vs.
the U.S. national team Saturday.ASSOCIATED PRESSLogan Couture had two goals
and an assist and Adin Hill made
30 saves in San Jose’s 5-3 win over
the host Toronto Maple Leafs on
Friday night, keeping the Sharks
perfect in the young season.
Timo Meier, Jonathan Dahlen
and Erik Karlsson provided the
rest of the offense for San Jose
(4-0-0), which played for the third
time in four nights, including a 2 -1
victory Thursday over the Ottawa
Senators.
Jason Spezza, Ondrej Kase and
John Tavares scored for Toronto
(2-2-1). Michael Hutchinson
stopped 26 shots for the Leafs,
who have scored just 11 times in
the first five games.
The Leafs’ Auston Matthews,
who returned from offseason
wrist s urgery in Monday’s 2-1 over-
time loss to the Rangers, is with-
out a p oint through two outings.
l STARS 3, KINGS 2 (OT):
Denis Gurianov scored on a r ush-
ing backhander 4:15 into over-
time, leading Dallas to a win in its
home opener.
Braden Holtby kept Dallas in
the game by stopping 43 shots. Of
the Stars’ three wins, two were in
overtime and one in a shootout.
For the Kings, Anze Kopitar
scored his sixth goal in the sea-
son’s first four games and Gabriel
Valardi scored on a five-minute
major penalty.l BRUINS 4, SABRES 1: Char-
lie Coyle had a goal and two as-
sists, Linus Ullmark made
34 saves against his former team,
and Boston beat host Buffalo.
Taylor Hall added a g oal and an
assist and B rad Marchand h ad two
assists as the Bruins rebounded
from a 6-3 loss Wednesday in Phil-
adelphia to salvage a split on their
first road trip of the season. David
Pastrnak and Thomas Nosek also
scored for Boston.
The Sabres got a goal from Vic-
tor Oloffson.Crosby closer to returning
Pittsburgh Penguins star Sid-
ney Crosby still isn’t sure when he
will be cleared to return after he
had left wrist surgery last month.
Crosby skated with his team-
mates for more than an hour Fri-
day in the latest step in his recov-
ery from surgery in early Septem-
ber. The team announced at the
time of the procedure that Crosby
would miss a minimum of six
weeks. The six-week mark passed
Wednesday with Crosby still inch-
ing his way back.NHL ROUNDUP
Couture helps San Jose remain perfect
SHARKS 5,
MAPLE LEAFS 3CAPITALS’ NEXT THREEvs. Calgary FlamesToday1NBCSWat Ottawa SenatorsMonday7NBCSW Plusvs. Detroit Red WingsWednesday7NBCSW PlusRadio: WJFK (106.7 FM),
WFED (1500 AM)