T.C. Beats Rival West Potomac 35-13 in a Friday Night Battle
Hunter Langley
On Friday October 5, T.C. Williams travelled a few miles to take on the school’s rival West Potomac High School in a Friday night showdown. Both teams came into the game with a 2-3 record and trying to make it .500 with a win. West Potomac has historically been the winning team, but since coach Longerbeam was hired the Titans have not lost a varsity football game to West Potomac.
The Wolverines started off strong with two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter to give them a 13-7 lead. On the kickoff after the second touchdown, senior safety Tavarus Brown fielded the kick and took it all the way to the house to put T.C. up 14-13.
The Titans defense played outstanding for the rest of the game smothering West Potomac and not allowing them to score a single point from that point on. The defense was led by Ibrahim Bangura who had six tackles (four of which were for a loss) and three sacks and looked like he could not be stopped. Bangura said, “My performance doesn’t matter because our performance as a team and how we prepared for them is what made us win.”
Junior Robert Longerbeam started for the second game in a row over senior quarterback Jack Rossi and played much better than he did at his first game at quarterback. “I think it is a stupid decision and I do not agree with it at all.” Said Rossi about Longerbeam playing quarterback, “I’m just going to keep doing me.”
Longerbeam said, “Competition drives me to be better. Whoever wins the job starts, simple as that. Some say that there is favoritism, but I just play football and try to be the best I can be. Outside noise has never bothered me.”
Longerbeam had 243 total yards and two total touchdowns. He looked good throwing the football and seemed to have a good connection with junior wide receiver and safety Ricardo Ross. Longerbeam also looked comfortable scrambling outside of the pocket and using his legs to gain yards. “I played ok, still areas I can improve in. I fumbled on a kick return, but we won the game. I still have things to work on to get better.” said, Longerbeam
After playing limited snaps at receiver the previous game, Ross played extremely well at the position. He had six receptions for 79 yards and appears to have a knack at coming down with the jump ball. He also had three tackles on defense. Ross said, “I feel like I played pretty good, I could have played better. I had three tackles and a couple of catches, I could have played better, way better.”
Tavarus Brown was the impact player of the game. Outside of his kickoff return, Brown had a leaping interception and 3 tackles on defense. He also had two completed passes on trick plays that went for 79 yards and a touchdown to Longerbeam. Brown described his performance as “outstanding” and “clutch.”
The Titans next game is at Hayfield where they will take on the Hawks. They are looking for their second straight victory in way to locking up the division in an attempt to make a playoff run.
