For the Group AAA football teams in Nokesville and Haymarket, things could not be much better at the moment.

The Patriot junior varsity squad routed Freedom (Woodbridge) 34-0 during the team's first "Fall Fest" game this past Friday, which basically took place of homecoming for the new school.

Meanwhile, Battlefield clinched its fourth Cedar Run District title in five years last the same night in Stafford, defeating host North Stafford 27-13.

Patriot rode a 7-0 lead for most of the game until a fourth quarter flurry of points came their way, including multiple touchdowns by Malik Fuller. Fuller broke 100 yards rushing on two plays alone with plays of 50 and 65 yards.
Junior wide receiver Zak Watson also came up big for the Pioneers with a score of his own while sophomore Nick Ferrari-Smith provided quick hands on defense.

The defensive effort by Patriot marked the second shutout of the season for the Pioneers, coming four weeks after blanking Freedom (South Riding) by a whopping 50-0 on Sept. 30.

In the last three weeks, Patriot has outscored its opponents by a combined 99-12. That mark includes a 23-6 win over Stonewall Jackson on October 12 and a 42-6 shallacking of Osbourn on eight days later.
Scores like that have been a common theme for Patriot at home this year. The team has yet to give up more than six points to any visitor in five Nokesville games, allowing only 18 points on the board compared to the Pioneers' 184.

That's better than a 10-to-1 ratio.

Fortunately for Patriot, while the games on the road have been relatively more competitive, its offense still racked up double-digit wins in every contest.

The most recent victory improved the Pioneers record to 9-0 for its inaugural year. They have a chance to close out the regular season undefeated with a big game this Friday against the Battlefield JV team. It is set to take place at 7 p.m. in Nokesville.

For the varsity Bobcats (8-2 overall, 3-1 district), everything that could go right for the team did go right during the home stretch of the regular season. Battlefield overcame a 28-21 Week 7 loss to Osbourn with consecutive district wins against Freedom (South Riding) Broad Run before the non-district victory one county south on October 28.

Running back Andrew Smith found pay dirt three times in the regular season finale, running in touchdowns in each of the first three quarters. Meanwhile, fellow running back Michael Tolliver tallied more than 200 yards on the ground.

Junior quarterback Ryan Swingle explained that "with the inclement weather" playing a factor in play calling, Battlefield had to rely on its ground game for forward progress.

He credited Smith with having great field vision as an integral part of his game.

"He hits his holes without hesitation," said Swingle, adding that the team has "two great running backs" in Smith in Tolliver.

Tolliver gave Battlefield its margin of victory on a 23-yard scamper in the fourth quarter, his lone score of the day.

However, he and Smith ran a combined 35 times, something that "worked out for us," according to Swingle. Battlefield as a team totaled 285 yards on the ground compared to 68 for North Stafford.

In the air, Swingle hit 10 out of 16 passes for 113 yards while his counterpart Austin Grebe connected on 15 of 30 passes for 202 yards.

Wide receiver Trent Saflin proved to be Swingle's his favorite target as he roped in eight of the QB's throws for 94 yards.

On clinching the district title, the defending Group AAA state championship quarterback said, "I knew we'd make it because I'm confident in our team but we had to work a lot harder the last couple of works."

As for if settling for anything less than a repeat of the Division 6 crown would be acceptable to Battlefield, Swingle shot that down with few words.

"No," he said. "It never is."