GAME SUMMARY

The Class 5 Region D final was played the day after Thanksgiving and if Briar Woods didn’t have a big enough feast for the holiday, they certainly should be stuffed after their performance at Riverbend on Friday.

The Falcons advanced to the Class 5 state semifinals with an impressive 32-15 defeat of the Bears. Navy commit Brady Carmical threw for 219 yards, but his legs helped the Falcons get ahead early with two rushing touchdowns in the first half. His teammate, Syracuse commit Trey Dudley added a pair of rushing scores and kicker Matthew Kordes nailed a pair of field goals to complete the scoring efforts for Briar Woods in the contest.

While their offensive performance was impressive, it was the defensive effort that shined in the victory. The Falcons limited Riverbend’s offense to 138 total yards in the contest a week after giving up the most points they had to a single team all season. The Bears rushing attack led by 2,000-yard rusher Jordyn “JoJo” Thomas was expected to give the Falcons unit a difficult time, but they held the senior running back to just 59 yards.

Briar Woods scored first in the opening quarter after the defense forced Riverbend to punt after three plays. Carmical hit receiver Jax McIntosh for a nine-yard gain through the air to start the drive and then the Falcons went to the ground. Running back Lucas Roser carried the ball six times on the opening drive as the Falcons marched 78 yards on 12 plays with Carmical reaching the endzone on a four-yard run.

Riverbend responded two drives later, taking advantage of the Falcons' defensive focus on the ground attack. The Bears were slowed on three straight plays after moving to the Briar Woods 13-yard line but on fourth down evened the score when Camden Simmons found Tristan Greene for a 14-yard scoring strike.

The Falcons retook the lead on their next possession when Carmical reached the endzone on a 1-yard run and managed to extend their lead on the final drive of the opening half. The Falcons took possession with 0:33 on the game clock and quickly moved into scoring position after Carmical found Colin Capistrant for a 67-yard completion. Two plays later, Kordes connected on a 25-yard field goal to send the Falcons into the halftime break with a 16-7 advantage.

When play resumed in the third quarter, the Falcons took less than four minutes to extend their lead. A 34-yard completion from Carmical to Capistrant moved the ball to the Bears 21-yard line. Two plays later, Dudley (6-foot-1, 215 pounds) rumbled into the endzone to extend the teams’ lead on the first of his two rushing scores.

Simmons connected with Mekhi Davis on a 44-yard scoring pass with 0:16 remaining in the third quarter to pull the Bears within ten 25-15. The Bears simply didn’t have enough, however, being forced to play from behind with the strength of their offense being slowed to a near halt.

Dudley scored on the Falcons' first drive of the final quarter and an interception by McIntosh on the Bears next offensive drive eliminated the hopes of a comeback for Riverbend while securing the region title for Briar Woods.

SCORING SUMMARY

Briar Woods -- 7 9 9 7--32

Riverbend -- 0 7 8 0--15

FIRST QUARTER

BW—Brady Carmical 4 run (Matthew Kordes kick), 4:16

SECOND QUARTER

R—Tristan Greene 14 pass from Camden Simmons (Luke Marlow kick), 6:12

BW—Brady Carmical 1 run (kick failed), 2:20

BW—Matthew Kordes 25 field goal, 0:00

THIRD QUARTER

BW—Trey Dudley 7 run (conversion failed), 7:57

BW—Matthew Kordes 33 field goal, 2:24

R—Mekhi Davis 44 pass from Camden Simmons (Jordyn Thomas run), 0:16

FOURTH QUARTER

BW—Trey Dudley 2 run (Matthew Kordes kick), 8:47

STANDOUT PLAYERS

Brady Carmical, Briar Woods…Carmical has been a leader for the Falcons all season long and Friday’s contest with Riverbend was no different. The senior quarter scored the first two touchdowns for his team on the ground and contributed 51 yards on the ground, slightly under his season average (57). The Navy commit has been accurate all season and completed 13 of his 19 pass attempts (68%) for 219 yards in the victory helping his team advance.

Trey Dudley, Briar Woods…The Potomac All-District running back carried the ball 20 times in the contest against Riverbend for 75 yards. It was his two touchdowns in the second half that helped catapult his team to the win over the Bears. Less than a week after visiting Syracuse, Dudley changed his commitment to the Orange and displayed his physical style of play combined with athleticism on both sides of the ball in the victory.

LOOKING AHEAD

With the victory, Briar Woods advances to the Class 5 state semifinals to face L.C. Bird who defeated William Fleming on Friday to with their respective regional title. The two opponents met most recently in 2013 for the Class 5 state championship. In that game L.C. Bird edged Briar Woods 35-28. The Skyhawks are back in familiar territory, after what Bird fans consider a downs season (6-5) in 2023. Running back duo Corey Holland and Sirpaul Cheeks have been dominant for the team and will certainly be a prime focus for the Falcons defense this week.

STRONG SEASON FOR THE BEARS

The region final appearance was the deepest any Riverbend squad has ventured in football since the school opened in 2004. The seniors on the team had seen the varsity squad fall just short in the three seasons pryor. Class of 2025 team members Jordan Thomas, Leo Gutierrez, Mason Fowler, Jayvion Cervantes will graduate from this standout Bears squad. But the future remains bright with a standard -set and players like all district selections Mekhi Davis, Camden Simmons, Ramon Anderson on offense and Aden Herndon and Ricky Cedono returning on defense. Expect Riverbend to be back in the thick of the Commonwealth District next season. Certainly, they won’t be a surprise to any of their opponents.

Robert Edmonds has been contributing to Virginiapreps.com, part of the Rivals.com network, since 2013. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) @bigrob2523 and subscribe to his YouTube channel for sports-related content. You can read his work in the Daily Progress and occasionally in other journalism publications. He began working in the sports sector in 2006 and covers public and private schools throughout the state with a focus in the Central Virginia area. He currently lives in Keswick with his wife and has seven children and two grandchildren. To contact Robert, please email him at bigrob2523@gmail.com.