On Friday, October 18, Centreville High School football suffered a loss to South Lakes. Centreville and South Lakes both started off the game with long drives, but faltered after some costly penalties. The defenses began to hold their own as the first quarter progressed. It was the Wildcats who struck first with a long 30 yard touchdown run, by Julian Garrett (12), early in the second quarter. The Centreville defense forced South Lakes to punt after a three-and-out, and the offense picked up right where they left off with another long run; this time by Deonte Edmonds(12). After their second score of the game, the Wildcats looked to be in control, and the momentum was clearly on Centreville’s side. South Lakes was not happy, as they came storming back to tie the game, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Despite this devastating comeback, the resilient team led by Centreville’s Coach, Chris Haddock, was not going to give up without a fight. With the score at 13-22 and 50 seconds left, the Wildcats had a miraculous touchdown grab by Mark Brown (12), where he caught the ball over two defenders. The crowd erupted and many fans began to gather along the fence, as Centreville looked to tie the game up and force overtime with a two point conversion.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats had a delay of game penalty which moved the two point conversion back, and they could not capitalize on the opportunity. Centreville was down 20-22 with 30 seconds left, but their onside kick was not a success and the Wildcats fell.

Watching the seconds tick down was an emotional sight, senior football players all around were crying and hugging, knowing that this would be the last high school football game most of them would ever play in. In the post game talk, Coach Haddock said to his seniors, “I’m proud of every single one of you. I know you will go on to be fantastic fathers and phenomenal men. You will continue to succeed in your lives, and we wish you the best of luck.” The bus ride back was silent, and many of the players did not take their equipment off. “I did not want to take my equipment off because I would never get to wear it again.” said Josh Garito (12).

As Centreville’s season comes to end, many players will move on to other sports. As for South Lakes, they went on to beat Lake Braddock 42-20, but lost to Westfield, 12-42. Westfield will play at Hampton University for the Virginia 6A State Championship.