Oakton opens tough stretch with game against Chantilly

Game to watch: Chantilly (4-2) at No. 15 Oakton (6-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Opposing defenses have a difficult choice to make when facing Oakton: Who do you try to stop?

(Richard A. Lipski/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) - Quarterback Sonny Romine (right) is one of the leaders for 4-2 Chantilly.

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A coveted recruit at linebacker, Briar Woods’ Matt Rolin is headed to his dream school at the University of South Carolina. He was recently selected to play in the 2013 Under Armour All-American game.

Kelly Brooks-Muse did the damage in a season-opening win at Madison, snagging three touchdown catches. In a 55-7 win over Herndon last week, Mike Wandey stepped up with 160 rushing yards and two scores on just 10 carries. And all throughout the Cougars’ impressive 6-0 start, quarterback Kyle Downer has been dominant, throwing for 552 yards and nine touchdowns and running for 578 yards and 11 scores.

“We’ve done a great job of spreading the ball around so that teams can’t just key in on one thing,” Downer said. “Most of our points have come in the first half, which shows how much confidence we’ve built as a team.”

Oakton has outscored its last four opponents by a combined margin of 170-14. That’s as much a credit to the team’s defense, which has returned two interceptions for touchdowns and recorded two shutouts.

But up ahead is what Cougars Coach Jason Rowley calls “the gauntlet,” a four-game slate against Virginia AAA Concorde District foes all with at least a .500 record.

First up is a Homecoming matchup with Chantilly. The Chargers enter as the underdog after dropping their first district game last week to Westfield and losing starting outside linebacker Danny Farrell for the season with a broken collarbone. Still, Rowley expects nothing to come easy against a Chantilly option offense that possesses firepower similar to the Cougars’.

“Defending against their running game will be our main focus,” Rowley said. “Their quarterback, Sonny Romine, does a good job with the ball in his hands and they have a lot of weapons. I don’t know if we can stop them, but we will have to slow them down.”

Around the Northern Region

No. 7 Westfield (6-0) and West Potomac (5-1) will get a brief break from their district schedules when they meet this Friday in Chantilly, but it’s still no time to rest for two squads looking to continue their hot starts. For Westfield, the onus will once again be on its defense, which will be called upon to slow Wolverines running back Demornay Pierson-el.

West Potomac Coach Jeremiah Davis is hoping for another big game from his wideout-turned-tailback, who has rushed for 1,036 yards and 20 touchdowns. But doing so could be a challenge against a Bulldogs’ defense that held its ground versus Chantilly last week, stuffing the Chargers’ rushing attack on their final drive to seal the win.

“Games like this are the ones that help us continue to grow up as a team,” Bulldogs Coach Kyle Simmons said after last week’s victory. “And with teams like West Potomac and Oakton up next, we have to keep getting tough and show that we have what it takes to be champions.” ...

After slow starts to the season, both Lake Braddock (4-2) and Robinson (3-3) enter their Friday contest riding win streaks. Home-field advantage could play a factor, as Robinson has yet to win on the road this season, but perhaps more important will be the can-you-top-this battle between two of the area’s top juniors.

For the Rams, tailback Joe Wilson is the unquestioned catalyst. The junior has rushed for 1,427 yards and accounted for all of Robinson’s offensive touchdowns during the last three games. But even if Wilson puts together his usual gaudy stats, Rams Coach Trey Taylor is challenging his defense to repeat last week’s second-half performance, when his unit held Centreville to one score and recovered the decisive fumble in overtime.