Virginia football: McLean clinches playoff berth after 21-0 victory over Langley

As his McLean High football teammates jumped and yelled in a huddle before the start of the second half against Langley on Friday night, senior linebacker Stephen Bush paced the sideline by himself, clapping and shaking his head, his intensity building.

McLean held a two-touchdown lead over its cross-town rival, but with everything that was at stake, Bush knew the defense needed to keep its focus.

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“We came in at halftime and the coaches told us to act like it was still 0-0,” Bush said. “We weren’t going to ruin it for ourselves. We were going to play the full second half.”

Needing a win to earn a berth in the Virginia AAA Northern Region Division 5 playoffs, McLean’s defense held visiting Langley to nine yards rushing and four first downs, leading the way in a 21-0 win in a Liberty District game.

The win also gives the Highlanders (6-4, 4-3 Liberty District) a chance to play another game under Coach Jim Patrick. He will step down after the season to become the school’s director of student activities.

“If we lost, we’d be done, so we talked a lot about the stakes tonight,” Patrick said. “It wasn’t about getting into the playoffs, it was about getting more opportunities to play football.”

After suffering a 56-12 loss to Langley (5-5, 4-3) in the final regular season game last year, McLean dominated from the start Friday night, holding the Saxons to two first downs in the first half and building a 14-0 lead by halftime.

Behind a tough offensive line that wore down the Langley defense’s front, junior running back Hunter Eckrod scored on an 18-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and sophomore quarterback Daniel Hecht added a touchdown run on fourth-and-goal from inside the one-yard line late in the second.

“We just kept lining up and we kept making them tired,” Eckrod said. “Our team did a great job.”

While Langley, which likely already had enough playoff points to earn a postseason berth even with Friday’s loss, went three-and-out on its first three possessions of the second half, McLean chewed clock with its possessions.

Senior running back Ryan McColgan capped a five-minute third-quarter drive with a 25-yard touchdown run on another fourth-and-inches play, extending the lead to 21-0.

Langley had only four plays that gained positive yardage in the second half, and McLean sophomore defensive back Gabe Sutherland and junior defensive back Robert Gilbertson each had second-half takeaways to help seal the win.

“Defensively, we brought pressure on the quarterback and made plays at spots when we needed to,” Patrick said. “[We] just played great.”