Edison's Harper Is Nothing But Trouble for Yorktown

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By B.J. Koubaroulis

Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, October 4, 2008; Page E10

Huddled between a group of teammates and his coach on the sideline following Edison's pregame warmup last night at Yorktown, the Eagles' Angus Harper was gripping his helmet by the face mask and kicking his cleats into the turf.

Harper smirked as he pointed to his taped left knee, blaming a knee sprain for his missing two games this season. Edison Coach Vaughn Lewis peered out from underneath the bill of his hat, smiled and told Harper to come clean.

"Trouble at school," Harper said with a sly smile, was the reason he missed at least one of those games.

Harper was trouble for Yorktown last night, rushing for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries in a 38-0 win over the Patriots in a Virginia AAA National District matchup.

The junior running back led a rotation of Eagles players -- including senior Stephon Robertson (nine carries, 91 yards) and junior Levi Barber (five carries, 69 yards) -- that amassed 330 rushing yards, including 283 in the first quarter.

"It feels good to contribute. I mean, my team was winning when I wasn't there, but it feels good to win with them," Harper said.

Harper has 513 rushing yards and six touchdowns in just three games, including 256 yards in last week's 36-6 victory over Wakefield.

For No. 17 Edison (6-0, 3-0), it was another step toward its third consecutive district title and seventh this decade. Yorktown fell to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in district play.

Edison scored on a 63-yard run by Harper on the game's first play and then scored on plays of 20, 14, 14 and 29 yards to take a 38-0 lead into halftime. The Eagles' defense forced four turnovers and kept all-purpose Patriot Kyle Toulouse (12 carries, 83 yards) out of the end zone to stymie an attack that was averaging 32 points per game.

"Having all those athletes helps me realize that I don't have to make a play on every drive," said Barber, Edison's quarterback, who completed 3 of 5 passes for 85 yards, with two of his three completions going for touchdowns.

No. 17 Edison 38, Yorktown 0 Rankings: With 28.4 Virginia High School League power points, Edison is the third-rated team -- the highest-rated Division 5 team from Northern Virginia -- while defending Division 5 state champion Stone Bridge is rated No. 7 with 26.8 power points. Big-Play Mentality: In its first six games, Edison has recorded 53 plays of 20 or more yards. The Eagles recorded 10 of those plays last night.