Making Overtime Pay Off

Several Area Teams Approach the Extra Sessions Differently

When Colonial Forge failed to score at the start of the fifth overtime last Friday, Woodbridge Coach Keith King saw a tired team on the other sideline and planned his offensive strategy accordingly: give the ball to our biggest back and force a worn-out team to stop him.

On second down, 6-foot-2, 205-pound sophomore Darius Parson dragged a couple of defenders into the end zone from six yards to cap the Vikings' 50-44 victory, one of many overtime games in the area last weekend. While each one had a unique ending, collectively, the games showed a variety of strategies for playing the extra sessions.

"It's tough to tackle a big kid," Woodbridge Coach Keith King said. "You've got to take into account fatigue. You wonder how much more energy a team has at that point in the game. As the game wears on, sometimes you have to gamble because you don't know how much longer you can go."

Gaithersburg Coach Kreg Kephart didn't want to risk it. After the Trojans tied Wootton at 21 in the final minute of regulation with a touchdown pass on fourth down and the subsequent two-point conversion, Gaithersburg didn't trail for the first time since the game was scoreless. Wootton's touchdown and extra point put the Patriots ahead to open overtime, and Kephart immediately decided to go for two if the Trojans scored.

Khare Cross, the Trojans' third-string running back, scored on a six-yard run, and then, Zack Fetters hit Silvester Oni for the two-pointer to give Gaithersburg a 29-28 victory.

"That touchdown [at the end of regulation] instilled a lot of confidence in us," he said, "and you want to ride that. We had a little bit momentum there."

As it watched West Springfield rally from a 21-7 halftime deficit to force overtime at 28-28, Oakton repeatedly saw a hole in the Spartans' blocking; the Cougars even drew a roughing the kicker penalty on one of the kicks.

So when West Springfield answered Oakton's touchdown at the end of the first overtime, Oakton made sure Andrew Leonard attacked that hole. Leonard broke through to block the kick and give the Cougars a 35-34 victory.

"All game long, we anticipated getting one of those," Oakton Coach Joe Thompson said, "and as soon as Andrew crossed the line, we knew he was getting it."

Even though each team begins overtime at its opponent's 10-yard line, special teams are still critical. Theodore Roosevelt was without its kicker, Obed Gomez, who had to work last Saturday afternoon. Last week in practice, Gomez tried to teach a pair of teammates to kick in his absence.

Rough Riders Coach Daryl Tilghman wasn't convinced and went for two points after his team's two touchdowns in regulation and in the first overtime against Central. They failed each time.

Neither team scored in the second, third or fourth overtime. Central missed again in the fifth period, and Roosevelt faced fourth down at the 2-yard line. Tilghman looked over at senior running back Levite Legarde, who had worked with Gomez during the week, and thought to himself, "He has to be able to make this one."

Legarde's 19-yard field goal gave Roosevelt a 21-18 victory, prompting Tilghman to say, "The ball just crept over that crossbar. That told me all I need to know about the value of special teams."