Roddy Makes Up for Lost Time, Lifts Generals

Washington-Lee senior David Roddy had waited too long for this. He wasn't going to be dragged down, not on the first or the second tackle attempt as he powered his way through a line of Stuart defenders during his momentum-grabbing, 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half of Friday night's 34-21 home victory in Arlington.

Roddy, a 5-foot-10 running back and linebacker, was playing in just his second game after he missed the Generals' first four games this year with an injury from a severe skateboarding accident that caused a skull fracture, severe bleeding in his brain and a concussion that "was off the charts," Roddy said.

Roddy came back last week but actually was cleared by doctors the previous week. Generals Coach Josh Shapiro, however, decided to keep Roddy on the bench for that homecoming game, "just to be safe," he said. Roddy was livid. "There was tears and the whole thing," Shapiro said.

"It was homecoming, you know, and it was just hard to watch from the sideline," said Roddy, who added 67 yards rushing on Friday night.

In his first game action last week, Roddy, whom Shapiro jokingly described as "crazy," recorded 12 tackles, rushed for 97 yards and instead of taking an intentional safety -- as Shapiro instructed -- to end a blowout victory over winless Jefferson, he burst out of his end zone, found a seam and rushed 80 yards before being tackled.

But Roddy's hard-nosed style, risk taking and desire have helped revive Washington-Lee from its 0-3 start.

Friday night the Generals (3-3, 2-1 Virginia AAA National District) won their third straight as they rode Roddy and speedy running back Anthony Taylor, a tenacious 5-11 junior who carried Washington-Lee on its first possession by rushing six times for 48 yards on a nine-play, 69-yard march.

Taylor capped it with a two-yard burst to tie the game at 7.

"It's great to have [Roddy] back and giving us that spark," said Taylor, who finished with 116 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

The victory also established the Generals as a threat again, following last year's 5-6 finish as they made the playoffs for the first time in 33 years.

The victory ended Stuart's two-game winning streak and dropped the Raiders to 3-2, 2-1, which is still an accomplishment for the Falls Church program that hasn't had a winning season since 1995.

Washington-Lee 34, Stuart 21 Charlie's Still Got It: Stuart will retire former NFL star Charlie Garner's jersey next week. Garner, a first team All-Met and Virginia's player of the year in 1989, rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 38 touchdowns as a senior. He played for the Eagles, Buccaneers, 49ers and Raiders. Garner announced the Oct. 16 event on his Twitter account. Turning the Corner: Stuart, which went 6-73 overall (4-48 in its conference) and had four winless seasons from 2001 to '08, has scored more points (134) in six games this year than it did in each 10-game season between 2001 and 2007.