HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Big night by Burress lifts ‘Cats

Sept. 30--Mountain View can be dangerous offensively when senior quarterback Elijah Burress has the green light to run. That much was clear Friday night in the Wildcats' 23-6 home win over North Stafford.

Because the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Burress is such a physical runner, Mountain View had to hold him back in the early part of the season. The thought of risking any injury to the three-year starter, especially with top backup Ahmad Tweedy recovering from offseason knee surgery, was more unpleasant than any alternative.

But with Tweedy back in uniform against the Wolverines and the season in the balance, coach Lou Sorrentino and his staff decided to give Burress full freedom to do what he does best.

"We wouldn't have run Elijah like that without a proven backup [in uniform]," Sorrentino said. "I thought Elijah ran the ball great. He commanded the offense. He led."

Burress ran a season-high 22 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the Wildcats' first win over North Stafford since 2010. He also completed 10 of 21 passes for 97 yards and orchestrated a Mountain View offense that played turnover-free football in a game it had to win.

For his efforts, Burress was named this week's Free Lance-Star player of the week.

"I felt pretty good running this week," Burress said. "The linemen opened up some really big holes and coach called a few more run plays than I thought he was going to call for me this game, and it opened up really good."

The Wildcats (2-3) may have saved their season with that win, and no player was more critical to the victory than Burress.

He led an opening drive that set the tone. He completed passes of 17 and 15 yards to wide receiver Sterling Collins on the first two plays and then ran 21 yards for a 7-0 lead.

Mountain View never trailed. Tailback Jamil Collison-Cofie scored to make it 13-0 at the half and kicker Tyler Moeller booted a 23-yard field goal in the third quarter to push the Wildcats' advantage to 16-0.

The Wolverines threatened in the second half, however. Mountain View knew it had to run off a large chunk of the clock in the fourth quarter to keep North Stafford's quick-strike offense off the field.

Mountain View kept the ball on the ground and in Burress's capable hands. With five minutes left in the game and the Wildcats holding a 16-6 lead, Burress ran the ball on eight of nine plays.

"He was running hard tonight," Wildcats senior linebacker Adham Hasan said after the game. "He didn't go down easy."

Burress had a 32-yard run to the North Stafford 29-yard line and then broke off a 17-yard insurance touchdown a short time later to ice the victory, the first over the Wolverines for Burress and the rest of the Wildcats' seniors.

Mountain View rushed for 191 yards on 32 attempts after gaining 146 rushing yards combined in its previous two games.

"He ran the ball real well," North Stafford coach Joe Mangano said of Burress. "We've played against him for three years and have seen him a bunch of times. He's like Cam Newton. He can pull it and run downhill on that quarterback power and quarterback lead play. He's good."

HONORABLE MENTION

* Joey Benden, Massaponax QB: 105 rushing yards, TD; 103 passing yards, 2 TDs.

* Trey Cherry, Louisa RB: 179 rush yards, 3 rush TDs, pass TD

* Donovan Fobbs, Brooke Point QB: 216 pass yards, pass TD, rush TD.

* Nick Grant, Courtland WR/CB: 45-yard TD reception; 65-yard interception return TD.

* Victor Greene, Courtland RB/LB: 255 rushing yards, 2 TDs.

* Jon Hall, Fredericksburg Christian WR/CB: 33-yard receiving TD; 65-yard inteception return TD.

* Kendrick Kube, Eastern View RB: 221 rush yards, 4 TDs on 10 carries.

* Lamar Lucas, Colonial Forge RB: 137 rushing yards, 2 rush TDs, pass TD.

* Remone Miller, Colonial Forge RB: 109 rushing yards, 2 TDs.

* Bruce Smith, W&L CB: 2 inteceptions, one returned for TD.

Nathan Warters: 540/374-5442

nwarters@freelancestar.com

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