Red, white and blue filled the stands as McLean prepared to play in its first Friday night game of the season. Following a 13-28 loss to Chantilly on the road, the Highlanders spent the week preparing and fixing any holes in their game.
“We’ve had a good week of practice,” offensive coordinator Damon Hart said. “We’re ready to go.”
McLean was set to return the opening kickoff, and senior cornerback Ndalo Ndebele gave the Highlanders great field position with a sizable return. After only two plays, junior quarterback Christian McNeill found senior wide receiver Sebastian Carmanetes in the back of the endzone, and Carmanetes made a leaping grab to put the Highlanders up 6-0. An extra point by senior kicker Nathan Bender made it 7-0.
Edison was able to come right back, scoring a long reception touchdown after only three plays of offense, making it clear to the Highlanders that the game would not be won easily.
The back and forth nature of the frantic first few minutes continued, as McLean drove down with a series of big plays. However, the drive stalled, resulting in a missed field goal that gave the Eagles good field position.
Even with this setback, the Highlander mindset never wavered, and junior cornerback Levi Stockwell took an interception to the house. A bad snap resulted in a missed extra point and a score of 13-7.
The Eagles did not give up and drove down dangerously before junior safety Michael Babalitis forced a fumble, giving the ball right back to the Highlanders. McLean proceeded to drive down the field, before an injury to senior running back Noah Jander halted the momentum. Senior Bryan Contreras-Torres came into the game to back up a limping Jander, but play did not continue for long as freshman center Evan Herlands was on the ground soon after with an injured leg.
When the game picked back up, McLean’s senior quarterback Henry Behrens tossed a nearly intercepted ball that had the crowd on their toes, but McNeill came back out with a dot to Carmanetes for his second touchdown of the game.
“The receiving room played a big part in this game,” McNeill said. “We had a lot of key plays from a lot of our receiving guys.”
The stifling McLean defense then came out hot and caused two straight sacks and forced the Eagles to punt, but McNeill gave the ball right back to them with an interception. The game was once again paused as Herlands got injured again, this time limping off the field. Senior linebacker Carter Brown redeemed his teammate by returning an interception for a touchdown just a play after, and the half ended 27-7.
The Highlander defense once again stayed strong, holding the Eagles to a punt. With minimal time on the clock before halftime, McNeill tossed up a heave to junior tight end Aidan Reid in the back of the endzone who barely got his feet in. However, the referees saw the time run out milliseconds before the snap, so the first half ended with the same 27-7 score.
The second half kickoff gave the Highlanders the ball, but a fumble on a sack gave the ball right back to the Eagles, and, with 8 minutes left in the third quarter, Edison scored, making it a 27-14 game.
A couple of stalled drives followed, but with a minute left in the third quarter, Babalitis picked off the Edison quarterback and took the ball all the way to the 4-yard line. A run by Contreras-Torres gave McLean a 34-14 lead.
The fourth quarter was very static, with punt after punt from both offenses. A turnover virtually ended the game, and the “get the buses” chants began to ring out from the McLean student section. Finally, time ran out, and the Highlanders were victorious.
“We knew we had to come in and play well,” Hart said. “Our guys needed to execute, and that’s what they did.”
The Highlanders now stand at 3-1, and head to Marshall on Friday, September 27 for their first game of district competition.
“The district games are going to be tough,” Hart said. “But if we can produce points like we did tonight, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
