by Alan Goldenbach
The Washington Post
09-16-2006

The words repeated inside Anthony King's head all day yesterday -- at school, in warm-ups and when he and his Northwest teammates took the field against Seneca Valley.

Hold onto the ball.

It was King's fourth-quarter fumble that led to the winning touchdown in last year's matchup of Germantown rivals. And after two second-half fumbles on a rain-soaked field last night, King had a sinking feeling his past was coming back to haunt him.

But King held on to a third-down pass for a 19-yard touchdown with four minutes left, barreled through the line of scrimmage for the decisive two-point conversion and carried five straight times to gain two first downs and run out the clock in the No. 12 Jaguars' 21-19 home victory last night.

"I fumbled a couple of times, but they stuck with me," said King, who rushed for 47 of his 78 yards in the fourth quarter. "My teammates believed in me, my coach believed in me, and I can't thank them enough."

Thirteen points have separated these teams in their past four meetings, which appropriately have been split. It's arguably Montgomery County's best rivalry, and it not only satisfied the approximate 3,500 in attendance, it even drew the appreciation of the No. 15 Eagles.

"I couldn't drop a tear on this one," said Seneca Valley senior running back Shawn Perry, who rushed for 143 yards and a second-quarter touchdown on 26 carries. "It was such a great game."

Northwest took a 13-7 lead into halftime after senior quarterback Josh Volpe hit senior Joe Lefeged on a post pattern for a 73-yard score 58 seconds before the break. Seneca Valley's David Purvis, though, blocked the extra-point attempt.

After Seneca Valley fumbled on the fourth play of the second half, King fumbled on the next play, giving the Eagles the ball at the Northwest 13. Four plays later, on fourth and four at the 7, quarterback George Lerch -- on his first pass of the game -- hit tight end Alex Betancourt on a bootleg in the right corner of the end zone to tie it. But the snap on the point-after attempt slipped away and the game stayed tied.

The game remained tied late into the third quarter. With a second left in the quarter, Volpe hit King on a short pass, and he secured a first-and-goal before fumbling. Seneca Valley's Dominique Chase recovered at the Eagles 5.

But after the Eagles punted, Northwest took over at its 40 with 7 minutes 26 seconds to play. On third and nine from the Seneca Valley 19, Volpe -- out of the shotgun -- read the Eagles' blitz perfectly, and found King in the flat five yards down field. A couple of jukes later, King was in the end zone with 4:04 left.

Northwest went for two points, and King plowed up the middle to make it 21-13.

However, on the Eagles' next play, senior fullback Jourdan Brooks bulldozed through the line, hit the right side, and was gone on a 69-yard touchdown run. On the subsequent two-point conversion attempt, Perry took the handoff and looked for Jamaal Martin in the end zone, but Lefeged broke up the pass to preserve Northwest's two-point lead.

Then King went to work from his 20 with 3:46 left. "He's the captain," Volpe said, "and he took us home."

No. 12 Northwest 21 No. 15 Seneca Valley 19 The Place to Be: Fans started to line up outside the gate two hours before kickoff, even though the doors opened 75 minutes before game time. What Rain? Northwest senior quarterback Josh Volpe didn't appear bothered much by the rainy weather, completing 9 of 14 passes for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns.