By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Manager, Washington D.C. Metro Area
**Click links at top-left for photos and videos from the game**
Entering the Division 6 Northern Region semifinals, Lake Braddock had not beaten Robinson since current seniors were in second grade.
The teams met 11 times in that span. The Bruins scored in double digits twice.
And they unleashed 10 years of frustration on their former district rivals Friday, beating the Rams, 38-7, on the road.
With the win, Lake Braddock advanced its first regional championship game since 1999, also the last year it beat Robinson.
“It feels great to get the monkey off our back,” said Bruin junior quarterback Michael Nebrich, the Patriot District Offensive Player of the Year. “Our defense played great, the offense executed the game plan and we got the win.”
Added senior defensive back Peres Nubong: “The last time we beat them was [in] the regional semifinals … The whole team is ecstatic, I’m ecstatic. The defense played great, the offense played great.
“We started out strong, but we let up a little bit and a play had to be made. So I stepped up, made a play and we got things going.”
That play was his 95-yard kickoff return that followed the Rams’ only score of the game.
Lake Braddock held Robinson (10-2) scoreless in the first half, only the second time this season the Rams failed to score in any half.
But a three-yard touchdown run by Robinson junior K.B. Musokotwane cut Lake Braddock’s lead to 17-7 early in the third quarter.
Nubong responded with the electrifying return, all but driving home in the final nail in the Rams’ season — and, with it, over a decade of aggravation for the Bruins in the rivalry.
“I made a quick cut, then I saw a huge bunch of white. Then I just cut back and I knew I was gone, no one was around me,” Nubong said. “I guess their right side was weak and I had to take advantage of that.”
Nubong also contributed on defense, as Braddock held Robinson to 167 yards, its second-lowest team total this year, and its lowest completion percentage of the season.
Offensively, Nebrich continued to justify his district offensive player of the year honors.
He completed 19-of-37 passes for 208 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed 14 times for 61 yards and two scores.
Through three quarters, Nebrich attempted a pass or ran the ball himself on 46 of the Bruins’ 49 snaps.
It’s Nebrich’s late-season form that has made him a favorite for Northern Region Player of the Year, to be announced November 29. Through five weeks, Nebrich had thrown for six touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Since, he’s thrown for 11 touchdowns and five picks.
He has multiple rushing touchdowns in seven of his last nine games, 22 total in 12 games.
“[Assistant] coach [Bill] Renner came into the year with a new offense and it took me a little bit to get used to it. That’s where all the picks were coming from,” said Nebrich, at roughly 2,700 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards with 39 total touchdowns this year. “I’ve gotten the offense down. The offensive line, once again, is doing a great job of protecting me; that’s keeping the picks down.”
Lake Braddock (10-2) will travel to W.T. Woodson (11-1) for the Northern Region championship November 28.
The Bruins lost to the Cavaliers, 43-42 on a late two-point conversion, in Burke in Week 2. Woodson senior Connor Reilly threw for a region-record 502 yards that night.
No current Patriot District team has won the Division 6 Northern Region title since Lake Braddock in 1995.
Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com
Box Score 1 2 3 4 — F
Lake Braddock 10 7 14 7 — 38
Robinson 0 0 7 0 — 7
Scoring Plays
1Q — LB — Johnson 18 from Nebrich (Weiler kick) — 6:28
1Q — LB — Weiler 25 FG — 1:50
2Q — LB — Nebrich 5 run (Weiler kick) — 11:56
3Q — RB — Musokotwane 3 run (Vassal kick) — 7:57
3Q — LB — Nubong 95 kick return (Weiler kick) — 7:43
3Q — LB — Nebrich 2 run (Weiler kick) — 0:16
4Q — LB — Mansaray 9 run (Weiler kick) — 1:43
Passing
LB – Nebrich – 19-for-37, 208 yards, TD, INT.
RB – LoPresti – 4-for-22, 27 yards.
Rushing
LB – Mansaray – 13 car, 64 yards, TD; Nebrich – 14 car, 61 yards, 2 TD; Team – 4 car, -26 yards.
RB – Riley – 21 car, 99 yards; Musokotwane – 5 car, 47 yards, TD; Velasquez – 8
car, 17 yards; Lapian – 1 car, 3 yards; LoPresti – 7
car, 1 yard.
Receiving
LB – Johnson – 5 rec, 70 yards, TD; Banihashemi – 3
rec, 49 yards; Resetar – 4 rec, 46 yards; Mansaray – 5 rec, 27 yards; Williams – 2 rec, 16 yards.
RB – Zanellato – 3 rec, 29 yards; Velasquez – 1 rec, 0 yards.
Times Targeted
LB – Resetar – 10; Banihashemi – 9; Johnson – 9; Mansaray – 5; Williams – 4.
RB – Zanellato – 14; Creighton – 2; Riley – 2; Do. Taylor – 2; Velasquez – 2.
Total Yards
LB – 307.
RB – 194.
First Downs (Total; Run-Pass-Penalty)
LB – 18; 8-10-0.
RB – 9; 7-2-0.
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