On a wet, cold, and rainy night the Colonial Forge Eagles went down to North Stafford to face off in the Regional Semifinal on Nov 22. The matchup was the last two teams standing in the Commonwealth district, declaring that whoever won this game was the unofficial best team in Stafford.
“We knew we were better than them. We knew that if we came out like we were ready to play, then we could definitely beat them. We never had any doubts that we’re a better team than them,” Brock Brimhall (26’) said.
The Eagles started the game off deferring and the defense forced a three and out. The offense responded quickly, with a four yard rushing touchdown from Josiah Bryson (‘25) to put the Eagles up 7-0 halfway through the first.
“It really put us ahead and gave us a boost to keep going and pushing,” Bryson explained.
Things stayed quiet for a bit until Micah Brown (‘25) scored a 67 yard rushing touchdown for the Wolverines.
The Eagles blocked the extra point, retaining the lead 7-6.
On the next play, Caleb Cleveland (‘25) returned the kickoff to North Stafford’s 4 yard line.
However, a holding call on the Eagles brought the ball back to their own 48 yard line, but they were still in excellent field position.
“We were in a slump and North just scored a touchdown. So you know, it gave the team confidence,” Cleveland said.
The Eagles settled for a field goal to make the score 10-6 with 6 minutes to go in the half.
The Wolverines marched down the field, but a sack from Jake Mangano (‘25) ran the clock out and ended the half with the Eagles up 10-6.
The Eagles came out of the half strong and Brimhall went for a 14 yard rushing touchdown to make the score 17-6 with 10 minutes to go in the third.
“I mean, it was just a good play call. The coaches were calling good plays all game, giving me open runs, and letting me get out in the open field and make plays. But yeah, I felt good after that. I knew we weren’t losing the game,” Brimhall said.
Mangano took over the game on defense with three sacks in the second half.
The first sack was in the 4th quarter with 4 minutes left on the 3rd down and a loss of 8 yards, but a ‘roughing the passer’ call would give North Stafford the first down.
The second sack was later that drive on the first down and resulted in another loss of 8 yards to make it 2nd & 18.
The third and final sack was on the next drive for North Stafford to make it 4th and 20.
“The last play of the half I got my first one, and then coming out of the half I got the second one, and then a third, and I started feeling really, really confident. I started playing within my range, and it really helped me a lot with players on defense, we were really balling out,” Mangano said.
The next play Fa’asipa Maea (‘25) batted the ball down to seal the win for the Eagles.
As the Eagles offense kneeled the ball out, players from the sidelines poured onto the field to celebrate the win.
Looking into the Regional Finals, they will play Patriot who they beat 35-27 in the regular season.
