Stallions End Season with 48-28 Loss

Yorktown rushing attack too much for Stallion defense.

Gerry Pannoni knew his Stallion defense faced a tall order in containing Yorktown running backs M.J. Stewart and Arturo Brown. Heading into Friday’s Northern Region Division 5 semifinal, the two combined for more than 2,000 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns on the season. Yorktown’s talented duo proved too much for a young South County defense. Both backs combined for 395 yards and five touchdowns on the ground to lift the Patriots to a 48-28 victory over South County Friday night at Yorktown High School in Arlington. The loss ended South County’s season. “We knew what they were about,” said Pannoni of Stewart and Brown. “They just beat us doing what they do. That’s the bottom line. They’re obviously two great backs, two great players. ” …

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West Potomac Beats South County

The Wolverines' record is now 3-0 after beating the South County Stallions 49-39.

After spending most of the game neck and neck Friday night, the West Potomac Wolverines beat the South County Stallions 49-39 in Lorton. Before the game started, Gerry Pannoni — head coach for South County — said he was concerned about West Potomac's quarterback, Caleb Williams (#17), their running back Demornay Pierson-El (#5) and their kicker Chris Blewitt (#16). "The key is running back Demornay Pierson-El," said Pannoni.  "In their first two games, he made a bunch of big plays," he said. "Pierson-El, the quarterback and the kicker can control the game just by field position." In turn, Wolverines Head Coach Jeremiah Davis had his concerns about South County. "These guys started off 0-3 last year then won 11 straight," said Davis. "So …

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The Sideline

South County Stallions Varsity Football Team Looks to Replicate Last Season's Success

Will they go all the way to the state championship game again?

South County hired head football coach Gerry Pannoni last summer to replace Pete Bendorf, the school’s first and only head coach up until that point. Bendorf’s untimely departure reportedly left school officials scrambling to find a replacement as quickly as possible. The Stallions hired Panonni in late July, which put the team and its coaches in the unenviable position of working with an abbreviated timeframe of installing and learning new offensive and defensive systems and left many wondering if the Stallions would be able to adapt fast enough to be competitive. To say that the team surpassed expectations would be a gross misstatement. After beginning the season 0-3, the Stallions rattled off 11 consecutive wins en route to capturing …

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Stallion Rowers to Compete in Nationals

15 rowers to compete in national competition Friday and Saturday

Seven years after fielding its first crew team, South County will send 15 rowers to compete in the National Scholastic Rowing National Championships this Friday and Saturday New Jersey. The program, started by current head coach Mary King, enjoyed its most successful season to date and its rowers hope to end it win an impressive showing in the national competition. King was first introduced to the sport as an adult and fell in love with it immediately. And it wasn’t too long after that she caught the urge to coach the sport. After various stops at programs around the region, she settled in at South County when the school opened in 2005. “South County is in my neighborhood so I decided to start a program here,” King said. Stallion rowers …

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South County Athlete Siblings Oren and Whitney Burks Earning National Attention

The future looks bright for these South County Stallions

South County’s Oren and Whitney Burks no longer have space on their calendar - literally. They used to keep track of their schedules in a calendar that their parents bought for them, but as the pair grew, more events meant less space. And eventually, the family ditched the physical calendar all together for a more streamlined method. “We used to have a calendar that we entered all of their information into so that we could know where everyone was going to be,” said Orlanda Burks, the children's father. “That got a little difficult because things wouldn’t fit and ink started to bleed on the other pages and we wouldn’t be able see it.” Whitney, a sophomore, was recently named the Patriot District Softball Player of the Year. She’s already …

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South County Hopes to Name Football Coach by Friday, July 8

Just in time for football camp

South County Secondary School wants to name it's new head football coach by Friday, July 8, according to the Mike Pflugrath, South County director of student activities. “We had our first round of interviews yesterday and we’re going to do the second round tomorrow,” said Pflugrath. “We advertised a couple of weeks ago and had a screening committee review all of the applicants who then recommended their top five.”  The Stallions hope to fill the vacancy left by Pete Bendorf, the only football coach the school has had in its short six-year history. Bendorf resigned late last month to take a job at Westfield High School in Chantilly. “We’ve had applicants from both in and out of the area. Multiple candidates have had experience as the head …

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