It was not the way Mulku Kalokoh wanted to see his high school football career end.
But Potomac’s senior linebacker/running back could only watch as the Group AAA Division 5 state championship trophy was presented to Stone Bridge on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. The score was a decisive 38-0, but losing in a heartbreaker or a blowout mattered little to Kalokoh. Either way the pain remained the same for the seventh-ranked Panthers (13-1), who suffered their first loss of the season.
“We came a long way the last three years and helped turn the program around again,” said Kalokoh, who finished with 1,213 rushing yards and was a first-team All-Northwest Region selection at running back. “You have to be proud about that because this is still a big deal for our school to even get to the state final. We can keep our heads up.”
It was indeed a historic season for Potomac, which previously lost in the state championship game in 1989 and 1990 and reached the state semifinals last year before losing to Phoebus. The Panthers, who set the program record for wins in a season, have now won back-to-back Cardinal District and Northwest Region titles under third-year coach Tony Lilly, a 1980 Woodbridge graduate who played college football at Florida.
Also a former NFL safety with the Denver Broncos, Lilly has established a powerhouse in Dumfries after his team posted a 5-5 record during his first season at the school in 2005. Five Potomac players were chosen first-team All-Northwest Region, including Kalokoh and Abdul Kanneh, the region defensive player of the year. Lilly was named region coach of the year.
