It was his first varsity start, a momentous occasion he would not soon forget no matter what happened. But for Chantilly sophomore running back Torrian Pace, the night meant more than just the opportunity to play. It meant the chance to help his team win.
Pace did exactly that in Thursday evening’s 19-6 home victory over Madison in a non-district contest. With the Chargers leading by just seven points late in the fourth quarter, Pace took a pitch from quarterback Nate Worek, found a hole near the left sideline and dashed 63 yards to the Madison 10-yard line. Moments later, Worek found junior running back Mike Quigg in the end zone to put the game away with just 1 minute, 22 seconds remaining.
“It was a play called 29 toss and when I ran left I saw everything was wide open and just started sprinting as hard as I could,” said Pace, who finished with 128 rushing yards on just 12 carries. “I was pretty excited about starting for the first time. I wanted to make the most of it.”
Chantilly improved to 3-1 with a game looming next week at Concorde District rival Oakton. Madison fell to 1-2.
The Chargers gained momentum in the first half when a lengthy Madison drive ended on an interception in the endzone by Chantilly senior defensive back Austin Morris.
The Chargers took advantage with a 10-play, 80-yard drive culminating in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Worek to junior teammate Austin Decker. Worek added a second touchdown with just 1:01 left in the first half on a 5-yard bootleg. Chantilly’s defense did the rest.
Charged effort
» Chantilly’s defense held Madison senior running back Aaron Lambert to just 31 yards on 13 carries. The Chargers recorded two interceptions, forced the Warhawks to punt four times and stopped Madison on downs twice.
» Madison’s best drive of the game came in the third quarter. The Warhawks went 55 yards on 14 plays and cut Chantilly’s lead to 13-6 on a 2-yard TD run by Lambert with 1:58 left in the period.
» Madison quarterback Kevin Healy finished 8-for-14 passing for 78 yards with two interceptions. The Warhawks totaled 72 rushing yards on 33 carries.
