Jefferson’s varsity football team beat the FCA Bucks from Delaware 27-14 at home on Friday, Sept. 10, after the Back-to-School Bash. 

After the team’s win against the Northern Virginia Homeschool Athletic Association (NVHAA) Centurions on Sept. 3, they felt ready for the match against the Bucks.

“The week before, we beat one of our biggest pains. They beat us three years in a row, and getting a victory over them really gave us motivation to keep improving and [try] to stay undefeated,” senior Hilal Hussain (56) said. “Every day, we’d [repeat] drills many, many times. We tried to perfect things [and] correct mistakes from last week. We were confident in our game plan by the time it was Friday.”

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The Colonials recovered a lot of fumbles in the first quarter. One of those interceptions resulted in the first touchdown of the game: junior Gavin Hatalosky (15) ran 49 yards to Jefferson’s end zone and passed to junior Charan Sattiraju (1), who carried the ball across the line. 

“Our quarterback’s big 49 yard run re-energized the whole team and gave us a lot of momentum to put the [Bucks] away,” junior Nithin Avala (9), a defensive linebacker, said.

The Colonials pulled off another two touchdowns before halftime, but the Bucks also scored one, bringing the score to 21-7. In the third quarter, Hussain, playing as an outside linebacker, intercepted a pass by the Bucks and ran it all the way across the field to score another touchdown. Hussain’s run secured a 20-point lead for Jefferson, and the crowd went wild.

“That just put the game out of reach [for the Bucks] and kind of sealed the deal for us,” Sattiraju, who played as both a wide receiver and quarterback, said.

Following the touchdown-less fourth quarter, the final score was 27-7. The amount of students in the stands in this football game was much more than the amount during last week’s game against the Centurions, and the football team noticed. 

“I really love how many people showed up. That’s a really good way to show school spirit, and it makes us feel respected as a team,” Hussain said.

The season record is now two wins to zero losses, which seems promising for the rest of fall. Jefferson’s football team has not historically been known for long winning streaks, but that started to change with 2019’s 6-2 season record.

“When [the Class of 2023] came in, [the team] had a really good season, and that set the tone. Last season wasn’t as good as our first season, but we still [had] three [wins] and three [losses], and this season we’ve started off pretty strong,” Sattiraju said. “I definitely think there’s been an improvement.”