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PAGE 18 | SEPTEMBER 23 – 29, 2021
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Meridian Football Starts Off Season With Wins Over Rivals
by Julie Felgar
Falls Church News-Press
On Friday September 24, the 3B Mustangs will take the field with the hopes to extend their strong season start with a win over district rival Brentsville High School.
This will be the first home game since school has been back in session and attendance is expected to be large.
With only 4 home games this season and after a spring season with no fans in the stands, the Mustangs want to make every single home game count.
Senior Captain and quarterback Evans Rice reflected on having the fans back this year, “We’re so pumped to be back in front of the home crowd again. The energy we get from them is unmatched. The spring season simply wasn’t the same without them.”
The Mustangs have had early wins over much larger rivals, Falls Church High School (37-7) and Langley High School (28-7).
The football team, which has only 32 players on the roster, boasts 23 seniors. It is one of the largest senior classes in recent program history and many of them have been playing together for 4 years.
The Mustangs’ one loss came at the hands of a talented, and deep bench, 4A Kettle Run team. The game was tied until late in the third quarter, but ultimately Kettle Run was able to pull away for the win. Kettle Run also beat Brentsville.
Coach Adam Amerine is confident his team has what they need to succeed against Brentsville and the rest of the conference opponents, but takes a week to week approach to the season. “Our goal is to go 1-0 each week and each contest presents a new challenge and new hurdle for this program.” states Amerine.
After the unusual Covid spring 2021 season, which was only 6 games, the Mustangs ended as codistrict champions.
The bar is set higher this year according to senior captain Graham Felgar, “We don’t plan on just a district championship, we want to go further, a regional championship, even states. Obviously, that will take a lot of effort and energy, but we can do it if we stay healthy and continue to stay focused and work hard.”
On offense, senior runningback Patrick Whitaker has had a strong start with four touchdown passes and over 500 yards rushing, followed by senior George Papadopoulos with 199 yards rushing.
Rice has had the opportunity to throw more this year and has five passing touchdowns. Three of these have been to Graham Felgar with an average of 33 yards on the receptions.
On defense, Senior Josh Stillwagoner is leading the team with 23 tackles followed by Graham Felgar with 21 tackles. Coach Amerine credits the strong season start though with a whole team effort.
The blocking by the O-line has improved significantly this year and 6-7 players are rushing the ball each game.
This year, the Mustangs have one of the largest and most athletic JV teams the school has had for almost a decade.
Losing 23 seniors will not be easy next year, but the team will be set up for success in coming years through strong participation and talent in the lower grades.
Kickoff for the varisty game against Brentsville will be at 7 p.m. this Friday, September 24 at Meridian High School.
The homecoming game against Skyline will take place the following Friday, October 1. Admission is five dollars.
MERIDIAN SENIOR RUNNING back Patrick Whitaker takes the ball up field behind a group of
blockers. (Photo: david werth)
Mustang Volleyball Remains Upbeat After A Rough Start
by Mike Abler
Falls Church News-Press
The Meridian Mustangs volleyball team suffered another loss, this time at an away game against Thomas Jefferson High School with a score of 3-1. This loss now puts the Mustangs at 0-7 before their next game against Warren County.
While many teams would scramble for answers, Head Coach Derek Baxter remains calm. “Our morale is fine, we just need to keep fighting and stay in control,” he said.
Meridian’s struggles have been inconsistent. They always show some fight in them but it seems like whenever they get something going, the other team easily overpowers them.
In the third set, the game went on past the game point because Meridian continued to fight. Meridian would win that set 26-24, only to get trounced in the final set of the game.
The Mustangs were blown out in the 2nd and final set but kept it close in the opening set. They were down 4-1 but quickly tied the game at 5 and kept it close before losing.
Head Coach Derek Baxter attributes his team’s struggles to the players rotating and learning their new positions.
Time is running out for Meridian this season. But there’s still time to take a stand to win some games to salvage what they have left.
Senior Natalie Burke agrees that team unity is strong, “We’ve had a lot of team bonding moments off the court.” But she added that “Something isn’t clicking and we’re trying to figure out what will work for us.”
Burke also mentioned that the team needs to mix things up in order to find something that works for them and focus on the mental components of the game in order to work as a team and secure a win.
However, Burke mentioned that it’s easier to do this, “When you’re winning instead of losing.” Sports can be as much of a psychological affair as it is a physical one.
Not only would Meridian need to figure out a helpful recipe, but they also need to find ways to foster strength on the court to get this right.
The fact that the team feels closeness and a willingness to solve this mystery is helpful.
The Mustangs are committed to finding answers instead of giving up.
The Mustangs may not have a shot at the playoffs, but to them, team unity and progression will be their championship this season. As long as they keep their heads up, things may slowly improve.
THE MERIDIAN Mustangs volleyball team faced off against Thomas Jefferson High School on Monday. The team lost their seventh
game of the season. (Photo: CourtesyMike Abler
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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F.C.’s David Meredith Wins CEO World Award
Everbridge, Inc., the critical event management leader, announced this week that Chief Executive Officer David Meredith received a distinguished Globee Award in the Visionary category as part of the 9th Annual 2021 CEO World Awards. The award, a press release states, showcases Meredith’s leadership and commitment to forward-thinking innovation, organizational performance, and corporate social responsibility.
Under Meredith’s leadership, as a visionary leader in the industry of critical event management, Everbridge recently announced the first Critical Event Management (CEM) Certification program for assessing an organization’s enterprise resilience. Developed from 20 years of professional services engagements across tens of thousands of projects in over 150 countries and facilitating tens of billions of critical interactions, Everbridge’s proprietary CEM Standards Framework and related certification process offer organizations an end-to-end methodology for evaluating and benchmarking enterprise resilience preparedness.
Meredith, a Bishop O’Connell and James Madison University graduate, grew up with his family on W. Columbia in Falls Church, and was a frequent participant in pick-up basketball games at the nearby F.C. Community Center. He was also a frequent guest of the News-Press’ Nicholas Benton at local Chamber of Commerce and White House Correspondent Association dinners.
With Meredith at the helm, in the past year, Everbridge brought together top government leaders, C-level executives and healthcare and security experts to shape the dialogue around a post-pandemic road to recovery. Everbridge created a symposium series offering global leaders a valuable forum to exchange best practices on how to protect people and business assets; build back and grow revenue streams; increase business resiliency; and mitigate potential threats like IT outages, cyber-attacks, natural disasters, and many other critical events.
The Everbridge Global Executive Leadership Summit engaged 40,000 senior executives, government, and health officials from 150 countries. Notable leaders interviewed by David Meredith include Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Anthony Fauci, MD, U.S. General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Co-Founder of Apollo Global Management and Co-Owner of the Philadelphia 76ers Josh Harris, and William Shatner.
David Meredith recently ranked Top 50 in the largest company category by Comparably for Best CEO (2020) and Best CEO for Diversity (2021), earning a CEO rating of A+, measured across 60,000+ companies. Numerous media outlets and industry organizations have hosted, recognized, and quoted Meredith from CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Cramer, CNBC Squawk Alley, UK-based Sky News Live, Nasdaq Trade Talk, and NPR’s Morning Edition, among others..
Sens. Warner, Kaine Boost Low Income Homebuyers
Virginia U.S. Senators. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine joined other members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee, Chris Van Hollen, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff introduced the Low-Income First Time Homebuyers (LIFT) Act to establish a new program to help first-time, first-generation homebuyers – predominately Americans of color – build wealth more rapidly. By offering new homeowners a 20-year mortgage for roughly the same monthly payment as a traditional 30-year loan, LIFT will allow them to grow equity twice as fast.
“The number one way that middle class Americans build wealth is through homeownership, an opportunity that due to racism and structural inequality has been denied to too many families of color. Today, Black families in this country have an average net worth just one-tenth the size of their white counterparts,” said Warner. “The LIFT Act will help close the racial wealth gap by allowing qualified home buyers to build equity and wealth at twice the rate of a conventional 30-year mortgage.”
F.C. Council Mulls Outdoor Dining Rules
As the special allowances for the Covid-19 pandemic begin to terminate, the F.C. City Council faces the challenge of a more permanent revision to the outdoor dining rules for local restaurants.
So far, there are 11 locations where outdoor dining operations have been permitted under special Covid-19 conditions that take up existing parking spots. The question will be whether those parking spaces are really needed.
The cases are currently at 107 Rowell Court, 124 N. Washington and 130 N. Washington, 132 W. Broad, 200 W. Broad, 205 Park, 220 N. Washington, 442 S. Washington, 441 W. Broad, 450 N. Washington and 6795 Wilson Blvd.
The Council will also be considering more permanent rules for the operation of food trucks. SEPTEMBER 23 - 29, 2021 | PAGE 19
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Thank you, Sally Cole, for your tireless advocacy for small businesses, your love of the Little City, and your dedication to connecting people. You make our lives so much richer! Welcome and congrats, Elise Bengtson - we can't wait to meet you in your new role as Executive Director of the Chamber!
