It is doubtful that any two football teams in the Northern Region need a victory as badly as Langley and Fairfax.

Both teams suffered close losses in their first game and both lost badly in Week 2, meaning tonight's Liberty District opener is crucial. Another loss and the Saxons will be staring at 0-3 with a matchup against No. 2 Centreville looming. Fairfax faces a similar problem, traveling to Oakton next week.

The Rebels began the season by dropping a heartbreaker to Annandale in overtime, 24-21, and then were blown out by Robinson, 62-6, last Friday. Langley played Robinson tough in Week 1 before fading late and losing, 28-14 and then was beaten by Westfield, 41-0.

``You never want to look at a loss as a positive," Saxons head coach J.J. Hetman said of the Westfield game. ``We need to try and regroup from that and get ready for Fairfax."

Langley had trouble matching the speed and athleticism of Westfield. Several injuries along the offensive line have also hampered Langley's running game. The Saxons have rushed for just 129 yards in two games on 66 attempts.

``We've got to get something going, especially on the ground, otherwise they're going to pin our ears back and come after us," Hetman said.

That is exactly what Westfield did, harassing Langley quarterback Josh Carr into a 4-of-16 passing performance.

The injuries to the offensive line didn't help matters. Senior tackle Stephen Cummings is out for several more weeks with a broken ankle. Aaron Charapp, the team's other starting tackle, missed the Robinson game with a knee injury and saw limited duty against Westfield. Hetman is hopeful his senior will be able to play more this week.

``With the line, there isn't a lot of cohesiveness with that group yet because of the injuries," said Hetman ``They haven't worked together a whole lot."

The Rebels came out of the Robinson game a little banged up themselves. Offensive tackle Oscar Vega, one of the team's top lineman, is out with an injury as is running back/defensive back Andre Archer.

``We have to get back to the basics," said Fairfax head coach Bill Rechin. ``We need to run the ball out of our Wing-T the best we can with Owen Schmitt and make sure we get him the ball...It's tough, but, again, we just have to try and improve on what we can do."

Fairfax won last year's matchup, 14-7, in overtime. Schmitt rushed for 103 yards on 17 carries in that game, including the winning touchdown. He leads the team in rushing with 308 yards this season and currently sits fourth in the area.

Yorktown at West Potomac

Both teams rebounded from season-opening losses. Yorktown beat Jefferson, 27-7, while West Potomac crafted a fourth quarter comeback to knock off Edison, 25-21.

The best way for the Patriots to counter West Potomac's big-play offense is to deny it possession. To that end, head coach Bruce Hanson is emphasizing to his team the need to control the ball this week. Yorktown dominated time of possession in Week 2 against Jefferson, 38 minutes to 10, but that task will be infinitely harder against the Wolverines.

``Anytime you play West Potomac you have to keep the ball moving with first downs and when you do give up the ball, make sure you give them poor field position. If you go three and out too often...and give them a lot of touches, sooner or later their big guys are going to break it."

Yorktown's offense moved the ball well against South Lakes in the season opener, but failed to turn those yards into points often enough for Hanson's liking. That was not a problem against Jefferson as the team rushed for more than 300 yards and had four rushing touchdowns.

``West Potomac has a great tradition," Hanson said. ``You could argue that they've had the best high school program in the region over the last fifteen years."

West Potomac has beaten Yorktown in 13 of the school's 15 meetings, including in the Northern Region, Division 5 semifinals in 1998, 27-21. But last year the Patriots earned a rare win over the Wolverines on the strength of their defense. West Potomac was held to 176 yards rushing on 38 carries. The previous three games in this series the Wolverines had averaged close to 400 yards a game.

Lee at McLean

It's still early, but there is no question the Lancers playoff hopes will be in deep trouble if they can't pull out a win on the road against McLean tonight. Lee is 0-2 and has been beaten soundly by both Edison and South Lakes, the latter a district game. Meanwhile, the Highlanders are off to a 2-0 start and look to tie South Lakes atop the Liberty District with a win.

``They run the option, basically the same thing they did last year, but they go with an eye-formation more often now," Lee head coach Gerry Pannoni said. ``[McLean quarterback] Justin Cotter is a good option quarterback so....we need to find a way to shut it down."

Cotter is 10th in the area in rushing with 222 yards on 20 carries, an 11-yard per carry average, and has scored four touchdowns. John Andrews has been solid at running back as well for the Highlanders.

Defensively, linemen Austin Smith and David Goodsell will have to challenge Lee's mammoth offensive line. McLean's linebackers are excellent, led by Mike Heatwole and David Hale. Lee's defensive line also has a significant size advantage.

``We're [one of] the smallest schools in the region so every game we have to battle tooth and nail," McLean head coach Joe Muskett said. ``We can't afford to make mistakes."

Robert Spalding leads Lee in rushing this year with 131 yards on 19 carries and teammate P.J. Cameron has 93 yards on 25 carries.

According to Muskett, the Highlanders are aware that Lee has made a habit of starting slow and then quickly righting the ship the past few seasons. It is a trend the Lancers hope they can continue.

``Sometimes as a coach you wish you knew what triggers your kids," Pannoni said. ``Last year, we played our worst game of the season against Marshall, then came back and beat [region runner-up] Madison the next week. The last three years, at some point, we started believing we could win. We have get to that point this year."

Chantilly at Falls Church

Last year's contest, the first meeting between the two schools in well over a decade, went to Chantilly, 7-6, courtesy of a late touchdown run by Anthony Cordero. The No. 9 Chargers (2-0) pummelled Hayfield last week, 28-0. The Jaguars look to rebound from a 48-9 loss to No. 7 Madison. Quarterback Matt Jenkins was 13-for-29 passing in that game, but was intercepted three times.

Edison at Marshall

The Eagles present some matchup problems for Marshall, which doesn't have much overall team speed.

``Defensively, [Edison is] probably the quickest team we'll face," said Marshall head coach Pete Salvano. ``They come off the ball really fast, get right into the blocker and get leverage to shed him."

The Statesmen rely on a solid running game with backs Darryl Smith, Zack Leasure and Colton Turner. Edison (1-1) is coming off a close loss to West Potomac, 25-21. Marshall (1-1) knocked off Washington-Lee for its first win of the year, 40-26.

Madison at Stuart

The No. 7 Warhawks won last year's meeting 42-0. Stuart is nursing a 14-game losing streak dating back to Week 5 of the 2000 season. Madison has notched wins over Oakton and Falls Church so far this year. The defense has allowed just 333 yards total offense in its first two games.

Wakefield at Washington-Lee

One of these teams will earn its first win of the season tonight. Generals quarterback Sean Somlar topped the rushing charts last week with a ?-yard performance in Washington-Lee's (0-2) loss to Marshall. Wakefield (0-2), which dropped a 35-7 decision to McLean last week, has won five in a row against its Arlington County rival and six of the last seven in the series.