North Point tops Westlake, claims piece of fourth SMAC title
When the North Point Eagles dropped their first game of the
football season to the Patuxent Panthers in the season’s fourth week, it wasn’t
difficult to imagine the Eagles might struggle just to finish the season with a
.500 record – let alone qualify for the playoffs or earn a fourth consecutive
SMAC championship.
Over the season’s final six weeks, North Point’s schedule
consisted of five playoff-caliber teams. Included were defending 2A state
champion McDonough, Huntingtown, Westlake, Patuxent and private-school
powerhouse Friendship Collegiate. To split the final six games would not have
been out of the question, yet, following the Eagles’ 27-15 Friday-night win at
Westlake the squad completed the season winning five of those six games.
“Going into the Patuxent game it was something we talked to
the kids about,” North Point coach Ken Lane said. “After we got through the
first three weeks we said, ‘Now we’ve got a real tough stretch coming.
“We didn’t get the first one. We played good defense that
night, played terrible on offense. At some point I think it shows the kids that
winning is not going to be easy. It just doesn’t happen because you’re used to
winning. You have to work at, work hard and make it happen. Sometimes [losses]
wake them up a little bit. It’s a good group of guys. It’s testament to them. We
have played a pretty good schedule. Hopefully that bodes well for us.”
The win over the cross-town rival Wolverines earned North
Point a share of the SMAC title for the fourth season in the program’s
five-year varsity history, split this season with Huntingtown and Patuxent –
the respective top seeds in the 3A South and 2A South. Additionally, the Eagles
qualified for the postseason for the fourth straight season, and will get a 4A
East rematch with Arundel next week.
“The Patuxent game we had a lot of mental mistakes,” said
North Point senior Ke’juan Perez, who contributed a sack and key fumble
recovery in the first half of the Eagles’ win at Westlake. “The next Monday we
had a hard practice and a long speech about mental mistakes. After the Patuxent
game we learned a lesson. We didn’t want to lose big games like that. We stepped
it up.”
Thanks to a dominant defensive effort, North Point (8-2, 7-1
SMAC) enjoyed tremendous field position throughout the first half. The Eagles
finally took advantage with 9 minutes 10 seconds left in the opening half when DJ
Briscoe rushed to pay dirt from five yards out for the game’s initial score.
Roughly seven minutes later, kicker Bryce Fugitt split the uprights from 34
yards out for a 10-0 halftime lead.
Generally a high-octane offense, Westlake earned just three
first downs in the first half and never threatened to score.
“It’s our rival, so we had to play physical,” Perez said. “We
started off physical, stopped them three-and-out. Coach [Ryan] Gick came up
with a good game plan. They couldn’t really stop our rush, so that helped our
cornerbacks a lot.”
Westlake (7-3, 6-2) pulled to within 10-7 on Diontae Hanks’
touchdown midway through the third period, but North Point’s Blake Monroe
opened the Eagles’ next drive with a 44-yard run that instantly put the
visitors back in scoring position. Monroe did the honors himself six plays
later, scampering into the end zone from 10 yards out to push the lead back out
to 17-7.
Fugitt added another field goal and Charles Reid hauled in a
49-yard touchdown pass from Connor Young – North Point’s only completion of the
game – to increase the lead to 27-7 before Westlake’s Marcel Edwards closed the
scoring with a 72-yard kickoff return with 3:37 to play.
“Going into the playoffs it’s nice to go in on a winning
note and with some momentum,” Lane said. “It was a big conference win against a
county rival. It’s a great win for the kids and the program. Four [SMAC titles]
in a row, that’s a huge accomplishment for the outgoing seniors. They didn’t want
to be the team not to do it. It was big.”
Monroe led all rushers with 109 yards on 12 carries, while
Briscoe rushed for another 66. Walter White rushed for 52 yards to lead
Westlake, which was held under 200 yards of total offense.
With Potomac winning on Saturday and Chopticon losing to La
Plata on Saturday, Westlake would figure to slot in with the No. 3 seed in the
3A South playoffs. As the third seed, Westlake would travel to Potomac in the
first round, while top-seeded Huntingtown would host Chopticon.
North Point’s win left the Eagles with the third seed in the
4A East, where a trip to Arundel – Week 10 winners over Southern – awaits.
“We want to be the first team to win a playoff game,” Perez
said postgame at Westlake. “We might get a rematch against the team we lost to
last year, so it feels good.”
Click HERE for photos and videos from the game.
North Point 27,
Westlake 15
N 0 10 7 10
W 0 0 7 8
Second quarter
N – Briscoe 5 run (Fugitt kick), 9:10
N – FG Fugitt 34, 1:59
Third quarter
W – Hanks 1 run (kick good), 6:03
N – Monroe 10 run (Fugitt kick), 1:53
Fourth quarter
N – FG Fugitt 27, 7:46
N – Reid 49 pass from Young (Fugitt kick), 3:53
W – Edwards 72 kickoff return (Brown pass from Lee), 3:37
Rushing – N: Monroe 12-109, Briscoe 14-66, Marshall 10-36;
W: White 9-52, Ogunniyi 5-36, Hanks 3-22
Passing – N: Young 1-6-0 49; W: Lee 7-12-1 32, White 1-1-0 14
Receiving – N: Reid 1-49; W: Lawrence 3-22, McCoy 2-13, Holley 2-7, Ogunniyi
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