Huntingtown (11-2) scored on its first possession of the
game when Barrett Scotty capped a 60-yard drive with a 37-yard field goal. But
the Hurricanes struggled to move the ball as the game progressed, and barely
had the ball in a second half which saw the team run just 15 offensive plays.

Johnson (10-3) took the lead late in the first quarter on
Richie Anderson’s three-yard touchdown run. The Patriots, who chewed up the
clock with great success throughout the second half, added to the advantage with
Heath Dalgren’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Nate Hairston with 2 minutes 19
seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Hurricanes missed out on a couple of opportunities in
the first half – failing on a fourth-and-inches from the Johnson 13-yard line
with 4:36 left in the opening half, and the team also lost a fumble at the tail
end of long pass play that would have given Huntingtown the ball inside the
Johnson 20.

Brandon Berney led a Johnson rushing attack that accumulated
225 yards on the night with a 22-carry, 127-yard effort. Davonte Fletcher
rushed for 114 yards to lead the Hurricanes.

Thomas Johnson 12, Huntingtown 3

TJ     6 0 6 0

H     3 0 0 0

First quarter

H – FG Scotty 37, 9:47

TJ – Anderson 3 run (kick blocked), :46

Third quarter

TJ – Hairston 24 pass from Dahlgren (run failed), 2:19

Rushing – TJ: Berney 22-127, Anderson 12-44, Sponyoe 11-44,
Dahlgren 5-8, Yarbrough 1-2, Johnson 1-0; H: Fletcher 17-114, Ersoy 5-9,
Stewart 1-0

Passing – TJ: Dahlgren 6-11-0 69; H: Piazza 7-17-2 92

Receiving – TJ: Hairston 3-42, Berney 2-3, Anderson 1-24; H: Woodburn 2-21,
Moorehead 1-45, Stewart 1-16, Donaldson 1-6, Baczynski 1-2, Fletcher 1-2

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3. Eagles hang on

CATONSVILLE – Huntingtown sophomore Tori Bellucci and
several of her Hurricanes teammates had a big weekend planned, heading down to
take part in a College Soccer Showcase in North Carolina. Bellucci helped to
make sure the trip down was a pleasant one.

The sophomore striker scored in the 17^th minute
of Thursday night’s 3A championship game at UMBC to lift Huntingtown to a 1-0
win over the Urbana Hawks and with it, the program’s first-ever state
championship.  Huntingtown, which fell in
the state final a year ago, also earned the distinction of being the first
Calvert County soccer program to win a state championship.

“To be back here is a thrill. To finish this way is even
more of a thrill,” Huntingtown coach Jill Twetten said. “I never took for
granted that we would be back here even though I knew I had a team that could
make it back here. It’s a long road and I’m so proud of them.”

Huntingtown (18-1) received all the scoring it would need
when Bellucci took a feed from Micaela Antzoulatos , streaked in Urbana
goalkeeper Natasja Hirabayashi and deposited a shot in the lower right side of
the goal. The same two Hurricanes combined to produce the game-winning goal in
the team’s 1-0 semifinal win against Reservoir, last year’s state champion.

“[Antzoulatos] sent me a through ball,” Bellucci said. “I
knew that we weren’t going to have tons of opportunities. I just capitalized on
the great ball that she fed me. I tried to place it in the corner, nice and
easy.”

Urbana (14-4-2) had earned its spot in the state final with
a 1-0 win over C.M. Wright. Roles were reversed in the state final.

“Actually in that match it came down to one mistake,” Urbana
coach Chuck Nichols said. “C.M Wright made a mistake and we capitalized.
Unfortunately the tables were turned.

“After that first goal I thought we did a great job. Unfortunately
we made a tactical error.”

Bellucci’s tally proved to be the game’s only goal, but it
was not for lack of opportunity. Following the score, Urbana dominated
possession time and generated the bulk of the scoring opportunities. But time
and again, Huntingtown goalkeeper Shelby Taylor and her defensive cohorts
repelled the Hawks’ attacks.

“They were massive in the back,” Nichols said. “They were
like the Great Wall of China. I thought they did a great job. “

Including the state final, Huntingtown surrendered just five
goals in 19 games – and three of those came in just the third game of the
season.

“We have a killer defense and killer goalie,” Twetten said. “I
knew if they played strong we could keep them scoreless. And we have a killer
striker that seems to find the net almost every game.”

A year ago Huntingtown reached the state final with a
relatively young team, with just two seniors on the roster. With 10 seniors
back for the return trip, Thursday night’s win was a fitting conclusion.

“To win in my senior year is amazing. Last year when we lost
it really hurt. It was the worst feeling ever,” said Taylor Morton, one of the
team’s defensive standouts. “We won it, and it’s the best feeling ever.”

Huntingtown 1, Urbana 0

H     1     0

U     0     0

Goals: Bellucci (H)

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3. North Point tops Westlake, claims piece of fourth SMAC title

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
1-4

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Davonte Fletcher changed that, and in a hurry.

The senior running back found a seam down the left sideline
and sprinted for a 98-yard touchdown to extend what had been a one-point lead
and seemingly tilt the momentum in Huntingtown’s favor for good. Huntingtown proceeded
to earn a 28-6 win on Friday night.

“It was excellent blocking by my O-line. I just saw the seam
outside and I was gone. I saw [Westlake’s Ayo Ogunniyi] out of the corner of my
eye, and was like, ‘He ain’t catching me.’ I had to hurry up and get in the end
zone.”

Fletcher rushed for a game-high 163 yards and two touchdowns
to pace the Huntingtown (7-1) offensive onslaught. Westlake (6-2), which
trailed 7-6 at the time of Fletcher’s nearly full-field dash, turned the ball
over six times and was unable to score again.

“I don’t know what the situation was with our guys. I think
it was more about the mistakes we made than them knocking us off the field – 7-6
ball game, you got them at the 3-yard line…bottom line was everybody was
adjusting to the formation and the ball was snapped,” Westlake coach Dominic
Zaccarelli said. “The defense wasn’t set. Now [98] yards later he’s in the end
zone.

“Then we’re driving the ball to answer and we turn the ball
over. It was like every time we tried to do something we’d turn the ball over. I
think it was more about what we didn’t do. I don’t think it was a situation
where the kids weren’t playing hard. It’s just that as the mistakes happened
they continued to snowball.”

Huntingtown, which turned the ball over three times itself,
scored first on Zach Piazza’s 31-yard toss to Gabe Stewart late in the first quarter.
Stewart had a hand in most of Huntingtown’s offensive success in the opening
stanza, and led all receivers with 61 yards and two touchdowns on the night.

“We practiced against the scout defense all week,” Stewart
said. “We knew what they were going to run against us and we knew a certain
pass play that we were going to beat them with.”

Marquel Lee’s 29-yard scoring strike to Deandre McCoy provided
the Wolverines’ response to cut the gap to 7-6 the following series. But after
Fletcher’s long scoring run Westlake turned the ball over on three straight
possessions. With time running down on the first half and Huntingtown facing a
fourth-and-six, Piazza connected with Stewart on a 21-yard touchdown pass to
increase the visitors’ lead to 21-6.

With an early score in the second half Westlake figured to
pull right back into the game. Instead, the Wolverines fumbled the ball away on
their second play. Huntingtown then marched 27 yards for the final score of the
game, this time a one-yard plunge to pay dirt by Fletcher.

The win was the second consecutive for Huntingtown against a
SMAC contender and potential playoff qualifier. The Hurricanes drilled Calvert
County rival Patuxent, then undefeated, prior to Friday night’s matchup in Waldorf.

“I can’t say enough about our guys,” Huntingtown coach Jerry
Franks said. “The last two weeks we beat two of the top teams in the
conference. I just can’t say enough good things about them. They came to play.
They played 48 minutes and did a nice job.

“I think we were fortunate to get a couple turnovers, but we
gave a couple back ourselves. We’re just pleased to be in this position.”

Also competitors in the 3A South Region, either Huntingtown
or Westlake had won the regional championship each of the last three years.
Huntingtown has ended Westlake’s season in the regional playoffs each of the
past two years, and has won four of the last five meetings. The Hurricanes also
took control of the race for the region’s top seed this year with Friday’s win.

“Do our kids look forward to this game? I don’t really think
they look forward to it more than any others, but I think we definitely know
they’re a quality team and we have to play our best game in order to be able to
have success,” Franks said. “They played a good team last week and played very
well. Tonight we played very well. When you come to play a good team you want
to play your best.”

Meanwhile, Westlake is still looking for consistency. The
Wolverines opened the season with a signature win of sorts, topping defending
4A champion Urbana. But even then the squad struggled at times, according to
Zaccarelli. With just two weeks left in the regular season, the team needs to
find some kind of rhythm if it expects to make any postseason noise.

“We’ve been so inconsistent all year long,” Zaccarelli said.
“We show signs of brilliance at times. There’s times when we look very explosive,
and then there’s times we look like we’ve never seen the football field in our
life. That’s the roller coaster we’ve been riding all year.

“We use a lot of kids, but we really haven’t had that one
kid that stepped up and said, ‘Coach, give me the ball.’ It’s kind of one of
those deals where we have a bunch of good players but just not that person that
can take over a game. At least that’s what I see right now.”

*Click HERE for photos and videos from the game*

Huntingtown 28,
Westlake 6

H     7 14 7 0

W     0 6 0 0

First quarter

H – Stewart 31 pass from Piazza (Scotty kick), 2:49

Second quarter

W – McCoy 29 pass from Lee (pass failed), 11:52

H – Fletcher 98 run (Scotty kick), 7:01

H – Stewart 21 pass from Piazza (Scotty kick), :23

Third quarter

H – Fletcher 1 run (Scotty kick)

Rushing – H: Fletcher 24-163, Stewart 3-39, Riffe 3-25; W:
Brooks 6-31, White 8-30, Jarvis 1-26

Passing – H: Piazza 4-15-3 62; W: Lee 8-18-2 106, Jarvis 2-6-0 5, Brooks 1-1-0
(minus)1

Receiving – H: Stewart 3-61, Ersoy 1-1; W: McCoy 5-46, Tyler 2-36, Ogunniyi
2-23, Toku 2-5

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According to North Point senior Frank Marshall, his team’s
formula for success is pretty simple.

“We just have to finish. That’s the whole thing,” he said. “We’re
getting better each week. As we get better, you can see what we can do.
Everybody has to make plays. That’s the key thing.”

In Friday night’s game against Huntingtown, just enough
Eagles made plays to help the visitors to a 14-7 win over the Hurricanes.
Huntingtown mounted a final rally to tie the game, but fell less than a yard
short on Robert Baczynski’s reception as time expired.

“Football’s a game of inches,” Huntingtown coach Jerry
Franks said, “and we just didn’t get enough inches.”

In the game’s opening quarter, Huntingtown (4-1) struggled
to gain any inches while North Point (4-1) took the opening kickoff and marched
72 yards on 13 plays to take the early 7-0 lead. DJ Briscoe finished the drive
with a 12-yard jaunt to the end zone to cap a series that consumed the game’s
first seven minutes.

“We felt like we could control the ball on offense, which I
think we kind of did the first half,” North Point coach Ken Lane said.

After recovering a muffed kickoff to open the second half,
the Eagles – who had not sustained any first-half drives after their opening
possession – capitalized. On fourth-and-nine from the Huntingtown 29-yard line,
quarterback Connor Young connected with Toan Nguyen for a touchdown and a 14-0
lead.

Huntingtown, which had gradually been kicking its offense
into gear through the second quarter, made things interesting when Zach Piazza
found Josh Woodburn for a three-yard score midway through the fourth quarter.

The Hurricanes had previously turned the ball over on downs
at the North Point 12, and missed a field goal after a long drive late in the
first half. But after Woodburn’s score and a subsequent North Point
three-and-out, Huntingtown was back in business.

But after driving down to the North Point 29, Curtis Gibson
and Marshall stepped up to provide two of the game’s key plays. On first down,
Gibson chased and caught Piazza for a sack and 11-yard loss. A play later,
Marshall dove to snare a tipped pass just before it bounded off the turf for an
interception with 2 minutes 12 seconds remaining.

“I just stepped up when a play needed to be made,” Gibson
said of his sack. “My teammates worked hard. They pushed, they fought. Me and
Frank did our thing. We fought hard and came away with big plays.”

A North Point first down would have put the game away, but
the Eagles again went three-and-out – the team earned just one first down the
entire second half – to give Huntingtown just over 20 seconds to drive 40 yards
for the tie.

Improbably, the Hurricanes nearly accomplished the feat. On
second down, Julian Moorehead came away with a 47-yard reception off a
deflected pass to advance to the North Point 13. But the subsequent play saw
Baczynski catch a low pass just short of the goal line as time expired, sealing
the victory for the visitors.

“There’s not much to say,” Franks said. “We struggled in the
first half. After the first quarter I think the defense played very well. After
the first half I think our offense played well.”

In terms of total offense, Huntingtown outgained North Point
by nearly 60 yards and earned 13 first downs to the Eagles’ seven. But North
Point capitalized on its scoring opportunities to pick up an important win
after losing at home to Patuxent the week before.

“This week we had good practices and the team came together,”
Marshall said. “Everybody was together. I think that’s the key thing with us.”

“We came off a tough game last week and knew Coach Franks
always has his guys ready,” Lane said. “We knew coming in it was big. The kids
had a good week of practice, which was a good thing to see.

“They came out and played a little different defensively
than we thought they might. We were just able to execute a few things that
we’re kind of used to seeing. We had good rhythm, good tempo and didn’t do
things to shoot ourselves in the foot.”

astates@smacsportsnet.com

North Point 14, Huntingtown 7

N     7 0 7 0

H     0 0 0 7

First quarter

N – Briscoe 12 run (Fugitt kick), 5:08

Third quarter

N – Nguyen 29 pass from Young (Fugitt kick), 9:10

Fourth quarter

H – Woodburn 3 pass from Piazza (Scotty kick), 5:11

Rushing – N: Briscoe 14-53, Monroe 10-29, Marshall 7-13,
Prather 3-8; H: Fletcher 14-36

Passing – N: Young 5-11-0 63; H: Piazza 17-32-1 194

Receiving – N: Nguyen 2-38, Smith 1-12, Monroe 1-10, Briscoe 1-3; H: Baczynski
6-81, Moorehead 5-74, Ersoy 2-10, Woodburn 2-6, Fletcher 1-13, Donaldson 1-10

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At the half of his team’s game at North Point Friday night,
Patuxent coach Steve Crounse looked at junior quarterback Trey Lee and
delivered a simple message.

“I said I need you to make two plays for me in the second
half,” Crouse said of his conversation with his quarterback after the Panthers
accumulated just 36 yards of total offense in the first half.

Lee came through, connecting on a pair of touchdowns with
Dakota Edwards to help the visiting Panthers to a huge 24-10 win over the
Eagles.

The fact that Patuxent (4-0) was even in position to
maintain its still-spotless season record was a credit to its defensive effort.

Collin Gantt returned the game’s opening kickoff 88 yards to
the North Point 8-yard line, setting up Eric Chaconas’s 25-yard field goal to open
the scoring. And though Patuxent’s offense earned just two first downs in the
opening half, its defense didn’t allow the Eagles much more. But early in the
second quarter the Eagles worked the ball inside the Patuxent 20 before Gantt
scooped up a fumble and returned it 78 yards to pay dirt for a 10-0 Panthers
lead.

“Our kids just didn’t quit,” Crounse said. “Defensively we
hung in there, didn’t let them make a big play. It was all defense.”

North Point answered the second-half bell by promptly
ripping off a two-play, 65-yard drive for a touchdown. Frank Marshall did the
honors, scoring on a 52-yard run to cut the deficit to 10-7. That was to be the
Eagles’ only trip into the end zone, however.

Five-plus minutes later Lee connected with Edwards on a
39-yard touchdown pass to push the lead back to 10 points. In the fourth
quarter, after the Eagles had cut the deficit to 17-10, Lee again hooked up
with Edwards for a backbreaking score. The final score was of the more
spectacular variety, with Edwards snagging Lee’s pass one-handed on the run on
his way to a 55-yard score.

“Offensively we started getting kids banged up, 10 in the
box…they’re a physical and athletic team,” Crounse said of his offense’s
first-half struggles. “They made it real hard on us to get any momentum going
from our base formations. We had to come out and try to spread them out in the
second half. Trey made two great passes and Dakota Edwards made an unbelievable
catch.”

Lee completed just three passes on the game, but two went
for 94 yards and two scores. He also finished the game with 100 yards on the
ground, 80 of which came in the second half.

“We still felt like we did what we wanted to do defensively,”
North Point coach Ken Lane said regarding the Eagles success against the
Panthers’ single-wing offense. “They made a good adjustment, went to a
different look. They hit a couple passes on us, but I think it was because we
had done a pretty good job defensively shutting down what they’d been doing all
along. We just didn’t execute offensively.

“We went in feeling like if they were going to beat us
they’re going to do it throwing the football.”

The teams’ most recent meeting had been in the season opener
of the 2008 season. At the time, North Point was fielding just the second
varsity team in program history and the first with a senior class, while
Patuxent was the defending SMAC champion and a team that had made back-to-back
playoff appearances.

Everything changed in the two years in between. While North
Point has enjoyed a piece of the last three SMAC titles and has qualified for
the postseason in each of those campaigns, the Panthers struggled over the past
two seasons while stuck in rebuild mode. According to Crounse, Friday night’s
win represents the most significant win for the Patuxent program  since at least the 2008 season.

“This was a great win. Nobody but us believed we had a
chance at this game,” he said. “As far as a benchmark, this was the biggest
game the program’s played since ’08, or even ’07 when we were in the playoffs.
The last two years have been real tough for our kids.

“I don’t want to say we’re back, but this is a pretty big,
signature win. Two weeks ago going up to South Carroll, who was 11-1 [in 2010],
that was a pretty big, signature win. Those are games we wouldn’t have won the
last couple years. These kids find a way. They’re resilient. They won’t quit.”

Click HERE for photos and videos from the game

Patuxent 24, North Point 10

P     3 7 7 7

N     0 0 10 0

First quarter

P – FG Chaconas 25, 10:55

Second quarter

P – Gantt 78 fumble return (Chaconas kick), 10:32

Third quarter

N – Marshall 52 run (Fugitt kick), 11:36
P – Edwards 39 pass from Lee (Chaconas kick), 6:02

N – FG Fugitt 30, 2:12

Fourth quarter

P – Edwards 55 pass from Lee (Chaconas kick), 7:41

Rushing – P: Lee 24-100; N: Briscoe 19-69, Marshall 3-55

Passing – P: Lee 3-10-1 100; N: Young 10-21-0 115

Receiving – P: Edwards 2-94, Gross 1-6; N: Prather 5-44, Carter 3-33, Marshall
2-38

E-mail Andy States at astates@smacsportsnet.com

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Since Calvert’s last win in the series in 2005, the Cavaliers
have reached the .500 mark in just one season (2009) while Huntingtown
proceeded to earn multiple playoff berths, a pair of 3A South championships and
an appearance in the 2009 3A championship game. Head-to-head, Calvert played
the Hurricanes to within 15 points just once during that same span, losing
27-24 in 2006.

If Friday night’s encounter between the county rivals is to
be any indication, that trend will be changing.

Calvert, in its first year under former longtime Huntingtown
assistant Rick Sneade, was tied with the Hurricanes through three quarters and
drove to the Huntingtown 10-yard line in the final moments before Josh Woodburn’s
interception sealed a 21-14 win for the visiting Hurricanes.

“You feel like going against your brothers, against people
that our players have grown up with,” said Huntingtown coach Jerry Franks, who
returned after missing the previous week’s win over Chopticon after undergoing
surgery on a blocked artery the previous week. “Our seniors have been with
Ricky for three years. It’s good. I think this Huntingtown-Calvert rivalry will
be a thing every year.”

Davonte Fletcher rushed for a game-high 197 yards and two
touchdowns, while Gabe Stewart scored what turned out to be the game-winning
touchdown on a 10-yard jaunt with 8 minutes 23 seconds remaining in the game.

“This game was a real crazy game,” Fletcher said. “Calvert
came out to play tonight.”

After an interception ended the first drive of the game for
Huntingtown (3-0), Calvert (0-3) quickly marched 38 yards into the end zone for
the game’s first score. Stewart Brooks did the honors, taking the ball in from
a yard out to give the hosts the early edge.

Fletcher capped the ensuing drive with a 44-yard sprint to
pay dirt to provide Huntingtown’s answer and knot the score 7-7. Early in the
second quarter, Fletcher scored his second touchdown of the night on a six-yard
run to push the Hurricanes to a 14-7 lead.

Calvert responded with a 10-minute drive that spanned 98
yards and essentially consumed the remainder of the first half. It also ended
with Brooks’ second touchdown of the night, this time on a five-yard pass from
Jermaine Hunter to tie the score at 14 heading to the half.

Later, Stewart scored the go-ahead touchdown to culminate an
88-yard drive early in the fourth quarter. Calvert opened its next possession
at its own 36, and methodically drove deep into Huntingtown territory. But on a
third-and-seven from the Hurricanes 10, Woodburn snapped a floating pass out of
the air for a potentially game-saving interception.

“The ball was in the air. If felt great to get it,” Woodburn
said. “I felt like I had my whole team on my back. My team played a great game.
I think everybody played a great game.”

Calvert will attempt to build on its performance when it
travels to La Plata this Saturday afternoon, while Huntingtown is slated to
play at Lackey Friday night.

“When you play against county rivals and teams that have the
relationship that we’ve had with Ricky over the years, it’s an emotional game,”
Franks said. “Their kids were playing very emotional, and we were. It’s one of
those things. He’s going to have a good career here and turn it around.”

Huntingtown 21, Calvert 14

H     7 7 0 7

C     7 7 0 0

First quarter

C – Brooks 1 run (Hayes kick), 8:14

H – Fletcher 44 run (Scotty kick), 7:12

Second quarter

H –Fletcher 6 run (Scotty kick), 10:46

C – Brooks 5 pass from Hunter (Hayes kick), :47

Fourth quarter

H – Stewart 10 run (Scotty kick), 8:33

*Click HERE for photos and videos from the game*

Related posts:

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2. Fletcher, ‘Canes torch Wolverines
3. Westlake scores 26 unanswered, defeats McDonough

But having already been pushed to the limit in an overtime
victory over defending 4A champion Urbana in the season’s opening week, the
potentially critical blow was but another bump in the road for the already
battle-tested Wolverines. Westlake recovered to hold the Rams to negative
yardage over the course of the second half and scored the game’s final 26
points in a 26-14 win Friday night.

“Our kids had confidence that they could come back,”
Westlake coach Dominic Zaccarelli said. “We felt that way at halftime when we
were down 7-0. [McDonough] ran the kickoff back, and the comments on the
sideline were, ‘We’re not going to lose this game.’

“Whether we would have or not, the kids had the confidence
that they could come back and had the ability to come back and believed in one
another. I think that part of going through that experience two weeks ago with
Urbana carried over to tonight. Close games, both very good football teams, two
of the top teams in the state and they have a chance to be very good in the
playoffs, both of them.”

McDonough (2-1), which gained less than 100 yards of total
offense on the night, scored first on Devone Boone’s 25-yard screen to Marchez
Coates roughly halfway through the second quarter. Later, after Jones’ return
to open the second half, it appeared the Rams were on the precipice of a huge
road victory.

Instead, Westlake (3-0) stole the momentum. Deandre Mccoy
took the ensuing kickoff back to the McDonough 30-yard line. Nine plays – and one
fourth-down conversion – later, Ayo Ogunniyi scored the first of his three
rushing touchdowns to cut the deficit to 14-6.

Then Westlake’s defense took over.

McDonough’s next series saw the Rams lose eight yards on
their first two plays before a third-down fumble that Westlake’s Justin
Lawrence recovered on the McDonough 20. Two plays later Ogunniyi scored again,
and with the successful two-point conversion the game was tied.

“[The defense] made some good adjustments and the kids
responded,” Zaccarelli said. “We started getting into a rhythm offensively, and
it turned out to be a big win for us.”

On its own 5 early in the fourth, an errant McDonough snap
rolled free in the end zone and was covered by Westlake’s Michael Brooks for
the go-ahead touchdown. McDonough ran just four offensive plays for the
duration of the game, with three going for Westlake interceptions.

“Fortunately for us, the ball didn’t bounce wacky ways,”
Zaccarelli said. “Sometimes you get that ball on the ground and it doesn’t go
your way. Fortunately for us it did tonight.”

*Click HERE for photos and videos from the game*

Westlake 26, McDonough 14

M     0 7 7 0

W     0 0 14 12

Second quarter

M – Coates 25 pass from Boone (McMichael kick), 6:47

Third quarter

M – Jones 87 kick return (McMichael kick), 11:44

W – Ogunniyi 3 run (run failed), 7:03

W – Ogunniyi 3 run (Ogunniyi pass from Lee), 5:06

Fourth quarter

W – Brooks recovered fumble in end zone (kick failed), 11:00

W – Ogunniyi 8 run (pass failed), 2:25

Rushing – M: Jones 8-35, Cox 5-33; W: White 12-88, Hanks
6-27

Passing – M: Boone 2-9-3 31; W: Lee 8-11-1 107

Receiving – M: Coates 2-31; W: Mccoy 2-36, Ogunniyi 2-26, Lawrence 2-19, White
1-13, Toku 1-13

Related posts:

1. Rams roll past Patriots
2. North Point tops Westlake, claims piece of fourth SMAC title
3. Fletcher, ‘Canes torch Wolverines

With his North Point Eagles ahead 7-0, but having failed to
finish a pair of previous drives with points, Prather seized his opportunity in
the early stages of Monday night’s second quarter against the visiting Lackey
Chargers when he picked off a Wesley Jennings pass and sprinted downfield for a
touchdown. Prather’s touchdown – his second of the night – gave the Eagles what
turned out to be an insurmountable two-score lead on the way to a 24-7 win.

“They ran the stop and corner, but I just felt it and the
quarterback just threw it up,” Prather said. “I knew I had to make a play. I’ve
been watching film all week, so I knew it was coming.”

Prather was on the receiving end of a 25-yard touchdown pass
from Connor Young to cap the first drive of the game for North Point
(2-0).  But following that opening
55-yard drive, the first half was largely an exercise in offensive futility for
both teams.

Lackey (1-1) failed to earn a single first down in the
opening half, while the Eagles’ offensive unit did not put any more points on
the board despite having possession in Lackey territory on four subsequent
drives. Much of the sloppiness could likely be blamed on the previous week’s
weather, as the game had been postponed from Friday to Saturday, and then moved
again to Monday night.

“We felt like we had control of the tempo at the beginning,”
North Point coach Ken Lane said. “There were some penalties, missed
opportunities, mental mistakes. I think on both sides. I think it probably had
a lot to do with being on and off in practice, and the game moving twice. It’s
probably the same for every game going on.”

“It was tough. We came out here on Saturday, and it was kind
of like, ‘Wow, we’re finally out here,’” Prather added. “We had to be tough
mentally. Coming out here felt good. It felt kind of weird, because we haven’t
been together on the practice field for like three days.”

Following a first half that saw the Chargers barely put a
positive number of total yards on the stat sheet, Lackey opened the second half
with a 15-play, 80-yard drive that featured four completions from Jennings to
Jaylen Jennings, including a one-yard touchdown toss.

On the ensuing possession, Lackey forced North Point into a
fourth-and-nine to force a punt, but a roughing the kicker penalty kept alive
the Eagles’ drive. Nine plays later, Young bulled into the end zone from two
yards out to push North Point’s lead to 21-7 and essentially put an end to
Lackey’s comeback hopes.

“I’m never going to fault the effort, but we have to buckle
down as a staff, as a team, and do things a lot better,” first-year Lackey
frontman John Lush said. “We were making mistakes tonight that we haven’t made
all summer long. It’s a learning experience for me as well as the kids.

“At the end of the day it was just another example of us not
making a play. We hadn’t made plays up to that point. We were fortunate to
still be in the game.”

North Point 24, Lackey 7

L     0 0 7 0

N     7 7 0 10

First quarter

N – Prather 25 pass from Young (Fugitt kick), 9:39

Second quarter

N – Prather 40 interception return (Fugitt kick), 10:55

Third quarter

L – J. Jennings 1 pass from W. Jennings (Booker kick), 2:29

Fourth quarter

N – Young 2 run (Fugitt kick), 7:17

N – FG Fugitt 33, 2:30

Rushing – L: W. Jennings 19-21; N: Briscoe 19-82, Monroe
6-56, Tyson 4-22

Passing – L: W. Jennings 5-12-1 74; N: Young 4-12-2 49

Receiving – L: J. Jennings 4-66, King 1-8; N: Prather 3-38, Monroe 1-11

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3. North Point tops Westlake, claims piece of fourth SMAC title

Already trailing 5-0, surrendering a first down and
potentially more could have furthered the likelihood that the Rams fall prey to
the Patriots’ upset bid. But just as quickly as the upset bid seemed to gain
traction, the momentum swung as David Jones, Jr. picked up a fumbled snap and
scampered 61 yards for McDonough’s first touchdown of the season. The Rams
proceeded to score the game’s next 27 points in a 34-5 win.

“Momentum, whether it be a big hit or turnovers, those are
all game changers,” McDonough coach Luke Ethington said. “What I try to tell
the players it not to play outside of themselves. First game, it’s real. It’s
not a scrimmage, not practice anymore. Sometimes the kids can come out and try
to overcompensate for the natural abilities they have. I just wanted them to
stay within themselves and just go play. That [touchdown], we kind of just
exhaled. We kind of collected ourselves.”

The offensive numbers may not have been huge, but McDonough
(1-0) scored on four straight possessions spanning the late-second and
early-third quarters to give a glimpse of just how explosive it has the potential
to be. Devone Boone threw three touchdown passes – two to Jones and another to
James Harell – while backup quarterback DeMonne’ Cox added a 32-yard rushing
touchdown to lead the Rams to a comfortable season-opening win in front of
their home crowd.

“There were more first-game mistakes than I guess I’m
comfortable with,” Ethington said. “There’s a lot of responsibility that I have
to be accountable for, as far as conditioning and the lack of execution in some
areas.

“The first half was not the brand of football that I’m
accustomed to from us. We’re going to have to make adjustments in a few areas
to get us to the point where I’m satisfied.”

Northern (0-1) opened the game in auspicious fashion,
driving to the McDonough 21 before turning the ball over on downs. Andrew
Rexroth capped the Patriots’ subsequent possession with a 30-yard field goal to
give the visitors an early 3-0 lead.

After McDonough failed to move the ball on its ensuing
possession, the snap to punter Halston Noel sailed over his head and into the
end zone. Noel covered the ball up but was downed for the safety, increasing
Northern’s early edge.

But momentum shifted McDonough’s way after Jones’ fumble
recovery and return on the game’s next series, and the floodgates opened from
there. Northern fumbled the ball away on each of its next two possessions, and
the defending state champions made the Patriots pay.

“Turnovers, we gave up three straight possessions and it
turned into three scores for them,” Northern coach A.J. Berberian said. “You’re
not going to win a football team doing that, and they’re too good a football
team to recover from that.”

Click HERE for photos and videos from the game

McDonough 34, Northern 5

N     5 0 0 0

M     0 20 14 0

First quarter

N – FG Rexroth 30, 4:35

N – Safety, Noel down in end zone, 1:19

Second quarter

M – Jones 61 fumble return (McMichael kick), 11:03

M – Jones 23 pass from Boone (McMichael kick), 4:04

M – Harell 6 pass from Boone (kick failed), :11

Third quarter

M – Jones 28 pass from Boone (McMichael kick), 9:53

M – Cox 32 run (McMichael kick), 6:54

Rushing

N: Bond 15-47, Howard 9-14

M: Cox 6-39, Boone 5-27, Monroe 3-26, Jones 6-19

Passing

N: Wagner 7-11-0 98

M: Boone 5-13-1 91

Receiving

N: Hunter 3-53, Bond 3-36, Williams 1-9

M: Jones 3-57, Harell 2-34

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2. Patriots shut down ‘Canes
3. Rams charge back