Chesapeake-AA claims first region title, tops JM Bennett
The season of firsts continues for the Chesapeake-Anne Arundel football team.
The Cougars started 6-0 for the first time in school history, then last week won the program’s first playoff game. On Saturday at Wicomico County Stadium, Chesapeake won its first region title.
Dylan Young threw a pair of touchdown passes, Colton Spangler accounted for 18 points and the defense forced three turnovers in a 36-21 victory over host James M. Bennett in the Class 3A East Region final.
Chesapeake (9-3) will play in its first state semifinal when it travels to Linganore to face the defending state champions this weekend.
“I feel like we’re at the point now where we can go into any game and feel like we have a shot,” Cougars’ coach Rob Elliott said. “To me, that’s half the battle. Believing you can win. That’s the biggest culture change, believing you can win a football game.”
Elliott admitted that some things that happened on Saturday could have resulted in a loss in previous years. The Cougars had a 20-7 lead late in the first half and were deep in J.M. Bennett territory, but Troy Gibson picked off a pass and returned it all the way inside the Chesapeake 1-yard line. The Clippers scored on the next play and went into halftime down 20-14 and seemingly with all the momentum.
In maybe their biggest possession of the game, the Cougars had the ball to start the second half and needed just three plays to restore the 13-point lead when Young hit Hunter Davis for a 20-yard touchdown.
“The interception right before the half was a killer,” Elliott said. “My question to the team at halftime was, ‘Are we going to let one play beat us?’ To me, the biggest part of this game was the second half when we got the kickoff and went down and scored. We took the momentum right back.”
Though the hosts fought back to get within six points heading to the fourth, Spangler kicked his third field goal of the game and Jaylen Richardson scored on a short run to put the game away.
James M. Bennett ran just eight plays in the fourth quarter that resulted in seven incomplete passes and a play that resulted in a loss of 13 yards.
“This is two games in a row where our O-line in the fourth quarter got into a grind-it-out mode,” Elliott said. “At that point, the clock is your friend. You’re just trying to make positive plays.”
NO. 2 CALVERT HALL 35, NO. 3 ARCHBISHOP SPALDING 21: Ray Glass had two touchdown runs and the Cardinals (11-1) completed a come-from-behind victory over the host Cavaliers (8-3) in the second round of the Maryland Christian Schools Invitational.
Sean Tucker had an 83-yard touchdown with 11:16 left in the game to put Calvert Hall ahead for good. The Cardinals finished on a 14-0 run.
NO. 4 MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH 49, CAPITAL CHRISTIAN 15: The Gaels (10-2) built a 49-8 lead in the first half and rolled past the Red Storm (5-7) in the Maryland Christian Schools Invitational second round at No. 3 Archbishop Spalding. The victory marked the first 10-win season for Mount Saint Joseph. Baltimore Sun staff contributed to this article.