Gaels’ Wax makes call after each TD
Mount Saint Joe running back pays tribute to father; Millers prolific with picks
Each time Marlowe Wax Jr. scores a touchdown for Mount Saint Joseph, his thoughts briefly wander far from the game.
The junior running back jumps off the ground and places a phone call to heaven to honor his father. Marlowe Wax Sr. died from a heart attack when his son was 8 years old.
At every Mount Saint Joseph game, Wax has a huge contingent of family in the stands, including his mother, sister, brother, aunts and cousins, but he never forgets his dad.
In a reserved and emotional celebration, he turns his hand, with thumb and pinkie pointed out, into a telephone, puts it to his ear and reaches high in the air.
“That’s me calling up to him and saying, ‘Thank you,’ and I’m doing this for him,” Wax said. “He was a huge influence on me. He would come to every practice and every game. He was always there and he helped coach me.”
Wax said he and a few friends, Chandler Johnson and Gaels teammates Amir Hall and Jordan Oliver, came up with the idea.
“We saw Antonio Brown do it in a game one time,” Wax said of the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver. “Me and my friends talked about it at school and they were like, ‘Marlowe, you should do that.’ ”
Wax, the No. 2 Gaels’ featured back, has rushed for seven touchdowns this season and honored his father every time. He scored twice in Saturday’s 21-7 upset of Calvert Hall that improved Mount Saint Joseph’s record to 4-1.
On his first touchdown Saturday, Wax, along with Oliver and Dont’e Thornton, made the call.
“It’s important to me, because he means so much to me,” Wax said. “He can live through me, because when he was young, he wasn’t able to play football. This is big for me, because I know he would be proud of me.” Don’t throw on us: Teams might not want to put the ball in the air against No. 7 Milford Mill. In just five games, the Millers have picked off 16 passes.
Richard Akers III has four interceptions. Desmond Shell and Skylar Baker have three each.
Millers coach Reggie White said he doesn’t know whether his defenders are on a school-record pace for interceptions, but Mount Saint Joseph running back Marlowe Wax Jr., pulling away from St. Mary’s-Ryken defender Robert Caldwell II in the season opener, honors his late father after each time he scores for the Gaels. Marlowe Wax Sr. died from a heart attack when Marlowe Jr. was 8. they picked off seven passes two weeks ago in a 61-0 win over Perry Hall.
The Millers (5-0) have allowed just one passing touchdown this fall.
“It’s just a combination of the defensive pressure, the ‘D’ line getting a little bit of pressure, and those DBs being hawks out there. They’re just going crazy. I’m really enjoying it,” said White, whose team has allowed just 28 total points. It’s all about the playoff points: The season has reached its midpoint, and the playoff picture is becoming a bit clearer, although a lot can happen in the final five weeks.
Seven local teams are in first place in their regions and all are undefeated: Broadneck (Class 4A East), Milford Mill (3A North), Chesapeake-AA (3A East), Glenelg ( 2A South), Edmondson ( 2A North), Dunbar (1A North) and Havre de Grace (1A East).
One region that could go down to the final game before all four teams clinch their spots: Class 3A East. Broadneck, North Point and Arundel are in the top three spots, but Annapolis, Old Mill and South River are all 3-2 and within two-tenths of a point of each other in the battle for the fourth spot. Severna Park (2-3) is likely still in the race as well. St. Frances and Mother Nature come to terms: No. 1 St. Frances finally completed a game Friday night after storms and rain cut short or canceled the Panthers’ first three games.
St. Frances defeated Life Christian Academy from Virginia, 51-6, at Utz Field in Patterson Park to improve to 2-0. The Panthers’ only other win was a rainshortened 41-6 victory over Christ the King from New York three weeks ago.
Still, the Panthers have the talent to overcome the short schedule in the national polls. They remain No. 7 in USA Today’s Super 25. They’ve also been No. 1 in the Maryland state media poll all season.
In Friday night’s game, they spread out the offensive fireworks as Isaiah Hardy scored twice, John Griffith threw two touchdown passes and Traeshon Holden threw a touchdown pass and caught one. Joachim Bangda and Blake Corum each ran for a touchdown and Jordan Jakes caught one. Prolific scorers: A handful of Baltimorearea teams are averaging more than 40 points per game.
No. 8 Glenelg leads the way with 215 points, an average of 43. No. 13 Arundel, Harford Tech, Milford Mill and Mount Saint Joseph also lead their leagues in scoring with more than 200 points each.
St. Frances, however, has the area’s best scoring average, with 46 points in its first two games. By The Numbers: Here are some of the other statistics that stood out from last weekend and the season.
203 — Receiving yards on six catches by Chesapeake-AA’s Russell Tongue, who scored twice in a 49-20 win over Lansdowne on Friday.
210 — Rushing yards on 10 carries by Franklin’s Ja’mon Murphy in his first game playing offense. He scored the final two touchdowns to seal a 37-14 win over Dundalk on Friday.
291— Passing yards by Old Mill’s Markus Thompson, who threw five touchdown passes in the win over North County on Friday.
438 — Total yards gained by Woodlawn quarterback Damonta Johns, who threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns and ran for108 yards and two scores in a 63-7 victory over Loch Raven on Friday.