Eagles beat Spartans, stay perfect
Eagles down St. Charles in battle of unbeaten teams
Following a cordial postgame handshake and a quick conversation on the dampened field at St. Charles High School after the visiting North Point football team stayed unbeaten with a 41-14 victory on Friday night, Eagles head coach Tom Petre and Spartans first-year head coach Patrick Orndoff reached the same conclusion regarding the outcome.
North Point senior Malik Lawrence proved to a triple threat as he intercepted three Kameron Blount passes, returning one for a touchdown, caught three passes from quarterback Asa Williams and also returned punts and kickoffs. He also holds for place kicker Evan Patterson on extra points and field goals and made his presence known there as well.
“Malik’s a special player,” Petre said. “He can do so many things and he’s one of those guys that is difficult to plan for. He’s even more impressive on the field than he is on film.”
St. Charles (6-1, 2-1 SMAC Potomac) actually
opened the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference Potomac Division contest with a promising drive that exhausted more than one-half the opening quarter.
The Spartans’ drive was kept alive on personal foul penalty and stalled just across midfield when Blount had a pass intercepted by Micah Prout deep in Eagles territory. North Point got to midfield before punting and that enabled Lawrence to make his first big play.
On first down at St. Charles’ 26, Blount tossed his second interception of the opening quarter and this time Lawrence grabbed it out in the flat and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. On the extra point attempt, Lawrence dropped the snap, so he and Patterson sprinted toward the left sideline where Lawrence flipped the ball to his kicker who found the left corner of the end zone for an 8-0 Eagles lead.
St. Charles immediately responded when R.J. Burrell returned the ensuing kickoff into North Point territory and three plays later Blount connected with Frank Owens on a 44-yard scoring strike. Blount’s pass on the 2-point conversion landed incomplete, so the Spartans trailed 8-6 with less than one minute left in the first quarter.
North Point got long runs from Williams and Corey Johnson to cross midfield before Williams fumbled the ball and the Spartans recovered. St. Charles countered with a drive that ended when Lawrence recorded his second interception of the half and returned it into Spartans territory.
Six plays later, North Point extended the lead to 14-6 on a 7-yard run by Williams, but Johnson was stuffed on the 2-point try. On the Spartans’ next play, Blount fumbled and the Eagles recovered in the red zone. Seven plays later, following a roughing the kicker penalty against St. Charles, Williams scored from 8 yards out on a keeper with 20 seconds left in the half.
“He’s really the difference maker,” Orndoff said of Williams. He’s tough to defend because he makes good decisions and he’s so hard to tackle once he gets going. Malik is also special. He’s capable of making plays in all three phases. When I coached him the last three years [at North Point] he was like having an offensive coach on the field.”
North Point (7-0, 4-0) took ample momentum into the locker room at the intermission and emerged with more. On the Eagles’ second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Johnson found a hole up the middle and raced 66 yards for a touchdown and Patterson added the extra point for a 27-6 lead. But that score did not prove to be the knockout punch.
St. Charles responded with another long kickoff return by Burrell and the Spartans needed only six plays to go 52 yards and climbed back to 27-14 when Blount connected with Konner Blount-Foster on a 25-yard strike then Blount added the 2-point conversion on a keeper. But the Spartans were unable to maintain the momentum for long.
North Point responded with two touchdowns before the end of the third quarter to take a commanding lead into the final frame. Johnson added his second touchdown of the night when he scored from 36 yards out and, following another interception by Lawrence, Williams called his own number on the very next play and scored from 6 yards out.
“I told the guys after the game that we’re still 6-1 and we have three games left against 3A teams,” said Orndoff, who had been the North Point offensive coordinator the previous four seasons under Petre before taking the Spartans job. “For us, the playoffs basically start now. We go to Great Mills [on Friday] and they’re going to be ready for us. Tonight the difference was we didn’t and we didn’t tackle and we faced a very, very good football team.”
The Spartans’ contest at Great Mills is at 6 p.m. Friday. The Hornets (1-6) were shut out by Huntingtown in Week 7, 21-0.
North Point also makes a trip to St. Mary’s County on Friday, taking on Leonardtown at 6 p.m. The Raiders (0-7) lost to Northern 43-20 in Week 7.
Westlake shuts out McDonough
The Wolverines kept their playoff hopes alive in the Class 2A South Region by blanking the Rams in a SMAC Chesapeake Division contest on Friday night, 35-0.
Westlake (5-2, 3-0 SMAC Chesapeake) owned a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter then added four scores in the second quarter to gain a comfortable advantage over the Rams (1-6, 0-4).
Wolverines quarterback Jalon Spencer completed 10 of 17 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, while reserve Jeremiah Maxwell connected on all three of his attempts for 41 yards.
Westlake’s ground game collected 114 yards and three touchdowns on 28 attempts as three different runners found the end zone. Spencer carried five times for 39 yards and one score, while Kamari Ramsey had two rushes for 15 yards and a touchdown.
Laquay Washington Jr. had five carries for 29 yards, while Curtonio Marshall rushed seven times for seven yards and one touchdown. Andre Jackson Jr. has three carries for 15 yards.
Nate Tyler led the Wolverines’ receiving corps with five catches for 40 yards, while Kevin Hughley has two catches for 19 yards and one touchdown and Dagod Lawrence had one reception for 25 yards and a score.
Westlake will take on Patuxent at 7 p.m. Friday in a contest that will be played at North Point High School. Patuxent (25, 2-1) fell to Calvert in Week 7, 49-14.
McDonough will be at Northern at 7 p.m. Friday. The Patriots (5-2, 2-2 SMAC Potomac) defeated Leonardtown in Week 7, 43-20.