Stunning end for Spartans
St. Charles scores in final minute to beat Hurricanes, take top spot in 3A South
Throughout the season, the St. Charles High School football had grown accustomed to winning low-scoring contests on nights when the Spartans offense was virtually non-existent save for several big plays, while Huntingtown had relied primarily on its defense to punish opponents.
Friday in a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference Potomac Division game moved up 2 1/2 hours to avoid any inclement weather, St. Charles emerged with an 8-3 victory on a night when it was held scoreless by over 47 minutes. Huntingtown appeared on its way to its fourth straight shutout and seventh overall until the Spartans marched 84 yards on 10 plays for the game’s only touchdown with 41.7 seconds remaining.
“We’ve been winning these ugly games all season,” said St. Charles first-year coach Patrick Orndoff, whose team vaulted into the top spot in the upcoming Class 3A South Region playoffs with the narrow victory. “Our defense really did a great job of keeping us in it. The players and the defensive coaching
staff really came through for us.”
The top-seeded Spartans (8-2, 4-2 SMAC Potomac) will host fourth-seeded Northern (7-3, 3-3 after a 38-0 win at Chopticon on Friday night) in one 3A South Region semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday, while the Hurricanes (8-2, 4-2) fell to the third seed and will be at second-seeded Potomac of Prince George’s County at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Huntingtown had drawn first blood midway through the first quarter when quarterback/place kicker Hunter Bray connected on a 34-yard field goal, but the Hurricanes squandered a chance to add to their advantage right before the intermission.
On third down and goal from St. Charles 2-yardline with 11 seconds remaining and no timeouts, Huntingtown wide receiver Evan Lively was tackled short of the goal line and inbounds on an end around, preventing Bray from attempting a chip shot field goal.
“We initially thought that we had the ball at the 1-yard line, but then we found out it was the 2,” Huntingtown head coach Paul Friel said. “We probably should have thrown the ball there, but we thought we had a play that could get us into the
end zone. Their defense stepped up and made the play. In hindsight, we should have thrown the ball and then kicked a field goal.”
While Huntingtown had spent much of the first half in St. Charles territory, the Spartans gained the upper hand in field position in the second half courtesy of two special teams mistakes by the Hurricanes and St. Charles punts. St. Charles failed to score on either possession, but its ground game forced the Hurricanes defense to remain on the field.
After St. Charles turned the ball over on downs for the second time in the fourth quarter at the Huntingtown 15, the Spartans appeared to claim the lead when Frank Owens scooped up a fumble on a completed pass by Bray and returned it for a touchdown with just over 10 minutes remaining. But after the officials huddled for two minutes, they deemed Bray’s pass incomplete and erased the defensive score by Owens.
On its next possession, Huntingtown then converted on a pair of third downs and got near midfield before punting and pinning the Spartans at their own 16. Orndoff had started Jevon Hamilton at quarterback, but he inserted Kameron Blount for the Spartans’ final drive and Blount guided the team 84 yards on 10 plays and connected
with Shane Wood on a 19-yard touchdown strike. Blount then hit Konner Blount-Foster for the 2-point conversion.
“Jevon is such a great athlete and we thought he could make some plays for us with his feet,” Orndoff said. “But before that last drive we needed Kam in there to throw the ball and he connected on a number of passes. Shane basically has one route to run and if it’s open, Kam is going to find him. He caught it and took a big hit and still held on. That 2-point conversion was big because that took the field goal out of the equation for them.”
Huntingtown then marched 50 yards in six plays and one pass interference penalty to reach St. Charles’ 34 with 21 seconds remaining. But Bray’s last three pass attempts into the end zone all landed incomplete, enabling the Spartans to emerge with the narrow victory and leapfrog past the Hurricanes into the top spot in the upcoming 3A South Region playoffs.
“The last time we lost, we responded with a fourgame win streak,” Friel said. “It’s like I told the guys after the game, everything starts over again on Monday. We have to be ready for next week and then maybe we’ll have a chance to see these guys again in two weeks at their place. Our season’s not over.”