Lackey overcomes four turnovers to beat Chopticon
Lackey overcomes four turnovers to earn decisive victory at Chopticon
The Lackey Chargers were able to earn a 34-7 road win at Chopticon on Friday night in a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference crossover game despite turning the ball over four times.
“I think we played hard, but still a little sloppy,” Chargers head coach Jimari Jones said. “We are a young team, so we are still trying to clean up some of those turnovers and errors, but we definitely did better than last week.”
Lackey (2-0 overall) started its first drive of the game on Chopticon’s 30-yard line after a long kickoff return, but failed to come away with any points after being stopped on fourth down.
“We should have started faster than we did, but the win was good and we just have to practice more to keep improving,” Chargers senior Jaquan Cobey said.
Chopticon (1-1) earned one first down on its opening drive, but Lackey began its second possession with field position on the plus side of the field once again at the hosts’ 42.
After a four-play drive, Lackey junior quarterback Russell Echard found Cobey open in the back corner of the end zone for an 18-yard score that put the visitors in front 7-0 with 5 minutes 44 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Braves were stopped on downs on their ensuing possession and Lackey started its third drive of the game just outside the red zone at Chopticon’s 24.
Echard threw an incomplete pass on first down, but Lackey senior running back Jonathan Thompson found the end zone after a 20-yard run set up a 4-yard rush for his first of two rushing touchdowns on the night.
“When I was able to score it was good blocking by my teammates on those plays that allowed me to see the holes and I just took them,” Thompson said. “Our goal is to keep working hard and winning.”
In the second quarter, the hosts found themselves trailing 13-0 before Chopticon sophomore Nathan Maguire picked off Echard’s pass to set up the Braves offense in the red zone.
With 2:21 left in the opening half, Braves senior quarterback Dominic Crampton found Jaidyn Curtis open in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass to give the hosts some momentum and points heading into the half trailing 13-7.
Chopticon possessed the ball to start the second half, but junior running back Devyn Vukovich lost a fumble on the first offensive play of the third quarter to turn the ball back over to Lackey.
After Echard and Crampton threw interceptions on the ensuing drives for both teams, Lackey was able to capitalize on a five-play drive that resulted in six points on a 31-yard touchdown run from Thompson with 4:34 left in the third quarter.
Injuries began to pile up for Chopticon as the second half progressed, and Braves head coach Anthony Lisanti noted his team struggled to overcome them.
“When a couple of players went down, we had to have other guys step up,” Lisanti said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have the maturity to handle it very well. I didn’t think we executed well, but I give credit to Lackey. They out-executed us and we just have to get better each week.”
The Chargers added two more rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a 38-yard run from senior Jordan Bryant and a 2-yard score from junior Xavier Jarmon.
“I’m just glad we got out of here with a ‘W’ because that is the main goal,” Jones said. “We will go back to the drawing board, and the goal is to get better each week.”
Lackey accumulated 258 yards on the ground, led by Bryant with 13 carries for 100 yards and Thompson with 11 carries for 95 yards. The Chargers are slated to host St. Charles at 7 p.m. Friday versus a Spartans team that shut out McDonough in Week 2, 24-0.
Chopticon generated 143 yards of offense led by Vukovich with 84 rushing yards on 19 touches. The Braves are scheduled to host Great Mills at 6 p.m. Thursday against a Hornets squad that lost to La Plata in Week 2, 22-12.