LIKE A MOSS
Spalding WR catches 3 TDs, Cavs advance to MIAA A Conference championship game
Spalding quarterback Malik Washington and wide receiver Max Moss share a special connection.
The duo has tormented opposing defenses throughout the season, as more than a third of Washington’s touchdown passes have been to Moss. In Friday night’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference semifinal against McDonogh, all of them were.
Washington found Moss for three scores as Spalding (10-1) and its explosive offense overpowered the Eagles (5-7), scoring six unanswered touchdowns in a 41-6 victory to advance to the A Conference title game. The Cavaliers will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Mount Saint Joseph and Calvert Hall.
“I trust [Moss] with my life,” Washington said. “We’ve been together since we were like 10. We’ve been through ups and downs, thick and thin. That’s really my dog.”
The battle was a rematch of last season’s semifinal in which McDonogh upset the Cavaliers.
But this year figured to be different. Spalding crushed the Eagles, 45-12, in their regular-season matchup and won games by an average margin of more than 25 points this season. An upset never felt possible Friday.
The Cavaliers steamrolled through their regular-season slate, overcoming a season-opening loss to New Jersey’s Don Bosco Prep by winning nine consecutive games to complete a near-perfect season and finish 6-0 in conference play.
Spalding’s offense found itself in a 6-0 hole Friday after two scoreless possessions to open the game but jumped to a 14-6 advantage midway through the second quarter as Washington and his skill-position players finally found a rhythm.
The quarterback led the two quick scoring drives. He hit Moss for a 45-yard catch-and-run score on the first play of the Cavaliers’ third possession. The fourth ended with a touchdown run by Hakim Simms, the running back’s ninth
of the season, after Spalding got the ball back via a fumbled punt.
“That was the spark we needed,” Spalding coach Kyle Schmitt said. “Max takes that hitch … next thing you know, we’re rolling.”
McDonogh, which lost its last four games entering the postseason, struggled to generate offense over the final three quarters. Quarterback Braeden Palazzo connected with receiver Jefferson Exinor Jr. on a goal-line fade for an early lead, but it was their only score.
Spalding defenders were able to focus on stopping McDonogh’s aerial attack as the Cavaliers faced little threat from the Eagles’ ground game. Palazzo threw an interception and nearly a few more as several of his passes were easily swatted away.
“Our [defensive] coordinator Tyrone Forby, I think he’s the best in the area,” Schmitt said. “His work ethic is incredible, the kids play for him and he’s always dialing something up.”
A touchdown run by Jameson Coffman put Spalding up 21-6 with less than a minute remaining in the first half, and Washington needed just 22 more seconds to put another touchdown on the board. Spalding got the ball back after a dropped kickoff, and the quarterback found Moss streaking across the middle of the end zone for the duo’s second touchdown.
Washington and Moss connected in the end zone for a third and final time in the opening minutes of the second half. The long touchdown down the sideline put the Cavaliers up 34-6, and another third-quarter score allowed for a running clock in the fourth.
“They’re like a small sample size of what the whole program’s about,” Schmitt said. “Great kids who make plays when the lights are on.”
Spalding, led by their star quarterback and receiver pair, will now shift its focus to the A Conference championship game. It’s a title the Cavaliers have yet to secure since making the jump to the conference over a decade ago.
“There are a lot of people that have really been in our corner since I got to Spalding,” Schmitt said. “Just to provide the school that opportunity is just really cool.”