MDHigh.com - Week 10 Weekend Wrap-up (Part II)

November 2, 2009

Dave Lomonico
MDHigh.com Publisher

Shockers, upsets, last-minute victories, and overtime thrillers were in-vogue in Week 10. With playoffs spots on the line, some teams stepped up and showed they deserved a postseason berth. Others fizzled out under the immense pressure. Read on for the best of last week's action.

Dunbar 22, Poly 18

No. 23 Poly embarrassed No. 18 Dunbar's defense on Friday night by racking up 438 yards of total offense. Remarkably, the Poets still came away with a 22-18 victory. How'd they do it? Big play after big play after big play.

After a scoreless first quarter, Dunbar's (8-1) special teams responded. The Poets blocked a Poly (8-1) punt and return man Quinton Brown returned it 24 yards for a touchdown, giving his team a 6-0 lead. The Engineers tied the game right before halftime on a 31-yard run from Gabriel Ali-El.

Dunbar's special teams came through again in the third quarter. This time return man Aaron Haynes took a Poly punt back 74 yards to pay dirt. The two-point conversion made it 14-6. The Engineers responded when quarterback Antoine Goodson (22 carries, 144 yards) scampered in from 4 yards out, making it 14-12.

Poly threatened to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but Goodson fumbled inside the 5-yard line, giving the ball back to Dunbar. The Poets had one more big play left in them. This time running back Nathan Ayers took a handoff 96 yards to the end zone, making the score 22-12. Ayers finished with 240 yards on 18 rushes.

Poly made a furious comeback with time running out. First, Goodson hit Ali-El for a 59-yard touchdown pass. Then the Engineers got the ball back with less than four minutes to go. But their final drive came up short as Dunbar's defense stepped up for seemingly the first time all day.

Smithsburg 28, Williamsport 21

This might have been the most thrilling game of the weekend. With the clock showing 0:00, Smithsburg's Justin Morgan hit receiver Jake Gouff with a 32-yard touchdown pass as, giving the Leopards a thrilling 26-21 victory over Williamsport (4-5). But that was just the shocking conclusion.

Before the fourth quarter, Smithsburg held a 13-7 lead. The excitement didn't start until halfway through the final frame. First, Williamsport grabbed the lead when Chris Githens returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown. Smithsburg responded with a long drive that ended with a Taylor Demuth 2-yard touchdown run.

Thus, Smithsburg (6-3) held a 20-13 advantage with less than two minutes to play. Williamsport quarterback Casey McKendrick wasn't fazed. He threw three straight completions, taking his team down to the Smithsburg 18. One play later he hit receiver Joey Sutch for a touchdown with 28 second left in the game. Williamsport elected to go for two, and McKendrick hit Sutch again, giving his team a 21-20 lead.

The game was all but over, but Smithsburg's Ben Daniels returned the ensuing kickoff all the way down to the Williamsport 32. With five seconds left in the game, Morgan actually threw short of the goal line. He hit Gouff at the 10 -- he had to make an acrobatic catch - but the receiver quickly turned upfield and beat the pursuing defender to the end zone for the game-winning score.

With the win, Smithsburg is in position to qualify for the 1A West Region playoffs.

Century 14, Westminster 8

Century (6-3) scored twice in the first half then held on late to put themselves one win away from clinching a 2A West playoff berth.

In the first quarter, Century drove right down the field to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Josh Bordner (25 for 48 for 296 yards) led an eight-play, 76-yard drive, capped by a 28-yard touchdown pass to Zach Zile (nine catches, 108 yards). Westminster (3-6) tried to come back, but backup quarterback Tyler Codd (subbing for the injured Andy Gilford) threw an interception in the end zone. It was the first of three interception on the day for Codd.

In the second quarter Century's Jason Layer picked off Codd again. Layer then was on the receiving end of a Bordner 26-yard touchdown pass, giving Century a 14-0 lead.

Westminster's offense woke up in the fourth quarter. With just over six minutes to go, Codd started to hit his receivers. He led his team all the way down to the Century 4 before hitting Aaron Miller with a touchdown pass on fourth-and-3. The two-point conversion made it 14-8. But Westminster's defense couldn't stop Century from picking up first downs and running out the clock.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase 20, Churchill 13

Bethesda-Chevy Chase started the season 0-5, but they've now won four in a row. The win over Churchill (7-2), however, might have been the most impressive victory in the recent stretch.

B-CC quarterback Casey Fitzgerald threw three interceptions, but he also accounted for all three of his team's scores. In the first half he rushed for a pair of a touchdowns, giving B-CC a 12-3 lead.

In the second half, however, Churchill began to come back. A field goal cut the deficit to 12-6 late in the third quarter. In the final frame Churchill took the lead when quarterback Alex Kantor hit Matt Risk for a 22-yard touchdown.

But Fitzgerald kept firing. With time winding down, B-CC had the ball third-and-3 from their own 27-yard line. Fitzgerald connected with receiver Terrance James, who turned upfield and ran 73 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion made the score 20-13. Churchill still had time to come back, but their final drive ended at the B-CC 28, where they turned the ball over on downs.

Weekend Wrap-up Part I
Weekend Wrap-up Part III

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