Cougars Ground and Pound Past Coyotes
By: Jeremy Moreland
GAITHERSBURG, MD - In a pivotal 3A matchup with all kinds of playoff implications, the Quince Orchard (5-1) proved that their experience and strength up front were just way too much for Clarksburg (3-3). The Cougars jumped out to a quick 20-0 lead by the early parts of the 2nd quarter and rolled to 40-12 victory.
The Cougars used their 1-2 punch of running backs, James McAllister and Mark Green to run through the Clarksburg defense. But as great as the two backs looked on Friday night, it was the offensive line that was largely responsible.
"Our O-Line has really been struggling. We made some changes on the O-line, and our kids really responded and it was awesome," said and enthused Dave Mencarini after the game.
Mencarini went on to say that it was one of the best performance he's ever had out of an offensive line during his entire coaching career. Brandon McDowell was one of the additions to the offensive line who really stepped up from the tackle position. The play of the offensive tackles allowed McAllister and Green to get outside into the open field, where they are far more difficult to take down.
On the defensive side Quince Orchard was just as dominant. The Cougars forced turnovers early, including a fumble on a kickoff return, that helped them jump out the big lead. The front seven didnt allow many holes to open up for Coyote running back Naim Reid and they put pressure on quarterback Mike Sheehan.
Reid did have a few impressive runs on the night, including a 38-yard scamper that included two great cutbacks. He followed that up with 2-yard touchdown run on the next play to make the score 20-6 (PAT was blocked).
Then the Coyotes made it interesting when they recovered a Drew Murphy fumble on the ensuing drive. But there was no time for Clarksburg to move the ball before the end of the half.
Quince Orchard took the opening drive of the 2nd half 70 yards down the field capped off by a McAllister 7-yard touchdown run to make it 27-6 and the Coyotes weren't able to make it close after that.
Murphy didn't throw much during the game because he didn't have to with a big lead and an unstoppable running game. But he managed the offense well and didn't make many mistakes.
"We definitely went out and practiced this week and made sure we had no mental mistakes at all. And penalties were killing us last week. We cut down on penalties. We only had one tonight, to go from 15 to 1 is a great improvement."
After a Clarksburg touchdown made the score 27-12 (a 2-point conversion attempt failed), the Cougars went right back down the field and answered with a 9-yard touchdown run by Green. Then on the second play of Clarksburg's next possession, defensive back Alex Twine made a great read on a Sheehan pass, intercepted and returned it for the nail-in-the-coffin touchdown.
This game provided some separation for the playoff hopefuls in the 3A division. Only four teams advance to the playoffs from the 3A, and Quince Orchard and Clarksburg were sitting at fourth and fifth respectively behind Damascus, Seneca Valley and Linganore coming into this game. Now the Cougars at 5-1, have a two game separation over 3-3 Clarksburg and Watkins Mill and are right with the aforementioned powerhouses.
