***Check below for video highlights and interviews from the game***
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By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC
Midway through the second quarter, La Plata’s Marcus Smoot dropped back to receive a punt on the Warriors’ rain-soaked field. With Calvert’s coverage unit bearing down on him Smoot initially mishandled the punt, but rather than it turning into a disasterous play the La Plata senior recovered and started the process of weaving through the defense and all the way back into the end zone for a 55-yard punt return.
It was just one of those days when virtually everything seemed to fall in La Plata’s favor. Senior quarterback Adam Joson accounted for four touchdowns and Smoot scored three to lead La Plata to a 42-0 homecoming victory over the visting Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon.
“We needed it,” La Plata coach Andy Loucks said. “This was a big game for us. Calvert is a good football team. They’ve played some tough teams the first couple weeks and we really needed to come out and be focused and prepared to play a tough game.
“I think by focusing on that and pounding it all week we finally did it.”
After intercepting a Joson pass inside the La Plata 20-yard line early in the first quarter, Calvert (0-4) appeared to be set up to take command. That was as good as it got.
La Plata’s Tracey Holliman intercepted a Calvert pass three plays later to **** the threat. La Plata (2-2) then marched 84 yards, with Smoot taking a short pass from Joson and racing the distance for a 53-yard score. That was only the beginning, as the Warriors exploded for 28 points in the second quarter to put the game out of reach by halftime.
“We wanted to jump on them early,” said Joson, who passed for 169 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 31 yards and another score. “When we’re leading we feel like we’re in control.”
After three largely lethargic outings to open the season, including last week’s 40-17 loss to North Point, the Warriors needed that feeling to get their season on track.
“We came out flat against North Point,” said Smoot, who caught four passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns to go along with his punt return to the end zone. “We didn’t come out to play. This game was 100 percent the opposite of that.”
The effort was not improved just on the offensive side for La Plata. While the offensive production exceeded 400 yards, the defense limited Calvert to under 100. The Warriors won the battles at the line of scrimmage and held B.J. Greening — one of the most dangerous players in the conference — to just 62 yards rushing on 17 carries, with 45 of the yards coming on one first-quarter run.
“We’re not real big. You can see that by looking at us,” Loucks said. “But we have the ability to be aggressive and play hard football and we finally did that today.”
Heading into this week’s matchup, the teams’ would have appeared destined to play down to the wire. The past three contests had been decided by a combined 11 points, with La Plata pulling out a win last year by a 32-27 count. And in three weeks prior to Saturday’s game, Calvert had been productive in terms of moving the ball. The Cavaliers scored 21 points against Westlake in the opening week and scored 20 points at Huntingtown last week but fell short after digging and early 20-0 hole.
“Honestly, I am [surprised],” Loucks said of the final score. “I’m surprised the score was 42-0. I was expecting a dogfight all game. They have plenty of athletes, they’re well-coached, their kids play hard. Last year we got up on them and they came back and put us in the hole.
“I was expecting that type of game again — a back-and- forth type game. They didn’t look like they were in sync today.”
Calvert hosts Northern next week, while La Plata is scheduled to travel to Thomas Stone. And after its best performance thus far, confidence is at a season-high for the La Plata squad.
“We can play with the best,” Joson said. “The only times we lose is when we beat ourselves. If we exectute and play as a team we got it.”
La Plata 42, Calvert 0
C 0 0 0 0
L 7 28 7 0
First quarter
L – Smoot 53 pass from Joson (Lemmert kick), 5:37
Second quarter
L – Joson 9 run (Lemmert kick), 10:31
L – Smoot 55 punt return (Lemmert kick), 8:01
L – Holliman 12 run (Lemmert kick), 3:21
L – Smoot 41 pass from Joson (Lemmert kick), :03
Third quarter
L – Mulvin 15 pass from Joson (Lemmert kick), 9:27
Top individual performers
Rushing
Calvert: Greening 17-62
La Plata: Caldwell 6-81, Roach 5-62, Joson 10-31, Smoot 4-30
Passing
Calvert: May 1-10-2 21
La Plata: Joson 7-11-1 169
Receiving
Calvert: Wallace 1-21
La Plata: Smoot 4-118, Caldwell 1-32, Mulvin 1-15
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