La Plata High School | Archive | September, 2008

SMAC Football Top 5 — Week 2

1. Westlake (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 2
Westlake inherits the top spot this week after defeating Leonardtown 55-7. Devon Smith returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and Antoine Reese rushed for four scores to pace the Wolverines.
This week: vs. McDonough, Friday at 7 p.m.

2. Lackey (1-1, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 3
A fourth-quarter interception return by Jerrell Jordan lifted the Chargers to a 14-7 win in a pivotal confrontation at Patuxent.
This week: vs. Thomas Stone, Friday at 7 p.m.

3. Huntingtown (2-0, 2-0)
Previous ranking: 4
With its 19-13 win over Chopticon, the Hurricanes opened up 2-0 in the parity-filled SMAC. Greg Goodwin rushed for 150 yards to pace a rushing attack that chewed up 247 in the win over the Braves.
This week: vs. Calvert, Friday at 7 p.m.

4. Patuxent (1-1, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 1
The Panthers drop from the top spot after the heartbreaking loss to Lackey. Despite several key injuries, Patuxent again adapted to the situation and nearly came out on top in the non-conference battle between two of the conference’s top teams.
This week: at Northern, Friday at 7 p.m.

5. Chopticon (1-1, 1-1)
Previous ranking: 5
Leo Kyte passed for nearly 300 yards as the Braves pushed Huntingtown this past Friday night. Tyler Summers was on the receiving end of six passes, going for 132 yards.
This week: vs. Leonardtown, Thursday at 7 p.m.

    ***DigitalSports’ SMAC Top 5 is chosen by SMAC Content Manager Andy States. Please direct any questions and comments to astates@digitalsports.com.

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By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC

Here are the 10 most-watched video highlights for the week running Sept. 8-14 — the first complete week for this page. The highlights count down in reverse order, so watch through to see what video was the most-watched for the week. If your sport isn’t represented, then you know what to do.

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SMAC Football Preview — Week 2

Game of the week
Lackey (0-1) at Patuxent (1-0)
Friday, 7 p.m.

This game pits the teams that fared the best on the field in SMAC action a year ago, though both are coming off of drastically different Week 1 results.

Patuxent came out on top in an emotionally-charged contest at North Point, while Lackey dropped a heartbreaker in the closing moments at Urbana. Friday night’s encounter represents not just a chance to claim bragging rights for the year, but also represents one of the greater hurdles each team will have to face this season.

Despite last week’s win, Patuxent is a team riddled with injuries. The Panthers entered the year without projected starting quarterback, Marcus Bullock, and one of their top receivers in Eric Farmer. Then came possibly the biggest blow early in last week’s game when the team lost running back Ra’Joun Nelson to injury. With all of the injuries, the odds certainly would appear to be stacked against the defending SMAC champion.

Lackey lost a 6-3 game last week, and will need for quarterback Malcolm Willis and the rest of the offense to get moving. The Chargers came out on the downside of last year’s 41-20 decision. After starting 0-2 a year ago, Lackey will be looking to bounce back from last week’s loss and avoid a similar fate this year.

Other Games to Watch

Chopticon (1-0) at Huntingtown (1-0) — Friday, 7 p.m.

Last week, Huntingtown was able to display how dangerous its offense can be, as it rolled up 41 points in a 41-24 win at McDonough. Peter Athens threw for a pair of touchdowns and D.J. Hooper and Greg Goodwin combined for 134 rushing yards to lead the Hurricanes’ balanced attack.

Chopticon was a team that found great success in the late stages of games last year, and last week proved no different. The Braves nabbed a 20-14 overtime win from La Plata, with quarterback Leo Kyte tossing three touchdown passes.

Huntingtown won last year’s affair 21-8. With both teams competing in the 3A South, this game could potentially have playoff-qualfication ramifications down the road.

North Point (0-1) at Northern (1-0) — Friday, 7 p.m.

North Point earned its first varsity football win at the expense of the Patriots last year, 14-13. Northern went on to suffer its first losing season in over half a decade. Northern rolled over Great Mills 50-0 last week, while North Point came out on the bottom end of an 18-13 contest with Patuxent.

This could be a pivotal game for both teams. A win for Northern could catapault it back into the upper echelon in the SMAC, while the Eagles would like to bounce back from last week’s heartbreaker.

Other games

McDonough (0-1) at Calvert (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
Westlake (1-0) at Leonardtown (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
La Plata (0-1) at Great Mills (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
Thomas Stone (1-0) at Linganore (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

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***Check below for video highlights and interviews from the game
Click here to view this game’s photo gallery 

By Andy States
Content Editor, DigitalSports.com

A half of solid play behind them, the La Plata Warriors could have wondered why exactly the scoreboard read like it did on Wednesday night at Calvert High.

La Plata, despite logging considerably more possession time in its boys soccer match against the Cavaliers, was tied with just a goal to show for its efforts. The Warriors earned a little more reward for their work in the final 40 minutes, as they put four in the back of the net to top Calvert 5-2.

“We knew we just had to stay calm,” La Plata’s Adam Lemmert said. “We were dominating before that. We’ve worked in practice on spreading the field and that’s all we did today and it worked.”

After a disappointing loss to Northern to open the season, La Plata (1-1, 1-1) found itself behind 1-0 early against Calvert (1-2, 1-2). But Travis King’s goal before the half knotted the score, and Ricky Jackson added two in the first six minutes of the second half to put the Warriors ahead to stay.

“We needed to get back on the winning track after we got beat by Northern,” La Plata coach Dennis Burns said. “We played very sloppy and basically [Northern] pretty much dominated.

“I knew we were a better team than that and we possessed the ball very well tonight. We had a lot of opportunites.”

With quality chance after quality chance going for naught in the opening half, the Warriors easily could have become frustrated. Instead, Jackson’s two goals jumpstarted the offense into the four-goal onslaught that also included goals by Adam Spensieri and Jesse Keaton.

“The guys were real confident,” Jackson said. “We came out strong in the second half and put two in early.”

“We knew [goals] were going to come,” Burns said. “We dominated possession time and when that happens the defense is going to get tired and we’re going to get more and more opportunities.”

Calvert, which was led by a two-goal effort from Josh Jones against La Plata, opened the season with a loss to North Point, but bounced back with a win by double digits over Lackey. And, looking that a team that is young in the back end, Cavaliers coach John Denton expects a bit of a rollercoaster ride this year.

“We know this is pretty much going to be our season,” he said. “We’re going to win a lot of games that maybe we shouldn’t, and lose a lot of games that we should.”

Email: astates@digitalsports.com

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***Check video player below for highlights and interviews from the game
Click here to view this game’s photo gallery 

By Andy States
Content Editor, DigitalSports.com

For two years, the La Plata Warriors have been a thorn in the Calvert Cavaliers’ side.

So, after a disappointing loss to open the year, La Plata may have been the last team Calvert wanted to see on its field hockey field. But after staring down an early deficit, the Cavaliers scored four unanswered goals to top the visiting Warriors 5-2 on Wednesday afternoon.

“La Plata, the last two years I’ve been coaching, has beaten us 2-1,” Calvert coach Megan Williams said. “That’s something we talked about, wanting to get a win against La Plata. It’s the only team we haven’t beat since I’ve been here.”

Calvert (1-1) did not get off to an auspicious start against La Plata (0-1). Rachel Posey’s goal put La Plata in front less than three minutes in. Moments later, and less than a minute after Calvert had tied the game, Posey slipped another into the cage to put the Warriors back in front 2-1 — the Cavaliers’ unlucky score against La Plata in years past.

“I don’t think we came out flat,” Williams said of her team’s start. “I think we came out so aggressively offensive that we didn’t recover back on defense.”

But, with a loss to North Point already in the books, Calvert was not to be denied again. Rachel Strain scored to tie the game with just under six minutes left in the half, and Amanda Reardon scored in the half’s final minute to earn the Cavaliers a lead they would not surrender. Both Strain and Reardon scored again in the second half to end the game with three and two goals, respectively.

“We really wanted to win this after Friday [against North Point],” Strain said. “I think we showed our heart and put it all out on the field.”

Reardon said: “Everybody really had their hearts and minds in it and I think that’s what really made us come out this strong today.”

Defeating La Plata, which has been a perennial contender in SMAC and the 3A South, took the monkey off Williams’ back and, in the coach’s mind, returned the Cavaliers to the style of field hockey they like to play.

“This was a huge win,” Williams said. “We started our season on Friday with less than desireable results and now Calvert’s back. This is the type of field hockey we like to play, super-aggressive, offensive from the beginning.”

Email: astates@digitalsports.com

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SMAC Football Top 5 — Week 1

1. Patuxent (1-0)
The Panthers overcame a 13-0 deficit at North Point to win 18-13. Senior Justin Ford delivered a game-changing kickoff return for a touchdown to get the Panthers on the board late in the first half, and caught a pair of second-half touchdowns to left the Panthers to the win.
This week: vs. Lackey, Friday at 7 p.m.

2. Westlake (1-0)
Behind the high-powered rushing tandem of Devon Smith and Evan Harris, the Wolverines topped Calvert 45-21 in the opening week. Smith rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown on six carries, while Harris went for 79 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
This week: at Leonardtown, Friday at 7 p.m.

3. Lackey (0-1)
The Chargers were tripped up 6-3 at Urbana in their opener. Lackey held the lead late, but a late turnover led to Urbana’s winning touchdown.
This week: at Patuxent, Friday at 7 p.m.

4. Huntingtown (1-0)
Quarterback Peter Athens threw for 116 yards and two touchdowns to combine with running backs D.J. Hooper and Greg Goodwin, who combined to rush for 134 yards, to lead the Hurricanes’ balanced attack to a 41-24 win at McDonough.
This week: vs. Chopticon, Friday at 7 p.m.

5. Chopticon (1-0)
Chopticon picked up this regular season where it left off last fall, topping visiting La Plata 20-14 in overtime. Leo Kyte threw for 161 yards and three touchdowns for the Braves.
This week: at Huntingtown, Friday at 7 p.m.

    ***DigitalSports’ SMAC Top 5 is chosen by SMAC Content Editor Andy States. Please direct any questions or comments to astates@digitalsports.com.

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SMAC Football Top 5 — Preseason

1. Patuxent
This week: at North Point, Friday at 7 p.m.
Patuxent is the defending SMAC champ and returns 22 seniors. ‘Nuff said. The Panthers are still the team to beat until someone knocks them off. The defending champs could get a stiff test in the opening week with a trip to North Point, a team that should make its case for a spot in these rankings as this season progresses.

2. Lackey
This week: at Urbana, Friday at 7 p.m.
On the heels of last year’s 3A South title and with an acclaimed group of returning players, the Chargers enter this season as one of the conference favorites. A season-opening trip to Urbana, which defeated the Chargers 14-0 last year, could foretell a great deal about the season ahead.

3. Westlake
This week: vs. Calvert, Friday at 7 p.m.
Many new names comprise this year’s Westlake roster, but the Wolverines have consistently been playoff contenders every year for a reason. The Wolverines, 3A South runner-up last year, open at home against Calvert, a team they beat in 2007 by a 35-7 count.

4. Huntingtown
This week: at McDonough, Friday at 7 p.m.
Fresh off its first playoff appearance last year, Huntingtown looks to continue its progress. Transfer quarterback Peter Athens returns to SMAC and could help turn the Hurricanes offense into one of the conference’s most balanced attacks. Huntingtown came out on the short end of a defensive-minded struggle with the Rams last year. 

5. McDonough
This week: vs. Huntingtown, Friday at 7 p.m.
There are plenty of questions surrounding the Rams — new coach, loads of new faces in the lineup. But with the program’s four straight playoff appearances it gets the fifth spot to open the season. The opening-week tilt with Huntingtown should shed some light on what kind of McDonough team we will be seeing this year.

    **DigitalSports’ Top 5 is chosen by SMAC Content Editor Andy States. Please direct any questions or comments to astates@digitalsports.com

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