HAGERSTOWN – You could say the North Hagerstown football team marked one up for cleansed palates and oral hygiene everywhere.
“When this year started, the goal was to get a home game in the playoffs and get a win,” said North Coach Nathan Butts. “We haven’t done that for a long time. We didn’t end the regular season the way we would have liked but this got the bad taste out of our mouths.”
Everything was minty fresh and nice after the Hubs overwhelmed Northwood from the first snap to the very end of a 43-7 victory in the first round of the Maryland Class 3A West playoffs at Mike Callas Stadium, North’s first home playoff game and win since 2006.
North defeated Francis Scott Key 22-7 on Nov. 17, 2006 at home – which was South Hagerstown’s School Stadium at the time – in the first round of the playoffs. The reward for this victory is a road trip next week to face top-seeded and undefeated Linganore.
Still, this performance really was a breath of fresh air for the Hubs.
North (6-4) entered the game as the fourth seed in the region against the fifth-seeded Gladiators. The Hubs had loftier hopes, but losing four of the last five games – including the last three in a row – after a 4-0 start took them from a high seed to just earning a home game.
And to make it worse, the Hubs lost to crosstown rival South Hagerstown in the city championship game … at home.
All taste buds were cleared early.
The Hubs may have won the game by the way the stonewalled Northwood defensively from the very first snap. The offense enhanced it by scoring on all five of North’s first-half possessions for a 36-0 halftime lead to trigger the running clock rule – which starts when a 35-point deficit is reached – for the entire second half.
In all, North scored six touchdowns, each by a different player, for all of its points before Northwood got on the scoreboard.
“We set the tone. (The defense) has set the tone for us all year., Butts said. “We are senior heavy on that side and a lot of team leaders and captains are on that side.
“I always like that, if we win the toss, we want to send a message right away.”
The message was received – painfully – by the Gladiators.
Northwood got minimal gains by running back Kristofer Shorter on the first two plays – a five-yard run over right tackle, followed by a one yard over left tackle.
On a third-and-4, Aedan Glasgow tried to sweep to the left, but was squashed for a six-yard loss, forcing a punt.
“We knew they were going to be heavy between the tackles,” Butts said. “We wanted to make sure we were set on the edge. You take that away and there isn’t much where they can go except up the middle.”
North needed four plays – all runs – to get the first score. Michael Stewart ran straight into the line and broke through for a 50-yard touchdown with 9:07 remaining in the first quarter. Darius Gearman kicked his first of five extra points for the 7-0 lead.
“We watched them on film and they ran a lot of chaotic blitzes, so our goal this week was just to be simple,” Butts said “Just line up at the line and go right at them … a lot of power football. Keep it simple for our guys and just get a hat on a hat. That’s all we did all night.”
The Gladiators ran eight plays on their second possession for a drive that was sustained by penalties. Northwood only netted 10 yards, though, before quarterback Anthony Bingham fumbled, which was recovered by North’s Marquis Dutton.
The Hubs scored on their first play, a 20-yard TD on quarterback Colt Butts short pass over the line to tight end Garrett Forrest. Ty’Qwell Fauntleroy ran in the conversion for a 15-0 lead.
Next came an interception by North Marky McCall on the second play of Northwood’s ensuing drive. Starting at the Gladiator 36, the Hubs needed two plays to score, capped by a 27-yard run by James Jackson at the 1:36 mark to give North a 22-0 lead.
With the defense keeping Northwood in check, North scored twice more in the second quarter. Ben Distefano powered in from the 5 and Fauntleroy ripped off a 35-yard TD run off left tackle for the 36-point halftime lead.
North received the second-half kickoff that ignited the running clock. The Hubs quickly scored in three plays. Stewart had runs of 11 and 34 yards before Tai Gilliam ran in from the 5 to up the lead to 43 points as North made sure to spread the success around.
“We tried to make sure once we got going that we got some of these guys touchdowns,” Butts said. “A lot of these were seniors and we wanted to make sure everyone got love a little bit.”
Northwood didn’t score until what was became the last play of the game.
Bingham hit Jeremiah Sterling on a medium-range pass on the right sideline. Sterling slipped a tackle and went 82 yards for the TD with 1:45 remaining. Surya Chari-Large added the extra point. The game ended on the Gladiators’ kickoff.
Stewart led the North, which finished with 278 yards of offense, with 94 yards and a touchdown on three carries. Fauntleroy, the Hubs’ leading rusher, had 6-8 and a score. North had 220 yards on the ground.
Damean Thomas led North’s defense with 13 tackles and Blake Custer added 12, along with forced fumbles by each. Dutton and Shane Tyler recovered the fumbles and McCall had the interception as North forced three turnovers.
Northwood was limited to 145 yards offensively, with the majority coming on the final pass play.
Next stop is Linganore.
“This is going to be a tough task ahead,” Butts told the Hubs after the game. “We are going to need great practice next week. I’m going there to win … what about you?”
Other action:
Class 2A/1A West First Round
Liberty 23, Williamsport 21
A safety off a blocked punt late in the fourth quarter ended the season for the fourth-seeded Wildcats. Liberty, the fifth seed, advances to face winner of Friday’s eight-seed Owings Mills vs. top-seeded Middletown game next week.
