SMITHSBURG, Md. — A matchup between two Washington County rivals that figured to be competitive turned into a rout Friday night.
Boonsboro built a 28-point halftime lead and added another touchdown following a surprise onside kick to open the second half, rolling to a stunning 35-0 victory over Smithsburg in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Jayden Paugh caught two touchdown passes, made several other big receptions and intercepted a pass near the goal line to lead the Warriors (6-3), who defeated the Leopards for the 16th straight time and secured their 16th consecutive winning season, extending their Washington County record.
Smithsburg (7-2), which already had secured its first winning season since 2015, suffered its second straight lopsided defeat after opening the season with seven consecutive victories.
Asked whether it was his team’s best performance of the season, Boonsboro coach Mark Wadel said, “Probably. Put everything together. We’ve had a great two weeks of practice. The kids have really responded well these last two weeks knowing we had two very good opponents in North and then these guys.”
The Warriors took control early, marching 80 yards on their opening possession. Quarterback Blake Main capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run with 6:25 remaining in the first quarter.
A key play came when Main connected with Paugh on third-and-13 to keep the drive alive.
Boonsboro’s defense helped set up the next score early in the second quarter.
With Smithsburg facing third-and-15, quarterback Luke Scott rolled left under pressure and threw a pass that Luke Mathews intercepted. The Warriors took over at the Leopards’ 48-yard line with 11:42 remaining.
Main followed with a deep completion down the left sideline to Paugh, who outleaped a defender to make the catch. Jadon King finished the possession with an 11-yard touchdown run, giving Boonsboro a 14-0 lead with 10:10 left.
The Warriors struck again after forcing a three-and-out. On a trick play, Landon French took a direct snap and connected with Paugh for a 60-yard gain. French later scored on a 3-yard run to extend the lead to 21-0 with 5:52 remaining in the half.
Boonsboro wasn’t finished. After Smithsburg’s Zach Linn recorded a sack, Main converted a third-and-long with a 32-yard completion to French, moving the Warriors to the Leopards’ 18.
Main later lofted a pass toward the left corner of the end zone, where Paugh went up to make a 16-yard touchdown catch with 39.5 seconds left.
Paugh then ended Smithsburg’s final possession of the half with an interception near the goal line, sending the Warriors into the locker room ahead 28-0.
And Boonsboro showed no intention of letting up.
The Warriors recovered their own onside kick to begin the second half.
Wadel said his team simply took advantage of an opportunity.
“They gave it to us, right? Our job as coaches is to identify what they’re giving us, and they gave it to us,” he said. “We practice it all the time, whether it’s against them or against somebody else.
“So if you’re going give us something, we’re going take advantage of it.”
Less than three minutes later, French took a direct snap and handed the ball to Main, who found Paugh for a 29-yard touchdown pass. Zachary Robertson-Ryan added his fifth successful extra-point kick of the night, making it 35-0 with 9:15 remaining in the third quarter and putting the running clock into effect.
Paugh was one of several standouts for a Boonsboro offense that repeatedly produced big plays.
“He’s a great player,” Wadel said. “We like that kid a lot. He’s very coachable. He understands everything we’re trying to do. He’s great on both sides of the ball and on special teams as well.”
Paugh credited the Warriors’ preparation for their performance.
“All week in practice, we were just ready,” he said. “And we had energy all week. It was like the first week that we had consistent energy throughout the week, so I think that helped a lot.”
The rivalry also provided motivation.
“They were doing a lot of talking on the internet, so we had to shut them up,” Paugh said.
Wadel acknowledged that social media exchanges between the teams had added some fuel to the matchup.
“Each school has like a Barstool account, and they’re going back and forth on the different posts and stuff like that,” he said. “And that’s just bulletin board material for us.”
Boonsboro and Smithsburg both will host first-round Class 1A region playoff games next week.
