SMITHSBURG, Md. – For the Smithsburg flag football team, it came down to two simple measurements.
On Wednesday, it was the smallest of each that did the Leopards in.
“(Flag football is) a game of inches and a game of seconds,” Leopards coach Charles “Sleepy” Burnett said.
Smithsburg came up a bit short in each category as Calvert scored a go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter before milking the clock and corralling the Leopards’ offense for a 20-16 victory in the Class 2A-1A state quarterfinal matchup.
The combination of the Cavaliers’ quickness and Smithsburg’s missed opportunities put an end to a breakout season for the third-seeded Leopards.
Add three critical defensive stands by Calvert (10-3) – one of the goal-line variety – and the Leopards (10-3) came up a few yards, a few seconds and a touchdown short of advancing to the state semifinals.
“It’s a tough one. It’s not the ending you want,” Burnett said. “In this competition, when you get in this one-and-done tournament, someone has to win and someone has to lose.”
Smithsburg held a 16-7 lead early in the second quarter and 16-14 at the half, but found the second half to be tedious and difficult.
“We had opportunities,” Burnett said. “We had one in the corner. We had a questionable call, but that’s nothing on the ref. We can’t see everything from where we’re at. But (Calvert quarterback Amani Welch) got the pass away and got the touchdown … It’s a game of inches and a game of seconds.
“(The Leopards) left it on the field. They played hard. It was just a better opponent tonight.”
Calvert, the sixth seed, scored what became the winning score with 3:42 left in the third quarter, culminating a six-minute drive.
The Cavaliers took the ball on their 14 after a touchback. They methodically ran 11 plays to cover the 66 yards for the score.
Calvert faced a fourth-and-goal situation at the Smithsburg 7. Welch, with a slippery talent for running the ball, bought time on a scramble and found Asiah Freeland in the front, left corner of the end zone, just over the goal line for the score.
Welch failed on the conversion, leaving Calvert with a four-point lead and 15 minutes, 42 seconds to kill.
Calvert used its team speed to bottle up Smithsburg’s offense, containing the Leopards’ big-play options.
“Their speed affected us on the outside so we couldn’t get anything over the top,” Burnett said. “So, we just tried to pick apart from the middle.”
And that took time and limited options and yardage.
Smithsburg’s ensuing drive after losing the lead covered 58 yards, moving the Leopards to the Calvert 8. Quarterback Rileigh Romberger fired a second-down pass over the middle only to have Welch intercept it at the goal line with 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter to thwart a prime opportunity.
Calvert failed to capitalize, turning the ball over on downs on the Leopards 33 with 10:22 remaining. Smithsburg immediately moved inside the 1 after two runs totaling 32 yards by Melyssa Bard.
On second-and-goal, Romberger was stopped just short of the goal line as her flag was pulled just before she extended the ball over the goal line. Then, she was sacked for a five-yard loss on third down.
After a pass interference penalty on Calvert, the Leopards faced a fourth-and-goal from the 3, but Romberger and Bard failed to connect in the end zone with 7:34 remaining.
Yet, Smithsburg got the ball back one more time on downs at the Calvert 34 with 5:12 remaining, but it only gained 13 yards in what became the last gasp.
Welch masterfully worked the clock, taking snaps at the last possible second before a delay penalty, to run off the final 3:37 to score the win.
With that, Smithsburg lost a game it seemed to have in hand early.
Romberger ended Calvert’s second possession of the game with an interception to give Smithsburg the ball at the Cavaliers’ 31. Romberger hit Jill Malott, who weaved her way through Calvert’s defense, for a 31-yard touchdown. Romberger hit Bard for the two-point conversion to give Smithsburg an 8-0 lead with 1:09 left in the first quarter.
Calvert answered quickly on a drive that arched over to the second quarter. Welch found Allahna Brown in the back of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown. Welch ran in the conversion to bring the Cavaliers to within 8-7 with 9:40 left in the half.
Smithsburg extended the lead at the 4:12 mark when Romberger hit Bard on a short pass on the left hashmarks before she worked herself diagonally across the field for a 43-yard touchdown to end the two-play drive. Romberger ran in the two-point conversion for the 16-7 lead.
“The couple of opportunities we got, we took advantage of them,” Burnett said. “We figured that their backs would overrun on their pursuits. On film, I could see it. We tried to maintain and tried to continue to do it.”
But Calvert constructed an 11-play drive on its next possession, finished when Welch hit Brown just over the goal line with a 4-yard TD pass. Welch then hit Vinson on a one-point conversion with 32.3 seconds remaining to trail 16-14 at the intermission.
From there, inches and seconds began to dwindle for the Leopards.
“It was a really good season, really good season,” Burnett said. “We caught some people by surprise, you know, we’re coming out of the West. I’m proud of them. Proud. They came in and worked hard. We got some good leadership from our senior class. Six girls were with me for three years. They held the foundation together.
“These games go one of the two ways – joy of victory or the agony of defeat. There’s always two sides to the ball.”
