WILLIAMSPORT – The Smithsburg football team was forced to take a hard look in the mirror on Friday.
The Leopards weren’t vain. It was to get some reflection through the reflection.
They couldn’t really like what they saw after a 47-7 thumping at the hands of Williamsport, but it was an indication what needs to be done.
“Right now, you get back to the basics,” Coach David Lawrence said. “You go, assess the film and get back to basics … fundamentals. We just need to work on us. It’s not about the other team. It’s about working on us, fixing us so to speak.”
Smithsburg literally stuck in park, just like the team bus sitting outside to the stadium. Unofficially, the Leopards had 0 yards of offense and only three first downs on the night, while Williamsport ran rampant, using its speed and diversity.
They’re extremely athletic,” Lawrence said. “We know what they are capable of. We know we would have to play a really good game to be competitive with them. But it was too many mistakes … too many errors … turnovers and allowing big plays.
“We knew we were up against a really good team. We got overwhelmed tonight.”
It was a tough lesson for Smithsburg (1-1) since the Leopards were coming off last week’s thrilling 21-14 victory over Francis Scott Key to give Lawrence his first win in his Smithsburg coaching debut.
But on Friday, the thrill was gone.
Everything literally went downhill for the Leopards after the open kickoff.
From then on, Williamsport’s dynamic, slashing offense took control, starting with dominate play on the front lines and ending with momentum stealing “chunk yardage” plays.
“It was a complete game,” said Williamsport Coach Tim Small. “We had some penalties and some things down the stretch that need to be corrected. Some was effort stuff and some were discipline stuff, but we’ll work on them.
“Kind of like last week, once we had to overcome some adversity, we jumped out and took care of business. Everyone got to play tonight and that’s good. It was a fun night for us.”
Senior quarterback Gabriel Parker set the tone with his 11 of 14 passing and four touchdowns for an unofficial 202 yards, all coming in the first half. Add an interception return for a 40-yard touchdown by Landen McAllister and the Wildcats had a 34-7 lead at the half.
it all happened after Smithsburg recorded maybe the shortest highlight reel ever.
It lasted 12 seconds.
The Leopards received the opening kickoff, which bounced in front of Dakota Sowers on the Smithsburg 18. He fielded the loose ball and jetted down the right sideline for an 82-yard touchdown and an immediate 7-0 lead.
“That was a good start,” Lawrence said. “After that, we couldn’t get off (the field) on third downs. We didn’t do a great job. We had a blown coverage on the next possession, and I asked the kid as he was coming off, he told me he got confused.
“Against this team, if you make a big error like that it’s a touchdown of 70 yards. But I think the kids played very hard to the end, so I’m pleased with that effort.”
Effort was pretty much all Smithsburg had to offer the rest of the game.
Williamsport (2-0) bounced back immediately with a 15-play (and five penalties) 81-yard scoring drive that lasted 5:40. Parker hit on four passes of at least 10 yards to move the offense before capping off with a 2-yard swing pass to David Grayton for the TD to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 6:20 left in the first quarter.
“I was happy of how responded after (the kick return),” Small said “We put an offensive drive together. We had some penalties, but it was 14-15 plays. That showed the kind of mental consistency we have been trying to work on. So that was big for us and then we go out and forced a turnover and made some things happen.”
Williamsport quickly shutdown Smithsburg and got the ball back at its 31.
On the first play from the 31, Parker hit Grayton on a sideline route at the 50, which he turned into a sprint to the end zone at the 4:04 mark for a 13-7 lead Williamsport never relinquished.
Parker engineered touchdowns on the Wildcats’ next two possessions on a 24-yard pass to Kemiko Herron and a shovel pass resulting in a 32-yard score for Jordan Wigfall. In between was McAllister’s interception return for a touchdown.
It all added up to a 34-7 halftime lead.
“We’ve always stress athleticism,” Small said. “The play is never over, especially on a pass play.”
Both teams began to clear the bench in the second half. With that, and a myriad of penalties, the pace slowed.
Williamsport all but ended the game in the third quarter as Dylan Serdula blocked a punt near the Smithsburg goal line and ran it in for a TD at the 4:59 mark. Donnell Jefferies added a 14-yard score on a sweep to make it a 40-point advantage, starting the running clock with 2:02 left in the quarter.
Williamsport kicker Wyatt Younker hit on five of six of his extra point attempts.
The Wildcats finished unofficially with 364 yards of offense. Jefferies led with 62 second-half yards and a touchdown. Grayton had four catches for 110 yards and two TDs.
“Once we were able to get an idea of how they were going to defend us, we were able to settle in some stuff and work our answers,” Small said. “At the end of the day, you want to get the ball in the hands of your playmakers. It’s the kids’ game and they made the plays tonight.”
Other Washington County scores
North Hagerstown 33, Manchester Valley 7
Quarterback Colt Butts threw for two TDs and Ty’Qwell Fauntleroy rushed for 114 yards and two scores for North (2-0).
Francis Scott Key 31, South Hagerstown 7
Boonsboro 40, Mountain Ridge 10
Berkeley Springs (W.Va.) 34, Clear Spring 28
Southern Garrett 49, Hancock 0
