BOONSBORO – Mason Galloway had the best seat in the house to watch Boonsboro’s defense work on Friday.
The location could have been considered the cheap seats, and the view wasn’t always pretty. But with a position in the Warriors’ secondary, you get used to seeing a lot of moons on the horizon.
Against longtime rival Smithsburg, it was close to a thing of beauty.
“It was really nice being back there,” Galloway said. “The line had a big impact on the game. They’re destroying their guys up front.”
Boonsboro held the line, and Smithburg couldn’t toe it as the Warriors totally shutdown the Leopards’ running game, while the offense was at its explosive best in a 43-7 rout in the final game of the regular season.
“The defense played outstanding,” said Boonsboro Coach Mark Wadel. “The defensive coordinator had a great plan and the kids executed it very, very well.
“The O-Line did very, very well. Sometimes they struggle a bit, but they did well tonight.”
The offense had a normal night. It exploded for six touchdown – five in the first half to build a 36-7 halftime lead – to dominate the game. Galloway had a hand in it, intercepting a pass to set up the last score of the half.
Boonsboro scored with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter to start the running clock for the rest of the game.
The plan was rather elementary for the Warriors.
“We’re a great run team,” said linebacker Logan Atkinson. “(Smithsburg) threw a lot at us, but they didn’t show anything that we weren’t ready for.
“We wanted them throw the ball. When they did, we covered them. We did well as a team.”
On this Halloween night, Boonsboro’s defense did the trick to give the Warriors a treat for the playoffs by locking up a high seed in the Class 1A North playoff bracket. Boonsboro ends the regular season at 6-3 by defeating Smithsburg (4-5) for the 13th straight time in the longtime rivalry. Boonsboro leads the series, 34-21.
Boonsboro held Smithsburg without a first down in the first quarter. The Leopards first three series were three plays and out. That was nine plays for minus-1 yard in the first 12 minutes. That stretch spilled over into a fourth series in the second quarter.
“They use a tight power package where they want run the ball,” Wadel said. “It presents its own set of problems. If you can get them out of that and make them throw the ball, we felt a little bit better about it.
“We had a specialized call for that tight package, with a substitution package, That’s part of the reason why they had such success defending that. We really would prefer them to throw it around. But they had some success for sure.”
Boonsboro had a 21-0 lead by the time Smithburg to that initial first down. Smithsburg had three yards or less on 23 of its 28 first-half plays. The Leopards had 15 yards rushing and 83 yards passing in the first half, most of it coming in the second quarter.
“We struggled. I don’t think we had a first down until the middle of the second quarter,” said Smithsburg Coach David Lawrence. “That’s tough. The defense is on the field. I told the kids, you go back and watch this and it’s a handful of plays here and there.
“We knew we’d have to play really well to beat them. We made mistakes … not playing with correct leverage on defense … It’s just things we have been trying get right all season and we will continue to work on them.”
In the end, 30 of Smithburg’s 42 plays accumulated 3 yard or less. The Leopards had only six first downs for the game.
“We had a different defense for their tight package,” Atkinson said. “We added another lineman but when the spread out, we had stag defense and that shut them down. It feels good. … Feels good.”
Boonsboro’s offensive line did an equally efficient job on the other side of the ball. The Warriors ripped off chucks of yards to score quickly.
“For whatever reason, we were able to get the edge and had success out there,” Wadel said. “Then we ran some plays in the middle, it was, like well, that’s pretty good too. The boys played very well tonight.”
Boonsboro scored on it’s first possession when quarterback Blake Main hit Jadon King with a short pass on the right side of the field. He took it to the sideline, slipped a Smithsburg tackle and took it the distance for a 62-yard touchdown at the 7:49 mark of the first quarter. Justin Pazos hit his first of five extra points for the 7-0 lead.
Main made it 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter, busting through the middle on third down with a 14-yard keeper to the end zone. Then, after Smithsburg’s fourth three-and-out series, Main hit Jayden Paugh with a pass over the middle for a 48-yard touchdown on the first play with 10:23 remaining in the half for the three-touchdown lead.
“We’re not strong,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got to get stronger. That’s the bottom line.
“Sometimes we make things more complicated, but our kids have to get a lot stronger. It’s that simple. Hopefully they get the message that it’s time to start getting into the weight room to get a whole lot stronger … It is what it is. It’s not that complicated sometimes.”
Smithsburg got on the scoreboard by scrapping the run game and taking to the air. The Leopards drove 11 plays – only two runs – for a 76-yard drive. And that didn’t come easy.
Quarterback Luke Scott escaped Boonsboro’s pressure long enough to unload a pass a shot put-like pass while getting hit. It wobbled into the end zone for Dakota Sowers to grab for a nine-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 21-7.
Boonsboro answered quickly, scoring on a Parker DeBaugh run on a Wildcat play before Galloway’s interception set up King’s second touchdown, this coming on a 25-yard run around the left end on a pitch to build the 29-point halftime lead.
“I could see the QBs eyes and you could watch where the ball was going most of the time and I just played off that and jumped the route,” Galloway said.
Boonsboro’s only score of the second half came on Edward Boakye 6-yard sweep to the right for the 43-7 lead that started to melt the clock for the rest of the game.
