BOONSBORO – So much for being careful of what you wish for.
The Boonsboro football team got its wish on Friday. After that, the Warriors were pretty carefree.
Boonsboro exacted a huge measure of revenge by planting SEED – a team that shocked them five weeks ago – in a resounding 42-13 victory to move into the Maryland Class 1A state semifinals for the first time in 24 years.
Parker DeBaugh ran for three gritty touchdowns and quarterback Blake Main threw for two TDs and ran for a third score to enable the Warriors to score 27 unanswered points to run away with the win.
The fourth-seeded Warriors (9-3) will travel to meet top-seeded Patuxent in next weekend’s semifinals. The winner advances to play for the state title on Dec. 4-6 at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. Boonsboro last reached the semifinals in 2001, losing to Oakland Mills.
The Sabres shut down Boonsboro’s running game and erased a 14-0 halftime deficit on Oct. 16 to claim a 29-20 victory. The loss left the Warriors to do some soul searching, reaching the following resolution.
“I told the kids that the first time we played them that I would be more than happy to see them again,” Boonsboro Coach Mark Wadel said. “I didn’t think we executed very well at all. I told (the players) I’d be happy again to see them down the road.”
This time around, Boonsboro’s defense swarmed and the ground game was undeterred in this go-round against SEED.
The Warriors contained the threats of SEED quarterback Malcom Smith Jr. and running back Dominic Wilkens. Meanwhile, the running game used power and misdirection plays to control the Sabres’ defensive strengths.
“Honestly, we knew they had a great running back, and we were trying to stop him,” said Boonsboro linebacker Logan Atkinson. “And we had great coverage and we stopped them on both sides. We covered downfield when we had to. All around, we just played really well.”
Boonsboro’s defense – along with SEED’s self-inflicted penalty problems – put ridiculous demands on the Sabres’ offense. SEED faced impossible odds, including a third-and-37, a fourth-and-55 and a fourth-and-62 situations during the game.
“Our main focus all week long was primarily was keeping the quarterback in the pocket. He’s a heck of a threat on the scramble.” Wadel said. “We were stressing keeping him in the pocket with outside contain. Let him throw.
“He has a big arm but he wasn’t super accurate. Let throw and keep in the pocket so he can’t scramble and hurt us with his legs. And part of that is if you keep him in the pocket, you are keeping the running back in the pocket as well. I thought the boys did a great job tonight.”
Meanwhile, the Warriors outwitted SEED’s defense with perceptive running – with a little riverboat gambler mentality on fourth downs – just to keep the ball out of Smith’s hands.
“Our offense is based on a lot of adjustments and coach Wadel does a great job with it,” said Main. “We adjust. We look at the defense and we do whatever they give us until they change. Then we do the opposite.”
But Main was an integral part of the attack with his timing on plays, the right reads and his running ability.
“(The Sabres) run a five-man front and a four-man front and when they came out they were giving us a lot of four-man front. I said we can have some success with that,” Wadel said. “So Blake had a bunch of good runs up the middle and threw the ball exceptionally well and got out of a little pressure and made some things happen with his feet.”
Boonsboro scored on the second series of the game, driving 68 yards on 11 plays, capped DeBaugh’s 8-yard burst for the first of his three TDs with 2:20 to go in the first quarter. Justin Pazos kicked his first of four extra points for the 7-0 lead
SEED answered on the third play of the second quarter, as Wilkins caught a short pass from Smith and broke a tackle for a 43-yard TD to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:03 remaining in the half.
The Warriors’ immediately fashion a five-minute, 45-second drive, using 14 plays to cover 77 yards. It mostly featured the running of DeBaugh, Main and Eddie Boakye, leading to Main’s score from the 2. It was 14-7 at the 5:18 mark.
Boonsboro put a dagger in the Sabres’ chance in the final two minutes of the half. The Warriors looked to have stalled out with a fourth-and-13 at the SEED 47 and lined up to punt with :28 remaining.
After a SEED time out, Main was back to punt, but pulled the ball down and fired a pass to Jadon King on the right sideline for a 25-yard gain.
“We’ve been practicing it every day, working on it,” Main said. “Like coach Wadel said, we watched film and we adjusted and saw the fake pass would be open and we took it.”
On the next snap, Main dumped the ball over the middle, again to King, who hustled in for a 22-yard TD with :16 left in the half.
“It was huge,” Wadel said. “On the last play, predominantly, they are usually a one high-safety team. It was the end of the half and they went two high safeties. When they did, that it gave us the opportunity (to split the middle).”
Boonsboro went into the half up 21-7, but not taking anything for granted.
“We had 29-20 on the board and 14-0 at half (scores in the first meeting) … the whole deal,” Wadel said “That was part of the motivating factor back there in our team room. When we went in at half, it was 21-7, still a 14-point differential. Remember this last time. The kids were fired up and they played outstanding.”
Boonsboro continued to roll in the second half, while SEED opened with four straight, three-and-out series.
The Warriors scored on their second possession of the half with Jayden Paugh making an over-the-shoulder catch on a Main pass for a 27-yard TD and a 28-7 at the 7:38 mark of the period.
About seven minutes later, DeBaugh ran in from the 20 for his second score. The drive was sustained by a 37-yard run by Main on a fourth-and-one play. The Warriors failed on a two-point conversion, but led 34-7 with :41 left in the quarter.
SEED got a score back when Smith hit Jared Gregory with a 5-yard TD pass with 9:03 left in the game to move within 34-13.
The Warriors immediately countered with a two-play drive after a failed onside kick with a 26-yard run by Boakye, followed by 22-yard sweep by DeBaugh for the final touchdown and the 29-point win.
In their three playoff games, the Warriors have outscored their opponents, 171-25.
