In the end, the Boonsboro football team will have to settle for being third best.
Years from now, that’s how history books will remember the Warriors, but they showed some flashes of being one of the school’s finest teams.
Boonsboro put up a gallant fight in the first half, holding touchdown lead over Patuxent on Friday in the Maryland Class 1A state semifinals. The second half didn’t go as well for the Warriors.
The Panthers scored on their first two possessions of the second half and put the game with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to rise to a 35-27 victory to move into next week’s state final against Fort Hill at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Evan Jones scored all four of Patuxent’s second-half touchdowns – three runs and a pass reception – as the Panthers shook off the Warriors’ defense and slowed Boonsboro’s offense in the final 24 minutes in the game played in Lusby, Md.
For Boonsboro, which finished 9-4, it was the end of a strong march through the Class 1A playoffs. The Warriors defeated their first three postseason opponents by a combined 171-25.
Only two other Boonsboro teams went further in the playoffs than these Warriors – the 1993 state champions and the 1994 state runners-up. They are the third Boonsboro team to lose in the semifinals in school history.
And, if it is any consolation, Boonsboro finished tied for third – with Perryville, the 56-19 loser in Cumberland, Maryland – for this year’s title as both finish behind Patuxent and Fort Hill, the top two seeds in this tournament.
That’s for another time, after analyzing and replaying Friday’s game.
In the end, Boonsboro couldn’t match touchdowns with Patuxent in the second half.
The Panthers erased the six-point halftime deficit after receiving the second-half kickoff.
Patuxent used a combination of Jones’ power runs and keepers from quarterback Brayden Watson to take the ball down the field. The pair combined for 52 of the 62 yards on that first drive, culminating with Jones’ 5-yard TD run.
With 8:12 remaining in the third quarter, The Panthers led 14-13 after the second of Watson’s five extra-point kicks.
Boonsboro followed the score with a three-and-out series that gave Patuxent the ball on the Warriors 36 after a punt and personal foul penalty.
The Panthers needed just four plays to score with Jones finishing the drive with an 8-yard run for a 21-13 lead at the 5:10 mark of the third quarter.
Boonsboro fought back with a long drive to answer that score.
The Warriors constructed a 13-play, 75-yard drive, possessing the ball for six minutes, 59 seconds.
Quarterback Blake Main hit Jayden Paugh with a 25-yard pass to sustain the drive before he took the ball in on his own from the 3 early in the fourth quarter. The extra point was lost because an errant snap, leaving Boonsboro behind 21-19 with 10:31 remaining.
Boonsboro was knocked back on its heels as Patuxent’s line continued to block for Watson, a freshman quarterback, who entered the game with 113 yards and two rushing touchdowns for the season.
The Warriors failed on an onsides kick after scoring, giving Patuxent the ball at their 48. Watson ran five times for another 33 yards before hitting Jones with a 15-yard touchdown pass to the right side of the end zone to give the Panthers a 28-19 lead with 4:07 remaining.
It snowballed against Boonsboro from there as a Main screen pass was picked off by (Brock Shipman or Isaac Baugher) on the first play, giving the Panthers the ball deep in Warrior territory.
Three plays later, Jones capped Patuxent scoring with a 10-yard TD for a 35-19 lead with 2:47 remaining.
The Warriors answered with a late score when Main first hit Parker DeBaugh with an 18-yard TD pass before running in a two-point conversion to cut the deficit to the final 35-27. Boonsboro failed on a final onsides kick with :55 remaining to end the game.
The game started fast with scores on the first three possessions of the game, but bogged down by three turnovers that stopped other promising drives.
Boonsboro opened the game with the ball and for its first score in the first three minutes.
The Warriors used its normal strong running game to set you 42-yard scoring pass from Blake Main to Jadon King. With the Panthers staying tight to the line of scrimmage, King sneaked down the middle of the field and caught the pass at the 10 before reaching the end zone.
Jason Pazos added the extra point to give Boonsboro a 7-0 lead at the 9:02 mark of the first quarter.
Patuxent countered on its first try with a drive of 6:45, culminating on Brayden Watson’s 11-yard pass to Xavier Gross with 3:18 remaining in the first quarter. The Panthers chipped away on the nine-play drive with a combination of Watson passes and runs by Evan Green to get into position to tie the game at 7-7.
The Warriors powered to their second touchdown on the ground, but again closed it out with Main hitting King over the middle on a short screen pass for a 17-yard TD. King broke a run of 22 yard, followed by a 13-yard burst by Parker DeBaugh to set up the finisher on the 14-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 6:31.
But a bad snap prevented Boonsboro from scoring the extra point, keeping the score at 13-7 at the half.
The final three drives of the first half all ended with turnovers. Watson threw two interceptions – by Landen Sallerson and Elijah Weddle – while King fumbled for Boonsboro while being tackled after a long gain.
