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Panthers topple county rival
Patuxent overcomes pesky Cavs
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
Calvert's Ronaz King tries to power away from Patuxent's Justin Handley, left, and Darius Jones in the second quarter.
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Patuxent High School's football stadium was packed Thursday night as county rival Calvert came for a visit.
Calvert came into the contest with an undefeated record, but Patuxent had other ideas on allowing the Cavaliers to punch another into the win column.
The Panthers had over 320 yards of total offense and pulled through with a 38-17 victory over the Cavaliers.
"First of all, I'm real happy for [Calvert head coach Marc Watson] for working so hard with his team and we may have underestimated them," Patuxent head coach Steve Crounse said. "This was a big county rival game for us. We hit a spot there at the middle of the third quarter where our defense just didn't want to tackle and finish the plays, so we're going to have to work on that. We're going up against a good McDonough team that's really athletic."
Patuxent scored on its first drive of the contest, coming 3 minutes 37 seconds into the opening quarter, scoring early as senior running back Zach Hagelin's 27-yard run set up the first touchdown of the night for senior running back Frank Taitano from seven yards out.
Taitano carried the ball 28 times in the game for 161 yards with four touchdowns, while senior Zach Hagelin carried for 69 yards on seven carries.
"We came out expecting to go," Taitano said. "We still need to work on our tackling and make sure we're getting our blocks and opening the holes but without ‘Goose' [Patuxent junior quarterback Ed Massengill], we couldn't have done it."
Calvert answered right back, scoring on its first drive when senior running back Dai'Quan Garner ran 27 yards into the end zone to tie the game at 7 59 seconds after Patuxent had grabbed the early lead.
Patuxent (2-1, 2-0 SMAC) jumped back in front with two touchdowns just two minutes apart, both coming from Taitano, the second being a 32-yard carry that the senior made look easy.
The Panthers had a 21-7 lead after the first quarter. The second period was all about defense except for the hosts tacking on three points with a 30-yard field goal from Ed Maratta, extending its lead 24-7 with 3:39 left until halftime.
It was still 24-7 just before the midway point of the third quarter when Calvert's defense came up big by recovering a fumble on Patuxent's 42-yard line.
Lanham completed a short three play drive with a 33-yard touchdown run to bring Calvert to within 24-14 with 7:23 left in the period.
"They want to improve and hat's off to our kids for making it happen. I think our kids have done a great job this year," Watson said. "They have taken it upon themselves to turn this ballclub around.
"I reminded them of how much they have changed this [program]. We're not walking off the field with the loss and our heads hanging, we're walking off the field thinking about homecoming and playing La Plata [at 7 p.m. Friday]. We're focused. The hard work was there; the passion was there.
"The only thing that was missing at times was execution and that's the thing you just go back and keep practicing."
Just as Calvert was gaining a little momentum, Taitano scored his third touchdown of the night to put Patuxent up 31-14 with 3:41 to play in the quarter.
A field goal brought Calvert (2-1, 1-1) to within 31-17 early in the fourth, but that was as close as it would get the rest of the game.
A Massengill 28-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Justin Handley gave Patuxent some cushion and ended the scoring.
Massengill completed 7 out of his 12 attempts for 80 yards and one touchdown in the game.
Calvert's leading rusher was Lanham, who amassed 37 of his team's 118 total.
"It's a big win for us," Massengill said. "Calvert came in 2-0, so it's a big win for us. We need to keep playing with heart. We're looking toward the playoffs."
Patuxent takes on McDonough at 7 p.m. Friday.
"They came in with a little more electricity," Crounse said of Calvert. "I know it looks like we put a lot of points on the board, but there is still a lot of stuff we still need to do.
"We should have put them away when we had the chance in the second half. They [Calvert] stepped up and played some defense. We have to be a better executing ball club."
Results
Patuxent 38, Calvert 17
Calvert 7 0 7 3
Patuxent 21 3 7 7
First quarter
P - Taitano 7 run (Maratta kick), 3:37
C – Garner 27 run (Moran kick), 4:36
P- Taitano 4 run (Maratta kick), 6:28
P- Taitano 32 run (Maratta kick), 8:46
Second quarter
P- FG Maratta 30, 8:21
Third quarter
C- Lanham 33 run (Moran kick), 4:37
P- Taitano 10 run (Maratta kick), 8:19
Fourth quarter
C – FG Moran 28, 1:16
P - Handley 28 pass from Massengill (Maratta kick), 10:26
Team stats
C (9 first downs, 22-118 rushing, 120 passing,1-1 fumbles, 2-15 penalties)
P (12 first downs, 43-244 rushing, 80 passing, 2-2 fumbles, 10-65 penalties)
Top individual performers
Rushing — C: Lanham 2-37; P: Taitano 28-161, Hagelin 7-69
Passing — C: Lanham 8-21-4 84, King 2-7-0 36; P: Massengill 7-12-0 80
Receiving — C: Wallace 3-32, Johnson 3-35; P: Taitano 3-32
