H-town takes long road to get W

Hurricanes still perfect after win over Delaware state-winning squad

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

Huntingtown senior Greg Goodwin spearheaded the rushing attack with 257 of the team's 287 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.

The Hurricanes remained perfect on the season with a 6-0 (5-0 SMAC) record.

Huntingtown will play county rival Patuxent, which is coming off a 43-14 win over Great Mills, Thursday night at 7.

"[Milford] was 3-1 when we went in there, so they're a pretty good team," said Huntingtown head coach Jerry Franks of the Buccaneers, the defending state champions a year ago. The Hurricanes knocked off another defending champion in Westlake three weeks prior. "Our defense had another nice game."

Heading the backfield with Goodwin was fullback Tyler Ricchiuto, who carried the ball six times and scored a touchdown in the second quarter. Quarterback Justin Bittner completed 8 of 14 passes for 87 yards.

Milford fumbled on its first possession and cornerback Gabe Stewart collected the ball and raced 55 yards to put Huntingtown on the board 8-0, after the two-point conversion.

The Buccaneers came back on their ensuing possession with a touchdown of their own on a 19-yard pass from quarterback Marques Jones to pull to within 8-6 after the two-point conversion failed.

Goodwin scored from three yards out later on in the first quarter to put his team up 14-6, but Milford's Brandon Legrand scampered for a 16-yard touchdown to help knot things up at 14 after Lonnie Joseph's 2-point conversion.

The Huntingtown defense did not allow another Milford touchdown until the early minutes of the fourth quarter.

Hurricanes' linebacker Andrew Bose had a team-high 12 tackles, Joe Karbowsky had eight and Robbie Helms added six and an interception.

Dashawn Torney, who added five tackles, also had the team's only sack.

"We enjoyed the win on the road," Franks said. "It was a great atmosphere, great facility with [artificial] turf field, and [they] had 4,000 fans in attendance. The kids got off the bus and were ready to play; they played well."

The Hurricanes outscored Milford 14-0 in the second quarter as Goodwin and Ricchiuto added scoring runs of eight and 10 yards, respectively, to up the lead to 28-14 at halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, Milford opened things up.

A 99-yard touchdown off another Jones pass to cut the deficit to just one touchdown after Ryan Mortimer's extra point.

Goodwin sealed it on Huntingtown's next possession when he scored on a 2-yard run.

Franks and his squad are now focusing on a Patuxent team that has one of the highest scoring offenses.

"They're pretty good; [head coach] Steve Crounse does a good job with his team and he has some good players," Franks said. "It's a rival, so when two teams like that play, expect it to be a barnburner. It will be a good one."

ajmason@somdnews.com