Calvert run over by a Land Rover

Football team blanked by Chopticon; losing streak reaches two games

Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009

Thursday night at Calvert, the Chopticon Braves football team had the perfect all-terrain vehicle in sophomore linebacker Nicholas Landavazo.

Landavazo scored three defensive touchdowns maneuvering through wet, windy and muddy conditions to help the Braves earn a 33-0 shutout of Calvert.

In doing so, it helped Chopticon to its second win of the season.

"Well, I am really, really, really excited about it," Landavazo said of his three-touchdown performance. "But, looking back on it, I couldn't have done it without any of my teammates, none of it. I want to thank them, and I definitely do not want to take all of the credit."

Already leading 6-0 late in the first quarter, Landavazo took an interception back 38 yards for a touchdown to give Chopticon a 12-0 lead.

Late in the second quarter, the sophomore added a 35-yard fumble return to his previous score on the night.

Early in the third quarter, capped his night off with a 15-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

This was the second week in a row in which a sophomore — a sophomore linebacker, at that — has played a vital role in a win for the Braves, a fact that head coach Tony Lisanti has enjoyed.

"[Landavazo] is a sophomore and in the first few weeks we had trouble with alignments," Lisanti said. "But now, he has a great grasp of the position and you can see the kind of athleticism that he can turn loose when he understands what he needs to do. … He was definitely ball-hawking.

"We talked last week about non-offensive touchdowns and that is how you win games. That is two weeks in a row in which we have scored a non-offensive touchdown and we have won them both."

Calvert (3-4, 2-3 SMAC) was led by senior running back Dai'Quan Garner as he rushed for 72 yards on 18 attempts. And although weather conditions may have been a factor for Calvert's four turnovers, head coach Marc Watson took nothing away from the Braves and did not want to use weather as an excuse.

"It has just been the same thing with us these past couple of weeks, turnovers and field position has killed us," Watson said. "Until we can remedy that, we are going to continue to struggle.

"…The weather was a factor a little bit. Yeah, it's wet and muddy, but Chopticon didn't have problems with it. It's the same problem that has killed us whether wet dry, or cold."

Chopticon senior defensive lineman Andrew Patton played a major role in the shutout as he forced one fumble in the second quarter and recovered two.

Sophomore quarterback Cody Douglas scored the first touchdown of the contest on an 8-yard scamper in the opening quarter.

Chopticon running back Nicholas Fuhrmann led all rushers with 149 yards and a touchdown of his own on 28 attempts.

And with the second consecutive victory of the season, the Braves (2-5, 2-3) are picking up steam heading into a county home game against Great Mills on Friday night.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

"This builds our confidence up really well," Patton said. "We should have a great week of practice heading into next week.

jmccray@somdnews.com