QB spoils senior night

Hayhurst rallies Braves football to win vs. Patuxent

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009

But the Braves had other ideas and ignored the obstacles in their path and rallied to defeat the Panthers, 7-6.

Coming off one of their worst defeats of the season — a stunning 12-8 loss to Great Mills the previous week — the Braves (3-6, 3-4 SMAC) got more bad news when four starters, including quarterback Cody Douglas, were sidelined with injuries.

That forced the Braves to insert sophomore Tyler Hayhurst into his first varsity game. And moments before Friday's kickoff, the team's starting strong safety was unable to play due to personal reasons, which meant that Virgil Dickerson would have to be inserted into a position he'd never played before.

"I'm really excited because we overcame a great amount of adversity again," Chopticon head coach Tony Lisanti said. "I told the guys during pregame, ‘Someone's got to step up and answer the bell,' and I thought we did a great job of that tonight. I really saw some young men who showed great character tonight and I'm very proud of their effort."

"Our loss last week to Great Mills was probably the hardest we've ever had," running back Nicholas Fuhrmann said. "I think it says a lot about our character that we came back and played a good team and beat them.

"I think we were real down and out of it, but it was surprising how we came out and did as well as we did."

Patuxent head coach Steve Crounse added: "You have to give it to Tony and his staff. They had some key injuries and they rose to the occasion."

Chopticon scored all it would need when Hayhurst hooked up with a wide-open Michael Gilmartin on a 14-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter.

The touchdown completed a three-play, 17-yard drive that, moments earlier, was set up by arguably the biggest play of the game.

Chopticon was driving at the Patuxent 20 and faced second down and five when Hayhurst zipped a pass into the end zone. But Patuxent defensive back Frank Taitano wrestled the ball away from the intended receiver and raced up the right sideline. Taitano was hit and coughed up the ball, which was recovered by Chopticon lineman Brandon Mincey.

Three plays later, the Braves scored the only touchdown they would need, thanks to Hayhurst, who found out Monday he would get his first varsity start against the Panthers.

"I wasn't nervous, not a lot, because I knew what to expect from other guys telling me what was going to happen," Hayhurst said. "I knew I had to keep relaxed. I have problems sometimes getting nervous but I knew I couldn't be nervous."

Hayhurst completed 7 of 18 passes for 59 yards and an interception. He kept his throws to low-risk, completing just one — the touchdown toss — over 10 yards.

"The line made me very comfortable throwing the ball," he said. "They helped a lot."

"The kid's got ice in his veins," Lisanti said. "He wasn't scared, not at all. He wanted to play junior varsity receiver and now all of a sudden he starts varsity and makes a touchdown pass and wins the game."

Running back Nicholas Landavazo added: "I understand he's a younger player and if I were him I'd be nervous. For him to come out and throw a touchdown was tremendous, I'm absolutely proud of him."

The Panthers (4-5, 4-4) had opportunities of their own to regain the lead but went three and out to end the third quarter thanks to a sack by Landavazo on third and 11.

"It was a big motivator," said the 5-foot-10 sophomore linebacker. "I think by making that play it got our defense up a little bit and got the tempo going."

"Landavazo's been getting better every game," Lisanti said. "He's just a big playmaker."

The Panthers also had the ball at the Braves 29 after a 10-play drive, but turned it over on downs. A final drive lost five yards and quarterback Ed Massengill's desperation heave on fourth down was incomplete.

Patuxent has lost its last three games after winning four of its previous five. The Panthers have averaged more than 40 points per game in its wins but just 12.6 in its losses. Friday's six points, on senior night, was a season low.

"I'm proud of my senior class. They showed a lot of character, a lot of class as ballplayers," Crounse said in a funeral-like locker room. "I told them, ‘This game and this season is not going to be an indicator or define you.'"

Patuxent appeared to be cursed offensively when its first two drives ended on a fumble and interception, respectively.

But the third time was a charm when Zach Hagelin rumbled 16 yards to cap off an eight-play, 96-yard drive. The key play of the drive was Massengill's 30-yard throw to tight end Brandon Hillegas.

"Last week we made enough mistakes to last a lifetime, but this week though we've been staying positive," Lisanti said. "We've always kept working and we keep getting better. As a coach that's what you want is the effort. I just want to keep working and keep getting better and I think we've done that."

"It was very hard [to come back from the loss to Great Mills]," Landavazo said, "but we came back and focused and practiced and did the work."

Chopticon finishes its season at Leonardtown, while Patuxent travels to Eastern Tech. Both games kick off at 7 p.m. Friday.

Crounse added: "Offensively, they rose to the occasion and made the plays when they had to and we didn't play inspired offensively at times. We have a lot of work to do here at Patuxent to rebuild."

mreid@somdnews.com