At last, Cavs find win column

Football ends four-game skid with throttling

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009

Friday night the Cavaliers were back on track, scoring 24 first-half points en route to a stifling 34-8 win over Thomas Stone.

"We stressed to the guys all week that Thomas Stone has a lot of great athletes, a lot of good players, they're athletic and they can play football," Calvert head coach Marc Watson said. "If you let them [Stone] hang around, they're going to believe they can win the game, so we jumped on them early. To their credit, they came out in the second half, down 24-0 and played tough; it's no quit in those guys. We're glad to get the win and finally score some points because it's been rough the last month. It's nice to move the football and make some nice plays when all 11 guys do their jobs."

Calvert (4-5 overall, 3-4 SMAC) pounded the Stone defense with 225 yards on the ground on just 19 carries, spearheaded by Dai'Quan Garner, who finished with 109 yards on nine carries and a touchdown, which gave the Cavaliers an early 7-0 lead with 1 minute 13 seconds left in the first quarter, after a Griffin Frazier extra point.

Zach Johnson had five carries for 82 yards, pushing his way on a 3-yard score early in the second to up the lead to 14-0. His longest run was a 58-yard scamper that set up the Cavaliers' final touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

"We played hard, we executed and stuck together as a team," said Johnson, a senior. "I saw it was a big hole and tried to get past a couple of guys, got away from one, but I ran out of gas. We want to practice hard this week, get ready for Friday [versus Northern at 7 p.m.]. It's my last game and hopefully we can come out with the win."

Watson mentioned that finishing 5-5 for the season would be vital for the program for the upcoming campaign next fall and bring excitement for the offseason.

"Like we tell our guys, you want to leave it better than the seniors before you," Watson noted. "Last year we won three, this year we've already won four, but we always challenge the guys below them.

"If we leave with five [wins] this season, then next year we got to win at least six. Right now that's what we have to do to build the program and the kids' confidence. We have a county rival coming in next week and it should be a good one."

Calvert junior quarterback Frank Lanham completed 3 of 8 passes for 54 yards and his only touchdown came in the second quarter.

That play, a 13-yard hookup with sophomore Ray Hayes, extended the lead to 21-0.

Hayes caught three balls for 40 yards, finishing with two touchdowns –– his second touchdown came on a halfback option pass from senior Ronaz King midway through the fourth.

"It was just being at the right place at the right time and I was able to come through," said Lanham, who also intercepted a pass on a Stone failed punt attempt that caused punter Gabriel James to throw instead because of Calvert's rush defense. "The blockers were there and it was an overall team effort. We are building for the future and that's what we're trying to do right now."

Frazier notched field goals of 30 and 37 yards in the contest. Frazier, a senior, also plays on the varsity soccer team.

Stone (0-9, 0-7) was forced to punt eight times on the game and Calvert's defense yielded only 64 yards rushing and 14 yards through the air, also intercepting two Adam Proctor passes.

Proctor was also picked by Torez Cooke on the Cougars' first drive of the night on a fourth and 13 from their own 37-yard line.

"We had a lot of players injured," said Stone head coach Jeremiah Vedis. "We've had a couple tough losses here and there and have been plagued by penalties.

"It's a disappointing season; we definitely had some high hopes this season."

ajmason@somdnews.com

Results

Calvert 34, Thomas Stone 8

Thomas Stone 0 0 0 8

Calvert 7 17 0 10

First quarter

C – Garner 8 run (Frazier kick), 10:47

Second quarter

C – Johnson 3 run (Frazier kick), 1:13

C – Hayes 13 pass from Lanham (Frazier kick), 11:01

C – FG Frazier 30, 12:00

Fourth quarter

C – FG Frazier 37, :06

C – Hayes 9 pass from King (Frazier kick), 6:07

TS – James 17 pass from Proctor (St. Arnold from Stewart), 10:04

Team stats

TS (8 first downs, 32-64 rushing, 14 passing, 3-0 fumbles, 4-35 penalties)

C (12 first downs, 29-225 rushing, 54 passing, 4-2 fumbles, 9-90 penalties)

Top individual performers

Rushing – TS: Stewart 17-40, James 2-29, Jones 3-14;

C: Garner 9-109, Johnson 5-82, Lanham 6-69

Passing – TS: Proctor 2-11-2 14; C: Lanham 3-8-0 54

Receiving – TS: James 1-17; C: Hayes 3-40