Washington County football Week 4: Williamsport gets back on track with win

Williamsport 30, Clear Spring 6

Cole Rourke ran for a pair of touchdowns, and the Wildcats dominated on defense as they bounced back from their first loss of the season with a convincing win over the host Blazers.

Williamsport improved to 16-0 all-time in its series with Clear Spring.

Following an interception by Ceonta Wilmore, Williamsport (3-1) went up 7-0 on a 3-yard TD run by Rourke midway through the first quarter.

The Wildcats extended their lead to 14-0 three minutes later as Tanner Stottlemyer returned an interception 60 yards for a score.

On the first play of the second quarter, Williamsport quarterback Eli Fleming connected with Wilmore deep down the right sideline for a 50-yard TD, upping the lead to 20-0.

A 41-yard field goal by Cole Kriner gave the Wildcats a 23-0 halftime lead.

An 8-yard TD run by Rourke capped Williamsport’s scoring with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter.

Clear Spring (0-4), which had four turnovers, avoided the shutout on a 5-yard TD run Sammy Stonebraker with 1:29 left on the clock. The score was set up by a 29-yard run by Caleb Younker.

Middletown 28, Boonsboro 15

When it came down to the basics, Middletown proved to be basically better.

In a renewal of a longtime “Border War” between two teams that sit along the Washington/Frederick County line, the Knights did a better job of running the ball in a win over the host Warriors.

Carson Smith scored on two short touchdown runs to highlight a game that was a throwback to the “three yards and a cloud of dust” era. It was Middletown's sixth straight win over Boonboro and 37th in 41 meetings.

Middletown (2-2) ran the ball by design, while Boonsboro (2-2) did it more out of necessity after three first-half interceptions all but grounded the Warriors.

Boonsboro showed its best runs of the game in the first quarter to take an 8-0 lead. The Warriors methodically moved the ball and finished with Wyatt Jervis’s 6-yard sweep around right end. Jervis followed by taking a swing pass and fighting into the end zone for the conversion.

The Knights answered by scoring the next 28 points — including the final 15 of the first half — with the help of the three interceptions, while Smith established his punishing runs.

First, the senior powered the ball downfield to set up Camren Baker’s 5-yard TD pass to Kadin Kifer with 4:44 left in the second quarter. Smith ran in the conversion to make it 8-8.

The Knights turned an interception into the go-ahead score with 27 seconds remaining in the half, when Smith scored from the 7. Joncarlo Schooler added the kick to make it 15-8 at the intermission.

Smith took control of the second half, but it took until 7:04 of the fourth quarter to cap a drive with a plunge from inside the 1 to make it 21-8

The Knights followed by sacking Boonsboro quarterback Matt Summers on a fourth-down play to get the ball on downs. On the first play, Baker hit Charlie Shafer on a 24-yard pass for the 28-8 lead.

Hayden Hobson scored from the 3 with 1:09 to go to get Boonsboro to within 13 before time ran out.

Mountain Ridge 51, Smithsburg 13

The undefeated Miners (4-0) built a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, taking advantage of a pair of turnovers by the Leopards, then pulled away in the second half.

Mountain Ridge's first-quarter TDs came on an 8-yard run by Jaden Lee, a 2-yarder by Austin Frost and a 13-yard run by Will Patterson following a lateral pass.

A high punt snap led to a safety that extended the Miners' lead to 23-0 in the second quarter, but Smithsburg made a pair of big plays to briefly get back in the game.

Ashton Redman picked off a pass and returned it 55 yards to the Mountain Ridge 5-yard line. On second-and-goal from the 5, Redman took a pitch to the left and bulled his way into the end zone, getting the Leopards within 23-7.

Smithsburg started its next possession on its own 7-yard line, but Braxton Byrd — who started at quarterback with first-string signal caller Zac Smith out — hit Logan Jiron with a pass over the middle and Jiron broke it for a stunning 93-yard score, cutting the deficit to 23-13 with 3:33 left in the half.

Mountain Ridge drove 80 yards and took a 30-13 lead into halftime after Lee punched in his second score of the night from a yard out in the closing seconds.

The Leopards made a pair of defensive stands in the third quarter and drove to the Miners' 5-yard line, but went backward from there and missed a 32-yard field goal.

Will Patterson then returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown to give Mountain Ridge a 37-13 lead with 4:09 left in the third quarter. Another interception gave the Miners a short field, and Lee's third TD of the game, a 1-yarder, made it 44-13 in the final minute of the period.

Leuma Puaauli scored on a 25-yard quarterback option keeper with about five minutes left.

Catoctin 23, South Hagerstown 10

The Cougars (2-2) scored the final 20 points and shut out the Rebels (1-3) in the second half.

South (1-3) took a 2-0 lead with 2:53 left in the first quarter when Catoctin quarterback Connor Crum was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety.

The Cougars took a 3-2 lead on a field goal in the second quarter, before Rebels QB Lance Ford broke a 65-yard TD run and also ran in the conversion to give South a 10-3 lead with eight minutes left in the half.

Crum ran in a score to pull Catoctin into a 10-10 tie before halftime. He ran for his second TD in the third quarter, then threw a scoring pass to Logan Malachowski early in the fourth.

Jefferson 42, North Hagerstown 6

The Cougars (3-2) were too much for the visiting Hubs (2-2).

North’s lone touchdown came with 18 seconds remaining in the second quarter on a 19-yard pass from Luke Kercheval to Mahamane Toure.

Jefferson led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, 28-6 at halftime and 35-6 after three periods.

Kercheval finished 9 of 19 passing for 99 yards. Also for North, Zach Moore rushed for 46 yards on 22 carries and had five receptions for 31 yards, and Jesse Eppard led the defense with six tackles.

Paul VI Catholic 7, Saint James 6

For the second straight year, the Saints (2-2) suffered a one-point loss against the Panthers (3-1).

Last year, Paul VI prevailed in a 43-42 shootout that was Saint James' only loss of the season.

Friday's loss came in a completely different fashion — a defensive struggle.

Saturday

Shenandoah Valley 51, Hancock 20

The Blue Devils (1-4) defeated the Panthers (0-4) on the road for their first win of the season.

Aiden McCarty rushed for 67 yards and a TD, and Jacob Anderson threw for 76 yards and a 20-yard score to Isaiah Demory for Hancock. McCarty also had 172 yards on six kickoff returns.

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This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Maryland high school football scores: Washington County Week 4 results