LINGANORE- As Nathaniel Musselman jogged off the field after a muffed snap that was turned over and slammed the door on a momentum building Lancer drive, he shook his head in exasperation and murmured a few words under his breath. The adversity quickly swirled around Musselman and the Lancers – two turnover-on-downs, a punt and a mishandled snap stumbled Frederick County’s elite out of the gates, but it was not their first go-around. With their leading rusher, Dante Butler, dressed in baggy sweatpants and his left arm nestled in a shoulder-sling, they quickly repelled any other negative energy that tried to pierce through the organization.
Deep breaths were taken and composure was exercised once more. On the ensuing drive, a few minutes old into the second quarter, Musselman collected his team, and emotions, for their fifth drive of the night. He put matters into his own hands, finding space up the middle and tucked down for a 14-yard gain on the ground.
That’s when the flood gates flung open as the Lancer quarterback busted up the middle, flashed a stiff arm to the left sideline and electrified the fan-base screaming behind him, going 40-yards for the games opening touchdown. Musselman carried the burden, finishing with 135 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and surged his Lancers to a 35-0 win over Urbana and retain the I-70 Trophy for the third consecutive year.
“I’m going to be sore tomorrow,” Musselman jokingly said, referring to his unexpected 22 carries. “We took what was open and it happened to be there all night. We had a lot to play for, not only because it’s Urbana, but for Dante (Butler). We knew this game meant a lot to him.”
Before the opening kickoff, Musselman approached the teary-eyed Butler and comforted him, “I told him we’re going to get this for you. It put a warm feeling in our hearts. We just weren’t losing this game.” Musselman continued to persist forwards, driving home a one-yard quarterback sneak with 7:30 left in the third quarter to make it 14-0, Linganore.
“You can’t replace Dante (Butler), but we have an outstanding QB (Nathaniel Musselman),” Linganore head coach Rick Conner said. “Nathaniel (Musselman) was an outstanding leader tonight.”
Though Dante Butler was held out of the game, there was another Butler that rose to the occasion – freshman Davon Butler who finished the game with 178 total yards on 20 touches. It almost seems like every year, a Butler, no matter which one it is, runs wild in a marquee game against county foe, Urbana.
In 2013, then-sophomore Dante Butler ran for 186 yards in the first meeting and then-senior Phillip Butler ran for a berserk 328 yards and five touchdowns in the second meeting, which happened to be the region championship. Last year, Dante broke loose for 194 yards and now this year, Davon had his share.
“Before the game started tonight, Dante gave me a motivational speech,” Davon said. “He told me, ‘Work as hard as you can. Don’t worry about me being hurt, just do you. Don’t worry about being a freshman on varsity, just do you.”
With 3:16 left in the third quarter, Davon plunged into the end zone on a one yard run to make it 21-0 and then in the closing seconds of the third frame, knifed through the defense for a seven yard score to put the game out of reach at 27-0.
“That little 14-year old is good, isn’t he?,” Conner said. “He broke loose numerous of times tonight, we’re proud of him.”
Urbana, meanwhile, ends a 5-5 season that featured triumphant wins and bone crushing losses. But for head coach Dave Mencarini, it’s about seeing the big picture. That his Hawks were only down 7-0 at halftime to Frederick County’s unbeaten. That they were a play or two away from possibly breaking it open in their favor.
“We talked about believing,” Mencarini said. “That first half, we went toe-to-toe. My hearts go out with the seniors. They could have given up many times this year, but they were resilient. I’m proud of them for fighting all the way until the end.”
For the first time ever in his coaching career, Mencarini will close up shop after Week 10, failing to make the playoffs. Linganore takes its 10-0 record into the playoffs as the unofficial second. They will more likely than not host Montgomery County force Seneca Valley.
“This is a confidence booster,” Musselman said. “We’ll be ready to go with whoever we face next week.”
You can follow me on Twitter @k_fadd and Maryland Sports Access at @MDSportsAccess.
Box score
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| LIN | 0 | 7 | 20 | 8 | 35 |
| URB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring summary
| LIN | URB | ||||
| 2nd | 8:29 | LIN | Nathaniel Musselman 40-yard run (Sparacino kick) | 7 | 0 |
| 3rd | 7:30 | LIN | Nathaniel Musselman 1-yard run (Sparacino kick) | 14 | 0 |
| 3:16 | LIN | Davon Butler 1-yard run (Kick failed) | 20 | 0 | |
| 0:14 | LIN | Davon Butler 7-yard run (Sparacino kick) | 27 | 0 | |
| 4th | 9:19 | LIN | Ben Iwanski 5-yard run (Musselman pass to Staub) | 35 | 0 |
Linganore individual statistics
| Passing | Comp | Att | Yards | Comp% | TD | INT | QBR |
| #7 Nathaniel Musselman | 6 | 10 | 78 | 60.00% | 0 | 0 | 84.6 |
| Rushing | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Long |
| #7 Nathaniel Musselman | 22 | 135 | 6.1 | 2 | 40 |
| #2 Davon Butler | 19 | 123 | 6.5 | 2 | 39 |
| #45 Dominic Zanoni | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 0 | 13 |
| #24 Ben Iwanski | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 1 | 5 |
| #32 Ashton Rousseaux | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 11 |
| #47 Ivan Johnson | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Total | 47 | 302 | 6.4 | 5 | 40 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | Long |
| #41 Alec Mathews | 3 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 |
| #5 Jack Staub | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 8 |
| #2 Davon Butler | 1 | 55 | 55.0 | 0 | 55 |
| Total | 6 | 78 | 13.0 | 0 | 55 |
Urbana individual statistics
| Passing | Comp | Att | Yards | Comp% | TD | INT | QBR |
| #14 Chase Carbaugh | 15 | 21 | 98 | 68.18% | 0 | 0 | 77.5 |
| #12 Tyler Woodward | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| Rushing | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Long |
| #5 Elijah Atkins | 20 | 32 | 1.6 | 0 | 6 |
| #23 Bayley Henry | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 0 | 8 |
| #14 Chase Carbaugh | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 |
| #8 Marcus Montgomery | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| #12 Tyler Woodward | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 29 | 50 | 1.7 | 0 | 8 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | Long |
| #33 Brendan Schmitz | 5 | 25 | 5.0 | 0 | 9 |
| #18 Jacob Galloway | 3 | 24 | 8.0 | 0 | 12 |
| #82 Raj Bassan | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 0 | 27 |
| #6 Kyheim Byrd | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 7 |
| #15 Parker Mellott | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 5 |
| #44 Nick Gamage | 1 | -5 | -5.0 | 0 | -5 |
| Total | 15 | 98 | 6.5 | 0 | 27 |
