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The latest Tweets from Kyle McFadden (@k_fadd). Freelancer covering college sports, preps & #nascar. ?: @WashPostHS @BaltSunSports @frednewspost. @FrederickCC student. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. Views=mine. New Market, MD
ANNAPOLIS — The Wise football team took a knee on the turf at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for one final time, fixing their eyes on Coach DaLawn Parrish. Fresh off their second straight title, and third over the past five years, Parrish swiveled his head to the scoreboard and savored another thumping victory; this time a 42-7 rout over Quince Orchard in the Class 4A state final.
“Way to complete the mission,” Parrish began. “We’re going to keep building and building and building, with steel, not concrete, men. You’ll see your name in Wise history forever, and ever and ever.”
Wise’s 35-point victory on Friday night marked the second time a school in Prince George’s County won back-to-back state titles and the first time both ended in undefeated fashion.
All season long, the Pumas (14-0) carved out defenses with a high-powered offense and stifled opponents with stingy defense. Friday night was no different. In 14 games, Wise put up more than 40 points 11 times, and in 12 contests, no more than one touchdown was allowed.
“We talked about all year trying to be the first team to be 14-0, back-to-back state titles, hasn’t been done in Prince George’s County,” Parrish said. “We set that as a goal. These young men executed all year long.”
Wise held a 14-0 lead at halftime behind a defense that forced three fumbles and swallowed every opportunity Quince Orchard tried to formulate. Two of those fumbles led to both first half touchdowns. On the first, Cougars quarterback Doc Bonner fumbled the exchange with running back Marvin Beander, which plated a 2-play, 21-yard drive capped by a John Oliver 4-yard run four minutes and 59 seconds into regulation.
The second fumble halted a Quince Orchard 65-yard drive inside the red zone. Bonner, again, let a handoff slip away. On the third and final fumble of the first half, Beander sprinted 13 yards up the right sideline to cross into Wise territory, and coughed up the football when hit by Kelly Johnson. It set up a 30-yard burst by Oliver on the ensuing series (93 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries).
“[The fumbles] gave us a huge confidence boost,” said Wise linebacker Calvin Hickerson, who finished with a game-high 13 tackles. “That let us know we could stop [Quince Orchard]. If we can give our offense more times than expected, we can be dangerous.”
Quince Orchard’s five drives in the first half ended in three fumbles, a punt and turnover downs. According to Coach John Kelley, Quince Orchard held a +12 turnover differential going into Friday night’s state championship bout.
“We haven’t done that all year,” Kelley said. “The turnovers were huge … that’s devastating.”
After forcing a three-and-out on Quince Orchard’s opening possession of the second half and a four-and-out on the next, Wise swelled its lead to 21-0 when Laws lobbed a 9-yard pass to Khyree Jackson to finish off a 7-play, 60-yard drive, and then to 29-0 on a Laws-to-Demetri Morsell 6-yard connection and two-point conversion pass to Morsell.
The Cougars got on the board with three minutes and 22 seconds left in the third quarter when Bonner found Kieron Jones on a 3-yard touchdown.
The closest anyone has played Wise is 18 points, which came in the first round of the playoffs in a 40-22 tilt against Eleanor Roosevelt. They’ve outscored their opponents by over 40 points a game.
“What makes this group special is, I remember, we had a closed week, basically for us to come together as a group,” Parrish began. “Being able to do that, sacrifice individual goals for a team that’s outstanding. Once they were able to that, I knew nobody could beat us, but us.”
Laws notched his third and fourth passing touchdowns of the night on a 72-yard hitch and run by Anthony Lytton (113 yards on four receptions) at the 2:57 mark in the third and a 47-yard jaunt to Morsell with 5:22 left in regulation to trigger a running clock.
“This one is more exciting,” Laws said, comparing this year’s state championship to 2015. “I’m thankful for all the coaches believing me through the years.”
Arguably the best public school team in the state, Wise concluded the 2016 stampede by flapping their arms in victory and a hoisting of the championship for the third time in five years, a dynasty-esque mark that’s a rarity in Maryland’s highest classification.
Kyle McFadden on Twitter
@DaLawnParrish to his @WisePumaSports team: “Way to complete the mission.” Pumas are back-to-back state champs #mdpreps https://t.co/pRjiKss28h
“People don’t understand, it’s hard to really enjoy the season when you know your team is dominant,” Parrish said. “You think about all the things that could go wrong, and that’s the toughest part. You’re dealing with young men, 14, 15, 16, 17 years old; thinking about the things that could happen outside of school, inside the school, things of that nature. But these young men were excellent all year long.”
NOTE: Beander totaled 101 yards on 19 carries. Bonner, who completed 9-of-15 passes for 115 yards and one touchdown, left the game in the third quarter on a stretcher. The extent of the injury is unknown. University of Maryland commit, Quince Orchard defensive back Foffie Bazzie tallied 10 total tackles. Wise lineman Willie Mabry registered 12 total tackles.
Scoring summary
First quarter
HAWHS — John Oliver 4-yard run (Jackson run), 7:01
Second quarter
HAWHS — John Oliver 30-yard run (Kick failed), 2:13
Third quarter
HAWHS — Khyree Jackson 9-yard pass from Jabari Laws (Martinez kick), 7:57
HAWHS — Demetri Morsell 6-yard pass from Jabari Laws (Morsell pass from Laws), 4:56
QO — Kieron Jones 3-yard pass from Doc Bonner (August kick), 3:17
HAWHS — Anthony Lytton 72-yard pass from Jabari Laws (Martinez kick), 2:57
Fourth quarter
HAWHS — David Jones 47-yard pass from Jabari Laws (Kick failed), 5:09
