By Eric Gilmore
Content Manager, DigitalSports.com
**Check back below for video highlights and interviews with Derrick Thomas and Isaiah Ross.**Click here for the photo gallery!BELTSVILLE, MD.— After clinging to a five-point win over
Oxon Hill two weeks ago,
Eleanor Roosevelt wanted to reprove itself as the elite power within the
Prince George's County 4A League. The Raiders took one step closer to achieving that status with 52 first half points and an eventual 60-0 road victory over hapless
High Point on Friday.
Roosevelt's Fourth-year starting quarterback
Mike Thomas had a game-high 91 yards passing on five completions to complement his game-high 50 yards rushing. Although the senior quarterback didn't post big statistics, he still had a career day. Thomas tallied a career-high six touchdowns — all in the first half. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound signal caller sandwiched two rushing scores with four touchdown tosses — on four consecutive possessions — to put
High Point away early.
Penn State recruit
Derrick Thomas (no relation) was the recipient of two touchdown passes, first recording an 11-yard catch in the first quarter. The senior speedster then caught a 45-yard bomb in the back of the endzone after High Point failed to recover a Roosevelt kickoff. Derrick Thomas, only had three catches, but finished a game-high 53 yards receiving. It marked the fourth straight game he's recorded a receiving touchdown this season.
The 6-1, 180-pound senior speedster will make an official visit to Happy Valley when the No. 12 Nittany Lions host No. 22 Illinois on Saturday.
"I'm real excited to go up there (to Penn State)," Derrick Thomas, who verbally committed over the summer, said. "I've been waiting. It's been one of my dreams for a long time. My family's happy and I'm happy."
His current — and future — teammate
Stephon Morris, a fellow Penn State verbal, also caught a touchdown when he morphed a simple screen into a 25-yard touchdown.
Dominique McNeal also got into the scoring column for the first time this season with a second quarter 11-yard touchdown reception.
It was just that kind of night.
"We came out here and played well," said Roosevelt defensive lineman/tight end
Isaiah Ross, a University of Maryland recruit. "We leveled out the mental mistakes we
made last week. We knew it was going to be a blowout. The first team
came out quick and the second team did their thing."
Ross, who leads the team with four sacks, was a catalyst in forcing starting High Point quarterback
Crevonte Coppola into two first half interceptions. Coppola, who led the Eagles defensively with four stops, failed to complete a pass as Roosevelt senior linebacker
A.J. Bryson and
Antione Johnson each recorded first half picks.
Playing under first-year head coach
Tom Green, who moved over from Surrattsville where he won a 1A South Region title last season, the Raiders have torched their early season schedule. They've outscored
DuVal,
Parkdale and High Point by a combined 159-13, but had to hold on against
Oxon Hill after building a four touchdown lead. The schedule's intensity will increase exponentially with a home game against
Henry Wise (2-1) before they travel to undefeated
Suitland (3-0) in two weeks.
"We want to win the rest of our games," Ross, an imposing 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior, said. "We want to get better each week
so we can get ready for the postseason so that if we get out of P.G.
County, we can go to Montgomery County and do our thing."
High Point, on the other hand, is trying to find its rhythm under first-year head coach
Gary Dandridge, who was hired just before the season. The Eagles have yet to score a point this season, having been blown out by 40-plus points in each of the first four games.
But Dandridge, a former player for the Seattle Seahawks, had to see some positives with part-time quarterback
Ricco Bailey completing 5-of-7 passes for 45 yards. Wide receiver
Terrance Glasgow also turned in a solid game, including a highlight-reel worthy catch on the left sideline late in the fourth quarter. High Point was driving against Roosevelt's second stringers when time expired.
The Eagle defense also buckled down in the second half, never allowing a point after Roosevelt senior
Darius Clair's 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half. High Point even forced and recovered a fumble against Roosevelt's second and third string units. The slate doesn't get easier as the Eagles travel to unbeaten
Suitland before a winnable home game against
Laurel in two weeks.
E-mail:
egilmore@digitalsports.com