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By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC
If one were to judge by the looks on the Chopticon Braves' faces following Thursday night's game with county-rival Leonardtown, one would have come to the conclusion that the Braves had just been the recipients of a thumping.
Fact was, Chopticon earned the win, but now in the fashion it would have liked. The Braves overcame an uncharacteristic turnover- and penalty-prone effort to dispatch the visiting Raiders 21-7.
"We could have played better," said Chopticon senior quarterback Leo Kyte, who passed for 218 yards and a pair of touchdowns. "I give credit to Leonardtown. They came out fired up and played pretty good. We made too many mistakes."
"We're happy that we got the win, but we should have had more," added running back Aaron Makle, who led the Braves with 55 rushing yards and one touchdown. "We expected more out of ourselves."
Chopticon (2-1, 1-1) turned the ball over three times and was penalized for close to 100 yards on the night. Offensively, the Braves stalled on a couple of drives deep inside Leonardtown territory, including once inside the 10-yard line. Fortunately, Chopticon's defense held relatively firm, twice intercepting Leonardtown in the red zone. The Braves also stopped Leonardtown on downs three other times while the Raiders were driving in Chopticon territory.
"You take the win and that's about all you take -- maybe a lesson in discipline," Chopticon coach Tony Lisanti said. "Maybe because they're our archrivals, they got in our heads a little bit and that's very disappointing."
Makle capped a six-play, 60-yard opening drive -- aided by two personal foul penalties against the Raiders -- with a three-yard touchdown run to get the Braves off to a good start. Leonardtown (0-3) held serve on the ensuing possession, marching 58 yards to paydirt on Michael Copenhaver's 11-yard run. Both teams had scored less than four minutes into the game. Things got a little tougher from there.
Not until Chopticon's final possession of the first half was either team able to score again. After stalling twice deep inside Raiders' territory, Kyte found Joe Yates on an eight-yard pass to put the Braves in front to stay, 14-7. Later, Yates hauled in another touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to account for the rest of the game's scoring and create a little breathing room.
While Leonardtown was not able to score after its first series, it did have several opportunities. Most notably, the Raiders were deep in Braves' territory towards the end of each half before interceptions ended their scoring chance. Chopticon's Doug Rollins picked off a pass to end the first half after the Raiders had moved to the Chopticon 12. Again, with just over three minutes remaining in the game, the Raiders moved inside the red zone only to be picked off by the Braves' Xavier Holt.
But after being outscored 87-7 in games against Thomas Stone and Westlake in the season's first two weeks, Leonardtown's showing against its county rival exhibited continued progression, according to Coach Anthony Pratley.
"That's a tough one to lose. That's a county rival," Pratley said. "Our kids really played hard tonight. They really did. Chopticon's a playoff team. We have to keep that in mind. They're a good football team. We just didn't capitalize.
"We've been talking about it all week -- we just have to finish. Our kids stepped it up. That's probably the best we've played all year. I'm really, really proud of them. We need to learn to finish and that's something that just takes time."
It will not get any easier, as the Raiders are scheduled to travel to defending SMAC-champion Patuxent next week. That contest will mark the third consecutive game against a 2007 playoff qualifier. But regardless of the opponent, Pratley has been enthused by the effort his squad puts forth each week.
"That's the one thing I love about these kids, they never quit," he said. "They never lay down. They don't care who they line up against. They're going to give you all they have.
"The wins and losses are going to come. The program's turning around. The kids are starting to see it. They're starting to feel it. That's the key. We're getting closer, bridging the gap."
Chopticon hosts Stone next week, and then will embark on a pivotal four-week stretch that most likely will determine whether the Braves will be able to make a repeat appearance in the 3A South playoff field. Starting with an Oct. 4 tilt at Potomac, the Braves then square off against Lackey, Patuxent and Westlake in succession. Potomac, which Chopticon defeated in triple overtime a year ago, Lackey and Westlake are all also 3A South competitors each vying for one of the four playoff positions.
"We have to take better care of the football," Lisanti said. "We've got to be a little more disciplined. We can't have these stupid penalties. We just have to execute, continue to try to execute a little better. I thought sometimes we made some nice plays, but consistency is lacking and that's something we'll need down the road."
Email: astates@digitalsports.com
Chopticon 21, Leonardtown 7
Leonardtown 7 0 0 0
Chopticon 7 7 0 7
First quarter
C -- Makle 3 run (Gilmartin kick), 10:10
L -- Copenhaver 11 run (Phifar kick), 8:02
Second quarter
C -- Yates 8 pass from Kyte (Gilmartin kick), :40
Fourth quarter
C -- Yates 4 pass from Kyte (Gilmartin kick), 11:56
Top individual performers
Rushing
Leonardtown: Reed 15-50, Copenhaver 13-46
Chopticon: Makle 19-55
Passing
Leonardtown: Pagliarulo 10-19-3 83
Chopoticon: Kyte 15-19-1 218
Receiving
Leonardtown: Copenhaver 4-28, Stailey 3-41
Chopticon: Yates 5-58, Summers 4-38, O'Grady 3-101
