by Lem Satterfield
(See videos below)Charlie McComas' Boys' Latin squad trailed, 1-0, when he seized the moment.
The senior, who also played quarterback in football, scooped a lacrosse ball off the artificial surface of his Lakers' home field, raced virtually unhindered into the Dulaney defense, and fired the ball past the Lions' stunned goalie to tie the game.
In an instant, McComas had set the tone by awakening the sleeping giant which the Lakers' offense proved to be during an eventual, 14-9 victory.
And in doing so, the North Carolina-bound player demonstrated his athleticism as among the nation's more versatile and effective defenders.
"[Goalie] Adam [Scharff] gave me a nice pass down the middle, and I
kind of faked to one of our middies. Their defenseman kind of ran over to our middie,
and there was pretty much a clear lane. I just kind of
stopped and popped," McComas said.
"It's an amazing feeling [to score,]" McComas said, "but most importantly, it pumps the team up and gets the team excited and changes the momentum. And that's something I strive to do."
McComas' effort sent the partisan Boys' Latin crowd of about 1,000 fans into a loud cheer.
It also produced an enthusiastic response from longtime Boys' Latin coach, Bob Shriver, who compared the team captain to one of the Lakers' most dominant defensive players.
"He's very reminiscent of watching Brian Farrell play a little bit," said Shriver, referring to a 6-foot-6, 230-pounder who anchored the Lakers to a school-record mark of 21-0 and a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title in 2006 before heading off to the University of Maryland.
"He's not as big and as imposing as Brian," Shriver said, "but when the ball's on the ground, and we've got to get it out of the defensive end into the offensive end, it's really a nice comfort to know that No. 5's got the ball in his stick."
Shriver didn't say so, but like Farrell, McComas also calls to mind another Lakers' defender, John Glatzel, who keyed Boys' Latin's run of 17-0 for a league title in 1997 before attending Syracuse.
"I've watched Charlie play a lot, and when the ball's on the ground and
when it's in transition, Charlie is probably the best player in the
league in those situation," Shriver said. "He's great getting the ball
out, he's got a great stick, and he makes good decisions with it."
At 7-1, it's far too late for the Lakers' to repeat an unbeaten run. But it's not too late for McComas' leadership to take hold of what is a youthful Boys' Latin squad.
McComas was quick to spread the credit to sophomore Patrick Foster and junior Chris Walsh, who combined for five goals and seven assists on attack.
"The young guys, like Christian and Patrick, putting it together down on the offensive end, with Wells [Stanwick,] also, that's great to see," McComas said. "With DJ Rickels in there, that's very nice to see from the defensive end."
McComas also complimented faceoff midfielders John Davis, Jake Radebaugh and RG Keeney for winning 17 of the 25 draws.
"The faceoff guys did a tremendous job winning the draws. You love to see that from a defensive end because the kids give you a break," said McComas, also giving props to Scharff (10 saves).
"Defensively, it all starts with the goalie," McComas said. "Coach [Steve] Dubin prepares us tremendously for each game, and he knows what to do and what defenses to put us in and puts us in the right position to make plays."
The comraderie began as far back in the fall, said McComas.
"I played football with a lot of these young guys. Aaron Verardi and I and Jack Sherry and Lee Blake, we take them under our wing," siad McComas, referring to fellow senior defensemen, Verardi, Sherry and Blake.
"We've got guys like Patrick Foster and Christian who play basketball. We hang out with them, they hang out with us and we have fun," McComas said.
"Yes, we are very young, but we do give all of our effort in every
game," said McComas. "We play as a team, and if we
continue to do that, that's going to help us win."