Football: Calvert 12, Stone 2

 By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC

Behind 2-0 at the half on Friday night, the Calvert Cavaliers had every reason to feel down.

Through the first five weeks of the football season, very little went Calvert's way in five straight losses. And, against the Thomas Stone Cougars, the first half did not provide any evidence that things were were about to swing in Calvert's favor, with a Stone blocked punt for a safety the only scoring.

Brandon Greening turned the tide.

Greening took the opening kick of the second half back 87 yards for a momentum-changing touchdown, and in the process sparked the Cavaliers to their first win of the season. Greening added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter and Calvert's defense, led by a four-interception night from Lucas Hornick, did not allow a point as the visiting Cavaliers topped Stone 12-2.

"It really feels great," Hornick said of starting the second half of the season with a win. "We haven't had much success the past five games. We knew we could play better. We just need to come out and play as a team. Unfortunately, we haven't had that until today."

That team effort was on full display, defensively, all night long, but never more so than in the fourth quarter. After Greening scored on a 30-yard run to increase Calvert's lead to 12-2 with 10 minutes 11 seconds remaining, Stone (1-5, 0-4) returned the ensuing kickoff deep into Calvert territory and quickly marched inside the 10. Then, after an apparent touchdown run by Darius Johnson was wiped out by a holding penalty, the Cavaliers held firm. Dai'Quan Garner's sack of Stone quarterback Jonathan Mills on third down pushed the Cougars back to create a longer field goal attempt -- 33 yards -- which was off the mark.

Stone had three more possessions, but never gained another first down. The Cougars turned the ball over on downs on one series, while Hornick's third and fourth interceptions brought a close to the others.

"We bent but we didn't break," Calvert coach Marc Watson said of his team's defensive effort. "Luke Hornick with four interceptions, I don't know if that's a record, but we're going to look into it."

Calvert (1-5, 1-4) changed its fortunes with the unexpected start to the second half. Greening had been kicked off to only once all season, and that all the way back in Week 1.  But given the opportunity, Calvert's most dangerous weapon took full advantage of it.

"I haven't been kicked to since the Westlake game," said Greening, who also scored on the previous kick return this year. "It was very surprising. I didn't expect to get the ball, but I was glad to get the ball in my hands and take it back for my team."

Stone had actually toyed with the idea of starting the second half with an onside kick, and a halftime vote amongst the coaching staff was in favor of kicking onsides, according to Stone coach Jeremiah Vedis. But, with just a 2-0 lead, the final decision was to play it smart by kicking away, though the kick was not supposed to go in Greening's direction.

"We still should have tackled," Vedis said. 

Perhaps even more damaging were the penalties the Cougars were hit with. In addition to the holding call that wiped a touchdown off the board, Stone was called for a pair of roughing-the-kicker penalties on Calvert punts. The latter of the two gave the Cavaliers a first down at the Stone 30-yard line, and Greening needed just one play to run the ball across the goal line to make it a two-score game.

"I can't take anything away from Calvert," Vedis said. "They played hard. They had the momentum, played tough and had less penalties.

The Cougars will look to bounce back at McDonough next week. The loss to Calvert was the team's fifth in a row, and came on the heels of a pair of heartbreaking 7-6 decisions in the previous two weeks to Chopticon and La Plata.

"I think we'll be all right," Vedis said. "We just have to stick together and keep plugging away."

Greening rushed for a game-high 125 yards in addition to his game-changing kick return. After enduring the tough first half to the season, in which the Cavaliers were competitive in most every game but could never break through, the win could not have come at a better time.

"My happiness is for them," Watson said, referring to his team. "Those kids are a great group. They've faced a lot of tough times this year, but they just keep fighting."

Calvert host Leonardtown on Thursday night. While the first five games yielded nothing in the win column, Watson is optimistic that following Friday night's win the Cavaliers may be primed to finish the season strong.

"We stressed to them this week that season two starts tonight," he said. "We're looking to go 5-0 to close out the season and I really believe if we play the way we're capable of playing we have a good shot to do that."

Calvert 12, Stone 2
C    0    0    6    6
S    2    0    0    0
First quarter
S    -   Safety, Johnson blocks punt out of end zone, 5:26
Third quarter
C    -    Greening 87 kick return (kick failed), 11:47
Fourth quarter
C    -    Greening 30 run (run failed), 10:11

Top individual performers
Rushing
Calvert: Greening 22-125, Garner 6-15
Stone: Lohr 9-52, Mills 11-37
Passing
Calvert: Greening 1-2-0 0
Stone: Mills 8-22-4 54, Waterloo 2-2-0 8
Receiving
Calvert: Hawkins 1-0
Stone: Lyles 3-23, Lohr 3-12, Burgess 2-20