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Potomac scored on just its third play from scrimmage and never let up in a 46-0 shutout of Forestville on Saturday. 
By Andy States
Content Manager, DigitalSports.com
After three straight losses, games in which they did not feel they succeeded in providing maximum effort for four quarters, the Potomac Wolverines knew exactly what they needed to do on Saturday.
"We had to come out strong," Potomac junior Devonta Tabannah said. "We came out strong against Friendly but fell off."
Potomac not only came out strong, with a score on its opening possession, but never let up. Five different Wolverines found the end zone, led by two-touchdown efforts from both Tabannah and Jeramie Best, and Potomac rolled to a 46-0 win over the visiting Forestville Knights. The win snapped Potomac's three-game skid, and also provided the team with its first home victory of the season.
"We needed a game like this," Potomac coach Chris Davidson said. "We lost our last two at home. We're a better team than what our record would indicate, but we're not as good a team as we think we are."
The team's possible inflated opinion of itself cost it in losses to Chopticon and Friendly the past two weeks, games which Davidson said the team felt it gave away.
"This game we came out and everyone was on the same page," Davidson said. "Forestville's a very tough out. This was very uncharacteristic for them."
Potomac (4-3) opened the game with a three-play, 66 yards scoring drive that featured Best's first touchdown, a 62-yard jaunt. Best credited fullback Stephen Darden for his first touchdown of the season, which seemed to spark the Potomac sideline.
"He set up the block," Best said. "I just took advantage of it."
That opening score set a different tone than what the Wolverines had endured during the previous three weeks. And more importantly, according to Davidson, the team never let up.
"The last three weeks the first drive has been either a three-and-out or we've given up a score," he said. "We melted down somehow. We didn't have that critical meltdown this week."
Forestville (3-4) started the ensuing possession in Potomac territory at the 45-yard line, but was promptly pushed back to its own 35 over the next three plays. Later in the opening quarter, after Forestville turned the ball over on downs on its own 30, the Wolverines struck again on James Seay's touchdown pass to Deandre Montgomery. And with that, the rout was on.
Tabannah scored on a 55-yard punt return in the second quarter, while Best followed with his second touchdown run from six yards out on Potomac's next series. The Wolverines added another score before the half on Tabannah's 36-yard touchdown reception and took a 34-0 lead to the break.
"We'd played some tough teams already," said Forestville coach Charles Harley, still searching for answers after the game. "We've seen Potomac struggling and I think these guys thought, 'You know what, they won't be able to cover us.'
"[Potomac] just came out ... I've never seen them play this well."
But even with the halftime deficit, Harley still felt his team had plenty of football left to play. Largely because Potomac played on a short field for much of the first half and did not mount many long drives.
"Even at halftime I thought we still had a shot," he said. "Anything that could go wrong went wrong."
Forestville lost five fumbles and was intercepted twice. Of Potomac's six offensive scores, five of the drives started at midfield or closer. Added to the inability to keep Potomac out of the end zone, Forestville was unable to move the ball. The Knights finished the game with negative rushing yardage, and netted just 47 yards overall.
"That's a tough one," Harley said. "When you have a team that can do something, you're shocked when something like that happens to you."
Potomac amassed close to 300 yards of total offense to go along with its dominant defensive effort. Best rushed for a game-high 80 yards and the two scores, while Darden added another 67 yards and a touchdown. Seay completed three passes, two of which went for touchdowns. But it was the team's attitude that Davidson was the most pleased with.
"We really seemed to shed a lot of that individualistic mentality," he said. "This is as hard as I've seen our kids play. I think we played our best game last week against Friendly, but I think this was our best effort."
Potomac 46, Forestville 0
F 0 0 0 0
P 14 20 12 0
First quarter
P - Best 62 run (kick blocked)
P - Montgomery 40 pass from Seay (Montgomery pass from Seay)
Second quarter
P - Tabannah 55 punt return (Bennett kick)
P - Best 6 run (Bennett kick)
P - Tabannah 36 pass from Seay (pass failed)
Third quarter
P - Seay 10 run (kick blocked)
P - Darden 23 run (kick blocked)
Top individual performers
Rushing
Forestville: Belt 3-8
Potomac: Best 8-80, Darden 6-67
Passing
Forestville: Gaines 2-7-2 58
Potomac: Seay 3-7-1 87
Receiving
Forestville: Belt 2-58
Potomac: Montgomery 1-40, Tabannah 1-36, Ballard 1-11
