Oakland Mills stuns Atholton with Ramsey’s pick-six
By Aidan Thomas
The back of Oakland Mills’ football jerseys feature three letters, TPW, inscribed just above the number.
Tough people win.
On a chilly Friday night at Atholton, the Scorpions leaned on that motto just a little more. With their offense struggling, the sixthseeded visitors leaned on defense and special teams to spark their two scores, claiming a 12-8 victory over the second-seeded Raiders in a Class 3A East Region second-round matchup.
Oakland Mills mustered less than 75 yards of total offense, but a botched Raiders punt in the first half set up a short-field touchdown, and junior Isaac Ramsey put the Scorpions on top with a fourth-quarter pick-six, racing 86 yards for the score.
It was all the Scorpions defense needed. While Atholton moved the ball far better than Oakland Mills, the underdogs buckled down when they needed to. Each of the Raiders’ final five drives reached the red zone, but none resulted in points.
It was a huge turnaround after a poor start to the game. Atholton came out in a four tight end set, a new look for the Raiders.
It worked early, with the Raiders claiming an 8-0 lead just over four minutes into the game on a touchdown run by Cameron Lee. He was part of a one-two backfield punch with Lawson Mungo, as the pair took the majority of Atholton’s offensive touches.
Oakland Mills didn’t generate a drive of longer than 20 yards. Unfortunately for Atholton, a botched snap on a punt set up the Scorpions just 13 yards from the end zone, an opportunity the scuffling Oakland Mills offense capitalized on.
On third-and-12 from the 15-yard-line, the Scorpions faked a handoff left to their workhorse running back, Russell Carrington, before turning and giving the ball to sophomore Kris Rogers. Rogers plunged up the middle nearly untouched for a 15-yard touchdown run. The ensuing 2-point conversion failed, but the Atholton lead was down to 8-6.
Then in the fourth quarter, it was Ramsey who made the play. A drive after Ramsey had a critical personal foul penalty that extended an Atholton drive and forced a big stand inside the 10-yard-line, the junior stepped in front of a pass from Tyler Bell and took it to the house with 8:18 remaining in the game.
“I was just trying to stay focused as a team,” Asomani said. “You can tell when a team isn’t really a team because they start getting in each other’s head. My teammate, Isaac, had a big flag. I told him, ‘Make up for it.’. Next quarter, pick-six. Just got to stay with your team.”
On the ensuing drive, Atholton grinded out a six-minute march, working its way down to the red zone one final time. Bell responded admirably after the interception, scrambling for 15 yards on the final drive, including once to keep Atholton’s season alive on fourth down.
But on fourth-and-7 from the 14-yard-line, Asomani came up with a huge pass breakup, dislodging a pass that looked to be a first down.
The last time anyone saw Matt Miller’s team, the Falcons were in a bit of disarray.
Four days after losing starting quarterback Caleb Crouch after the senior tore his ACL, Winters Mill came out flat. With a new signal caller, the offense never found its rhythm in a loss to Westminster that cost the program an undefeated season and county championship.
Two weeks later, the Falcons made their playoff debut — and returned to the dominant, confident team many have become used to seeing.
Led by an offensive line hungry to make a statement with a bounce-back performance and an array of backs ready to take the pressure off newly minted starting quarterback Autin Utz, Winters Mill rushed for over 280 yards in Friday night’s win over Williamsport in the Class 2A/1A West Region second round.
The win sends the Falcons to the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history.
Led by the running back duo of Paris Lee (106 yards, two touchdowns) and Nico Baez (84 yards, 1 TD), the Falcons dominated the line of scrimmage from the opening drive.
Old Mill 27, Glen Burnie 6: Old Mill’s Max Jones saw Glen Burnie quarterback Romeo Edmonds on the sideline with an injury and the Patriots running back didn’t feel emboldened by the good luck.
That’s not how he wanted it.
The previous Old Mill-Glen Burnie battle made a strong case for the best football game played in Anne Arundel County this fall, a one-point game decided on a final rallying Patriots touchdown drive.
But it became clear how much of a catalyst Edmonds was for his team long before Old Mill cemented its win over the Gophers in the 4A East regional second round Friday. After Glen Burnie kept pace early, its makeshift offense ran out of tricks and steam, while Old Mill remained as consistent as ever.
Glen Burnie senior Tim Shadare knew the odds. But the running back-kicker and now quarterback hybrid donned his new cap without complaint.
The senior, who finished 13-for-21 for 140 yards, met receiver Bradeon Buchanan for 20 yards, then again for 18 to move into the red zone. Jonathan Bediako ended up taking it in from 2 yards out to tie the game at 6.
So, in response, Torrian Jones scored a touchdown — or so he thought. The talented running back assumed he passed the goal line and dropped the ball, but he dropped it at the 1.
Fortuantely for the Patriots, they recovered the ball and Max Jones (24 carries for 100 yards) took it in from there. The shifty back zig-zagged twice, once for a touchdown and once for a 2-point conversion to deliver the Patriots a 14-6 lead.
But Torrian wanted his touchdown back and got it defensively. He picked up a fumbled snap and ran it into the end zone.
Fallston 35, Sparrows Point 11: Neither Fallston quarterback Jason Roberts nor running back Caleb Canatella started the season as the team’s top player at their respective positions.
But on Friday, their numbers were called, just as they have been for the back half of the season. Both came up strong for the No. 3 seed Cougars, who advanced to the Class 2A/1A state quarterfinals with a 35-11 win at No. 2 Sparrows Point.
Canatella, a sophomore, burst onto the scene last week with 170 rushing yards and a touchdown. He managed to top that performance against the Pointers, rushing for 177 yards and three touchdowns.
With injuries to key offensive players, Fallston entered the game as the underdogs playing on the road. That didn’t phase Roberts, who threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns while adding 64 yards on the ground.
Despite giving up over 200 yards in the air to quarterback Javier Guevara, Fallston’s defense locked down Sparrows Point in the red zone, holding the Pointers to just a touchdown and a field goal.