|
Thurmont -- Catoctin quarterback Dylan May's passes have been finding their targets. "Dylan keeps getting better every week, and his accuracy's been improving," Cougars coach Doug Williams said. "He's been pretty daggone accurate lately." He couldn't have been any more accurate on Friday. Despite often playing with a wet football, May completed all nine of his passes for 173 yards -- including two for touchdowns of 33 and 49 yards -- and he ran for two more scores to help the Cougars rout Williamsport, 54-0. The Cougars looked like the 7-0 team that they now are. Their defense was its usual stingy self, holding the Wildcats to 87 yards and stuffing them on a first-and-goal from the 2 to post the unit's third straight shutout. And the offense piled up 458 yards, moving the ball at will on the ground or through the air. While playing on a soggy field with a wet football might've hindered the passing of some quarterbacks, May had no such trouble. He prepared for such problematic conditions this week in practice, throwing a football that was dipped in a bucket of water. "So I was getting kind of used to it today," May said. "And the ballboys did a good job keeping the ball dry." May's first completion of the night was a 50-yard toss to a wide open Nick Nowaczyk, and it led to the first of two touchdown runs by Eric Barbour. May tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Sean Reaver in the first quarter, then he hit Braden Myers in stride for a 49-yard touchdown less than a minute into the second half. "I just told the line, give me two or three seconds, and I'll get it down there," May said. "Receivers ran good routes and did what we've been taught." May also scored on runs of 2 and 8 yards in the second quarter, helping the Cougars take a 40-0 lead into halftime. "I don't care if I have to throw it 50 times or run it 50 times," he said. "Whatever puts points on the board." Even kicking. May booted the first four extra points of his career on Friday. May has been one of the area's top passers this season and he's shown vast improvement from last year, when he ended up getting benched late in the season. "That motivated me the whole summer, that's all I kept thinking about," May said. "And when we lost to Dunbar (in the playoffs), that still creeps in my mind all the time. That feeds me. When we come out here, I don't want to have a season like that anymore." So far, the Cougars can't have too many complaints. They are 7-0 for the first since 1983, and like any dominant team, they rely on a strong defense. "Defense is our flagship. We'll go as far as our defense is going to take us this year," said Williams, who praised defensive coaches Paul DuMars, Jim Eckenrode and Guy Nesbitt. The Cougars have held their seven opponents to a combined 35 points this season, and the Wildcats were unable to add to that total Friday. The Wildcats threatened in the first quarter, getting a first-and-goal on the 2 after quarterback Casey McKenrick drove his team down the field from its own 30. But two straight tackles for losses knocked the Wildcats back to the 5 and, on third down, Paul Barbour forced a fumble that was scooped up by linebacker Nick Maxey. "They drove down there and we were getting beat, and we overcame it and stopped them," Maxey said. Conversely, the Cougars looked unstoppable. Austin Carter rushed for 123 yards on seven carries -- he only ran the ball once in the second half. Kellan Maxey and Travis Bewley also had rushing touchdowns for the Cougars. The Cougars are about to face their biggest test this week against Walkersville . "We're going to find out how good we are this week coming up with Walkersville . Walkersville 's for real," Williams said. "In order for us to even compete against Walkersville , we've got to improve. So this week coming up in practice is huge."
|
