Catonsville Dismantles Franklin in Front of Homecoming Crowd

Although Catonsville again proved to be a dominant second half team Friday night against visiting Franklin, the Comets wasted no time inflicting their will in front of a packed Homecoming crowd.

On the game’s opening play from scrimmage, Catonsville defensive end Sean Lipscomb drilled Indians fullback Shaquille Melvin in the backfield, forcing the ball out of Melvin’s grasp and into the diving arms of Antoine Wright.

Three plays later, quarterback Aaron Jones lofted a ball up to Deniko Carter, who leapt overtop Franklin safety Ian Thomas and snatched the toss in the back of the end zone to set the tone from the outset.

Although Franklin only trailed 14-7 at the half, the Comets would go on to parlay two defensive touchdowns and 137 yards on the ground from tailback DeAndre’ Lane into an eventual 35-7 blowout victory.  

After outscoring the Indians 21-0 in the second half, Catonsville (4-0) has dominated opponents in the final two quarters to the tune of a 69-18 advantage.

“I was a little surprised,” Catonsville head coach Rich Hambor said of the wide margin of victory in a game that, historically, is close until the very end.

“We might have caught them on a bit of an off night. They’re a great team. As far as us winning by four TDs, that’s not going to happen every often. You’ve got to really appreciate that type of win. The score wasn’t as close as I thought the game was.”

For a Franklin squad coming off of hard fought victories over Eastern Tech and Hereford, the loss does not sit well with head coach Anthony Burgos who said he felt his team “never even got off the bus.”

The Indians’ only points came via Melvin, who scored on a one-yard run to make the score 14-7 after Ian Thomas hauled in a 41-yard bomb from Jackson Thornton.

“Tonight they just had more will to win than we did,” Burgos said. “They executed their plays well.

“We knew what they were going to do. We knew they’re a run first team. Hats off to them. They came out to play a football game and it’s a hard lesson for our guys to learn that you can’t just turn the switch on.”  

Despite Franklin’s slow start, the Comets led by only the one score at the break. However, it didn’t take long for Catonsville to pull away.  

To open the third quarter, the Comets embarked on a 12-play, 65-yard drive that burned over half of the frame, as 11 consecutive runs from the trio of Lane, Josh Hylton and Julian Singletary set up Aaron Jones for the second of his two touchdown plunges. 

Despite shouldering much of the load, Lane had no problem with his quarterback accounting for the actual points.

“We’re a team, so if I run the ball from the one to the one and he takes it [for the touchdown] I won’t be mad. We’re a team, we’re a family. I’ll share it. I don’t care.”

Lane and Jones alike, commended an offensive line that accounted for 260 yards on the ground overall.

“The O-line was amazing,” Jones said. “They always work hard. We’ve got one of the smallest O-lines in the league and they just keep pushing and pushing.”

Looking to answer on its ensuing drive, Franklin was stifled by a Comets defense that collected six sacks, several tackles for loss and lived in the backfield all evening long. On 2^nd-and-19 near midfield, Thornton, flushed out of the pocket, was stripped by Lipscomb and defensive end Julian Jones scooped up the ball, sprinting 50 yards for his second fumble return touchdown in as many weeks to put his team up 28-7.

Linebacker Joseth Hylton added an interception return touchdown late in the fourth quarter to cap off the rout.

Although his squad suffered a blowout loss earlier in the season at the hands of Henry Wise, Burgos said after the game that his defeat had a different feel about it.  

“This one hurts a little more, I thought we played in the Wise game,” Burgos said. “I don’t think we played today. Not taking anything away from Catonsville. Catonsville played excellent game. Their playmakers made plays when they were supposed to make them and we didn’t show up tonight.”

Added Burgos, “We’ve got to move on.”

The Indians (2-2) will look to get back on track next week against Towson.

Meanwhile, the Comets will look to remain unbeaten when they host Hereford Friday night.

“We’re going to stay humble,” Jones said. “We won’t get too ahead of ourselves. We’re going to work hard every day and do what we got to do.”