Gaines-to-Keene Combo is Money for Owings Mills in Win Over Sparrows Point

Each time quarterback Shane Gaines needed a big play Friday night, he looked to senior receiver De’Ante Keene.

So, after Sparrows Point High School kicked a field goal in the first overtime period to take a 21-18 lead, the junior quarterback wasted no time in going to his best playmaker, tossing up a ball on the left side of the end zone for Keene to go get.

And as he did so many times Friday, the 6-foot Keene made the play over a much smaller Pointers corner, scoring his fourth touchdown of the evening and securing a 24-21 win for the Eagles (1-1).

“We were working all summer for this,” said Gaines, who finished 12-of-20 for 251 yards and three touchdowns. The duo worked out with each other nearly every day, they both said.

Added Keene: “Coach called the play, it was a good route and a great pass.”

The game-winner was retribution for both Gaines and Keene (eight catches for 246 yards, one carry for 12 yards and four total touchdowns), who were at the wrong end of two big plays in the second half despite enjoying otherwise monster games.

Keene dropped his only pass of the game with under two minutes to play in the third quarter, when he couldn’t hold onto a fourth-and-14 lob from Gaines near the goal line. Rather than tacking on another six points, Owings Mills was forced to punt, clinging to an 18-15 lead.

And later, with the score tied at 18 and 3.8 seconds on the clock in regulation, Gaines was sacked on the final play of a drive where the Eagles had the ball inside the red zone after a 30 yard hookup between Gaines and Keene.

But with help from a defense that made a critical stop following a botched kickoff return late in the fourth quarter, the two would atone for their errors on the first play of their only offensive possession in overtime.

“We liked it,” Owings Mills coach Steve Lurz said of the matchup on the outside with Keene. “We knew they didn’t have a corner who could cover him.”

Pointers coach Glenn Imirie didn’t disagree. He said his team plays against better athletes every week and to win, Sparrows Point (0-2) must execute to perfection.

“We’re out-athleted,” Imirie said. “You’ve got a 5-foot-4 corner [covering a 6-foot receiver].

“You’ve got to coach them in the position. You’ve got to forget it and move on, go back to the drawing board.”

For the Eagles, beating the Pointers was a re-writing of the script. Lurz hadn’t coached a team to victory over Sparrows Point in two previous tries. Now, he hopes success is infectious.

“This was a big one,” Lurz said. “It was needed.”