Prep Football: New Town Rolls Past Owings Mills on Homecoming

For all the success Joe Holland has enjoyed at New Town, the head coach is tired of his teams being one-and-done come the postseason. He’s also fed up with his Titans backing into the playoffs by losing games down the stretch.

During Saturday’s regular season finale against Owings Mills, Holland’s players proved that this year’s squad is prime to take the next step.

The Titans rushed for 250 yards as a team and surrendered just 44 yards defensively, outscoring the Eagles 22-0 in the second half en route to a 36-6 Homecoming victory.  

"I think it's very important...the last few years we kind of went in the backdoor to the playoffs," Holland said. “We wanted to go in the front door and we’re going to stay awhile this year.”  

After first round knockouts in three consecutive seasons, including a 50-0 drubbing at the hands of Brunswick in 2010, how much has Holland preached about making a dent in postseason play?

“A lot,” senior defensive end Nevar Quarles said, emphatically. “He’s said it every practice since we first stepped out here on the field from the summer until now.

“I think we can get there. States is what we’re waiting for. We just got to play one game at a time. though.

All signs point to New Town facing off against Northwestern in the Class 1A North semifinals next weekend. Meanwhile, even with the loss, Owings Mills (5-5) may still capture the fouth and final seed in Class 2A North, if they possess more bonus points than also 5-5 Dundalk, when the dust settles on the playoff picture tomorrow morning.

If the Eagles can hang on to that spot, they'll have reached the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

While the Titans (9-1) continue to be explosive on offense, a lot of their points can be attributed to a dominant defense which won the battle at the line of scrimmage all game and, on numerous occasions, awarded its offense a short field.

New Town recorded two sacks, eight tackles for loss, and allowed just three first downs for the game—two of which came via penalties.

As a result, three of the Titans five scoring drives began in Owings Mills territory.

“Offensively, we didn’t bring anything,” Eagles head coach Steve Lurz said. “We got a lot of work to do with that offensive line. The good thing is that most of them are juniors, but we got a lot of work to do. We just aren’t physical up front.

“Anytime [quarterback] Shane [Gaines] dropped back there was little to no time to throw the ball, not much sustaining blocks when we run the ball. That’s our biggest problem right now: getting those guys together and on point and being more aggressive and physical.” 

However, the Eagles are hardly the first team to struggle on offense against New Town.

The Titans haven’t given up a defensive touchdown dating all the way back to the second week of the season against Overlea. (Owings Mills’ only points came via a 97-yard kickoff return by De’Ante Keene which tied the score at 6-6 early in the first quarter.)

On the other side of the ball, New Town’s rushing attack gave Owings Mills defenders fits.

Senior Darrell Wyche led the way with ten carries for 99 yards and two scores. Fullback Gary Clark added two touchdowns of his own to go along with 44 yards on ten rushing attempts.

“They are shifty and athletic over there so you’re going to miss some tackles,” Lurz said of New Town’s elusive rushers. “Sometimes you think you have them in the backfield and they make a move and they’re gone, so they’re a tough team to defend.”

Quarterback Shawheem Dowdy (87 yards passing, 43 rushing) hooked up through the air with Rayshawn Clark for an 18-yard touchdown that put the Titans ahead 22-6 late in the third quarter.

After the Eagles turned the ball over on downs on their ensuing possession, the Titans needed just six plays before Wyche found a hole over the left side and crossed the goal line to put his squad up by three scores.

Desperately trying to put a drive together, Owings Mills was again stopped on fourth down when Gaines’ option keeper left him just inches short of a first down.

Awarded possession, New Town iced the game by rushing 12 consecutive times on a 60-yard drive capped off by Gary Clark’s second score of the game.  

“I take my hat off to the offensive line,” Holland said. “Those guys have been working really hard all year and they’ve been adapting to teams we’ve been playing and I’m proud of those guys. Very proud of them.”

BOX SCORE

New Town 36, Owings Mills 6

NT—6 8 14 8----36

OM—6 0 0 0----6

1^st Quarter

NT- G. Clark 16 yard run (kick failed) (8:01)

OM- D. Keene 97 yard kickoff return (kick failed) (7:42)

2^nd Quarter

NT- D. Wyche 3 yard run (D. Simmons run) (11:05)

3^rd Quarter

NT- R. Clark 18 yard pass from S. Dowdy (D. Wyche run) (5:41)

NT- D. Wyche 3 yard run (pass failed) (:47)

4^th Quarter

NT- G. Clarke 11 yard run (Simmons run) (3:34)

This article previously stated that Owings Mills was guarenteed a playoff spot. However, this can not be determined for certain until after bonus points are added up by the MPSSAA.