Prep Football: Behind Dominant Ground Game, New Town Steamrolls Chesapeake, 34-0

Following his team’s 34-0 victory over visiting Chesapeake, New Town quarterback Shawheem Dowdy had two words for his offensive line: “Golden Corral."

On a day in which New Town rushed for 242 yards on just 34 carries, Dowdy figured his lineman had earned it.

“The O-line did a lovely job,” Dowdy said of tackles Henry Ogbuli, Joe Brown and Jamall Sheppard, guards Tony James and Lennard Johnson and center Vincent Minor.

“We’re going to Golden Corral. All you can eat. I’m going to reward them.”

It was the offensive line that rewarded the running backs Saturday afternoon, as fullback Gary Clark and wing backs Rayshawn Clark and Derrick Kittrell paced an offense that pounded the football at 7-yards a clip.

In their two home games, the Titans (2-1) have outscored their opponents a combined 78-6.

Defensively, following a disappointing double overtime loss at Overlea last week, New Town took out any leftover frustrations on the Bayhawks grind-it-out, single-wing offense.

After an opening drive in which Chesapeake (0-3) managed five first downs and 52 yards of offense, New Town would go into shutdown mode for the remainder of the game—surrendering just 65 total yards and only four first downs in the final 40 minutes of action.

Defending the single-wing—an offensive scheme in which three players in the backfield are capable of receiving a shotgun snap—requires the defense players to play their responsibility and key on the opposing offensive linemen, a philosophy New Town coach Joe Holland harped on in practice.

“I’m very impressed because that’s the one thing we preached the whole week: if you are a disciplined team you can shut them down,” Holland said. “The minute you start stepping outside the defense, you’re going to give them a big gain. They started bending in the first drive, but I’m glad the way they rebounded, adjusted and kept flying to the football.”

The Titans were also active on special teams, where linebacker Nevar Quarles blocked a punt and return man Derrick Simmons consistently gave his offense solid field position.

Ahead 6-0 in the second quarter, a Simmons return gave the New Town offense prime field position at the Chesapeake 42-yard line and it took just three plays for the Titans to find the end zone as Rayshawn Clark (110 yards from scrimmage) darted around the right side for a 14-yard score.

Unsatisfied with a 14-0 halftime tally, the Titans wasted no time adding to their lead, needing just three minutes and 29 seconds on their opening possession to drive 56 yards and take a 20-0 advantage on the first of two Gary Clark seven-yard touchdown runs.

Fullback Paris Davis would add his own touchdown run from two yards out midway through the third quarter.

With so many running backs, and receivers, capable of handling the ball, Dowdy believes that opposing teams will have a hard time keying on one particular player.

“That’s real threatening,” said Dowdy who passed for 149 yards and ran for 31 more, including an 8-yard touchdown scamper. “Since everybody scores, we are deadly as a unit now. We’re deadly.”

The Titans also proved they’re capable of shaking off one bad loss and focusing on the task at hand.

“I told the fellas’ all week that that game was like amnesia. We got to put it in the past,” Dowdy said. “Just rebound and come out strong and you see the results.”